The Rainbow Serpent belief system emerged world wide 7 - 9,000 years ago and is perhaps the oldest continuously practised religion in the world. (Flood:p134)

The antiquity of the Swan Valley people was recognised in 1981 when evidence found at the Midland Brick site in Upper Swan showed it to be the oldest continuous human occupation yet discovered in Australia. (Flood:p93) (Pearce&Barbetti)

In the Swan Valley area the deity of the Rainbow Serpent Dreaming is known publicly as Waugul. George Fletcher Moore and others record knowledge of the Waugul at first settlement in the 1830's.

Endurance of Rainbow Serpent Belief
Nyungah testimonial and anthropological evidence shows the Rainbow Serpent Belief System has endured and is still current today.

The Rainbow Serpent Dreaming and the Pyrton site have inspired art at a local and international level. Jack Davis, internationally renowned Aboriginal playwright, spent time at Pyrton as a teenager. In the opening scene of his play "The Dreamers" the tribal family is walking slowly across the escarpment not far from Hammersley's house.

This is the actual proposed prison site at Pyrton.

NEXT: A SITE OF SIGNIFICANCE

Contacts
Swan Valley Nyungah Community (08) 9377 3550
Pyrton Action Group (08) 9279 6781