AustLit

In January 1842 the Crown prosecuted Weewar, a Bindjareb Nyungar warrior, for carrying out tribal payback by spearing Dyung of the Mooro group. When Weewar heard that Dyung, a member of the tribe responsible for the death of his son, was moving through Binjareb territory he was governed by one law - traditional Aboriginal law. Weewar's trial became the test case in Western Australia which determined that British Law took precedence over traditional law. Weewar was sentenced to death which was later commuted to life on Wadjemup (Rottnest Island).