| Beeliar Perth, Western Australia | |||||||||||||||
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 Thomsons Lake, Beeliar | |||||||||||||||
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| Coordinates | 32°08′28″S 115°49′18″E / 32.141207°S 115.821758°E | ||||||||||||||
| Population | 8,617 (SAL 2021)[1] | ||||||||||||||
| Postcode(s) | 6164 | ||||||||||||||
| Area | 11.4 km2 (4.4 sq mi)[2] | ||||||||||||||
| LGA(s) | City of Cockburn | ||||||||||||||
| State electorate(s) | Cockburn | ||||||||||||||
| Federal division(s) | Fremantle | ||||||||||||||
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Beeliar is a suburb of Perth, Western Australia, located within the City of Cockburn. The name refers to the Beeliar people, a group of Aboriginal Australians who had[clarification needed] land rights over the southern half of Perth's metropolitan area. The suburb contains the Thomsons Lake Nature Reserve.
"Beeliar" is a Noongar word that translates to "river" or "water running through".[3][4][5] The suburb was named after an early settler-colonialist, Robert Menli Lyon,[clarification needed] who recorded and interacted with the local Aboriginal group in the area circa the nineteenth century.[5][6][7] Before European contact, the suburb was occupied by the Beeliar group of the Whadjuk nation, who are part of the broader Noongar language region.[5] The Noongar peoples have Dreaming stories related to the creation of the landforms in Beeliar and had lore that outlined the maintenance and care of the land.[5] Oral history records and archaeology account for the Beeliar-Noongar belonging to the Beeliar suburb and its neighbouring areas.[5][8]
The region of Beeliar was also included in the Swan River Colony, which was the first colony not established for convicts.[5][9] The suburb was first governed by Captain James Stirling.[9] Following Stirling's retirement, Beeliar was part of the frontier wars.[9] Beeliar was home to Yagan and his father, Midjegoorong, who were notable figures during this period.[5][9]
From the twentieth century, the suburban boundaries of Beeliar were modified gradually. Bibra Lake, which was still a feature within the Beeliar boundary during this time, was a site for the Australian Women's Army Service station during World War Two.[10]
Since the post-war era, Beeliar has undergone several council projects, such as the Wetlands Education Centre of Cockburn (established in the 1980s), and gradually developed into a modern metropolitan suburb by the 1990s.[10] The 1990s were when the most modern changes to the Beeliar boundaries occurred, which partially split Beeliar's region into a new suburb, Yangebup.[6][11]
Since the 1990s, environmental and land rights concerns have been a local geopolitical issue. Beeliar citizens have voiced their concerns to the council about protecting the suburban geographic features, such as the various wetlands (including Thomsons Lake).[10]
- ^ Australian Bureau of Statistics (28 June 2022). "Beeliar (suburb and locality)". Australian Census 2021 QuickStats. Retrieved 28 June 2022.
- ^ Australian Bureau of Statistics (27 June 2017). "2016 Community Profiles: Beeliar (State Suburb)". 2016 Census of Population and Housing. Retrieved 18 May 2021.
- ^ Bindon, Peter; Chadwick, Ross; Western Australian Museum, eds. (2011). A Nyoongar wordlist: from the south-west of Western Australia (2nd ed.). Welshpool, W.A: Western Australian Museum. ISBN 978-1-920843-59-5.
- ^ Beeliar: Perth's Noongar place names, retrieved 17 May 2021
- ^ a b c d e f g Collard, Len; Bracknell, Clint (2012). "Beeliar Boodjar: An introduction to Aboriginal history in the City of Cockburn, Western Australia". Australian Aboriginal Studies. 2012 (1): 86–91. ISSN 0729-4352.
- ^ a b "Cockburn History: Beeliar". City of Cockburn. Archived from the original on 12 March 2019.
- ^ "R.M. Lyon and early encounters with Beeliar Nyungar, 1830s". City of Cockburn. Archived from the original on 12 March 2019.
- ^ Dortch, Joe; Dortch, Charles (2 January 2019). "Late Quaternary Aboriginal hunter-gatherer occupation of the Greater Swan Region, south-western Australia". Australian Archaeology. 85 (1): 15–29. doi:10.1080/03122417.2019.1594556. ISSN 0312-2417. S2CID 164371857.
- ^ a b c d Shellam, Tiffany (2012). ""Our Natives" and "Wild Blacks": Enumeration as a statistical dimension of sovereignty in colonial Western Australia". Journal of Colonialism and Colonial History. 13 (3). doi:10.1353/cch.2012.0033. ISSN 1532-5768. S2CID 162343433.
- ^ a b c Brady, D. & Murray, J. (2018). Reimagining the cultural significance of wetlands: From Perth’s lost swamps to the Beeliar Wetlands. Retrieved from https://ro.ecu.edu.au/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=5817&context=ecuworkspost2013
- ^ "Cockburn History: Yangebup". City of Cockburn. Archived from the original on 12 March 2019.
