The Whadjuk formed part of the Noongar language group, with their own distinctive dialect. Culturally they were divided into two matrilineal moieties: "Wardungmaat", from "wardung" ("crow", that is, the Australian raven, "Corvus coronoides") and "maat" ("lineage"; literally "leg") and; "Manitjmaat", from "manitj" ("sulphur-crested cockatoo, "Cacatua galerita" ") and "maat". Moieties were endogamous, and children took the moiety of their mother. Each moiety also contained two "sections" (or "skins"): in the case of the "Manitjmaat" these were "Ballarok" and "Tondarup" and for the "Wardungmaat", they were "Ngotak" and "Naganyuk".