Culture and History of Shark Bay

Shark Bay’s cultural history stretches back at least 30,000 years through the enduring connections of the Malgana, Nhanda and Yinggarda peoples. Archaeological evidence includes campsites, middens and quarries that reflect long-standing relationships with land and sea.

Since the seventeenth century, Dutch traders, French explorers, English settlers and people from Asia and the Pacific have added layers to this history. Together, Indigenous heritage and more recent maritime, pastoral and scientific stories form a rich and ongoing cultural landscape.

Aboriginal Heritage

“Nhanganha Gutharraguda, Wula guda nyinda” — This is Shark Bay. You come this way. Shark Bay is the traditional country of three Aboriginal language groups: Malgana (central), Nanda (south) and Yinggarda (east coast). The Malgana name, Guthaaguda, means “place of two waters,” reflecting deep cultural connections to land and sea. Around 130 registered Aboriginal heritage sites occur across the region, including quarries, rock shelters, burial sites and middens that record long-term use of marine and terrestrial resources.

Most archaeological sites lie close to the coast. Edel Land and Peron Peninsula were especially important, with freshwater sources, stone quarries, campsites, fish traps and burial places. Excavations at Monkey Mia reveal a rich diet of shellfish, fish, turtles and dugongs, while stone for tools was quarried at Crayfish Bay in the west and Yaringa near Gladstone in the east. All sites and artefacts are protected under the Aboriginal Heritage Act.

Periods of Occupation

Aboriginal people first inhabited Shark Bay around 30,000 years ago, with occupation fluctuating in response to changing sea levels, climate and freshwater availability. Evidence from Eagle Bluff shows two main occupation phases: during the late Pleistocene (30,000–18,000 years ago) and again in the Holocene (7,000–6,000 years ago). Other sites indicate more recent and continuous use, including Monkey Mia and Useless Loop from about 2,300 years ago.

During glacial periods, lower sea levels reduced marine food sources and freshwater, likely causing people to move away from the area. Rising seas in warmer interglacial periods flooded earlier sites but also restored mangroves and shellfish habitats, supporting renewed occupation between 7,000 and 4,000 years ago.

Contact and Change

European contact began in the late 1700s, with French explorers recording smoke, camps and encounters on Dirk Hartog Island and Peron Peninsula. François Péron produced the first written descriptions of Aboriginal people for European audiences, while later artists and explorers documented both peaceful and tense encounters as Europeans expanded into the region.

From the mid-1800s, Aboriginal people became deeply involved in the pearling and pastoral industries. While their knowledge of Country was essential, working conditions—particularly in pearling—were often harsh and exploitative. Over time, Aboriginal, Asian and Pacific Islander workers formed mixed communities whose descendants still live in the region. Fishing and, more recently, ecotourism remain important cultural and economic activities.

Lock Hospitals

Between 1908 and 1918, Lock Hospitals were established on Bernier Island and Dorre Island to isolate Aboriginal people diagnosed with diseases such as leprosy and tuberculosis. Many patients were taken far from their homelands with little explanation. Records suggest about one-third of those admitted died on the islands, prompting later descriptions of the hospitals as “tombs of the living dead.”

The hospitals closed in 1918, and the sites are now protected heritage places. Memorials established by Aboriginal communities, particularly from Carnarvon, honour those who suffered and died, ensuring this history is remembered.

Aboriginal People Today

Shark Bay remains culturally significant due to enduring responsibilities for caring for Country—protecting sites and maintaining connections between people, land and sea. Native Title recognises these ties. In 2018, Malgana and Nanda Native Title determinations were granted over large parts of the Shark Bay region, including much of the World Heritage Area, while the Gnulli claim is ongoing.

Today, Aboriginal organisations work with Parks and Wildlife Services on joint management, conservation and research projects, including dugong and turtle monitoring, island clean-ups and ranger programs. State initiatives such as Plan for Our Parks support conservation, cultural tourism and employment, strengthening both cultural continuity and environmental protection.

Aboriginal Languages

Before European settlement, around 250 Aboriginal languages were spoken across Australia, including Malgana, Nanda and Yinggarda in the Shark Bay region. Colonisation severely reduced everyday language use, but revival efforts are underway.

Malgana, once thought lost, is being actively revived through community projects, schools, interpretive materials and ecotourism, with support from the Yamaji Language Centre. Nanda and Yinggarda are now spoken by only a few people, but all three languages remain vital expressions of cultural identity, carrying knowledge, history and connections to Country.