Yellagonga was an influential man of the land known as Mooro country, part of the Nyoongar nation. It is thought Mooro country extended north of the Swan River to Moora, west to the Indian Ocean, and east to Ellen Brook. The area includes Perth city and its northern suburbs. Yellagonga's main campsite was where Bishop's House in Spring Street, Perth, now stands. When problems arose with white settlers Yellagonga sought refuge at Lake Joondalup, part of a chain of lakes. It is believed that this chain may have once been an underground river and some of its limestone caves collapsed, forming the lakes. Aboriginal people maintain that the lakes are all the same water and their Dreaming stories associate the lakes with the Waugal. There are two accounts of Yellagonga's death, one in 1838 and another on 10 June 1843 in the Perth Gazette.
