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People

mawa – grasp – to take hold

walama – return or come back

There was a growing political activism within Sydney’s Aboriginal community over the 20th century, which led to the development of facilities and institutions for urban Aboriginal people. While Redfern was a particular focus for activism around civil and land rights, and a number of organisations integral to self-determination were established here, but there are also sites all over Sydney of political significance to Aboriginal people.

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Essays, Events, Organisations, People, Places, War
  • Koiki: the Mabo star

    Koiki: the Mabo star

    Author: Danika Davis Australian people observe Mabo Day on 3 June each year to commemorate Eddie Mabo’s courage and determination to overturn the fiction of terra nullius, recognising that First…

  • Dave Sands Lane

    Dave Sands Lane

    Dave Sands Lane is a small lane in Glebe, which runs behind Phillip Street, and between Denman Lane and Mitchell Lane West. It was named in 2014 in honour of…

  • Douglas Grant

    Douglas Grant

    Author: Nicole Cama Douglas Grant was a natural born leader, fiercely intelligent artist and poetry enthusiast who served as a Private in the 13th Battalion of the Australian Imperial Force…

  • Bert Groves

    Bert Groves

    Author: Laila Ellmoos Bert Groves was an active and vocal Sydney-based Aboriginal activist in the 1950s and 60s, who improved the lives of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples across Australia.…

  • Jack Patten

    Jack Patten

    John (Jack) Patten was a public speaker and William Ferguson’s collaborator in the early days of the Aborigines Progressive Association (APA). He was born in Cummeragunja on the Murray River;…

  • Charles ‘Chicka’ Dixon

    Charles ‘Chicka’ Dixon

    Charles ‘Chicka’ Dixon was born at Wallaga Lake and worked as a stevedore on Sydney’s wharves. He worked in the Seamen’s Union as a shop steward before following the political…

  • Charles Perkins

    Charles Perkins

    Born on the Todd River in Alice Springs, Charles Perkins moved to Adelaide in 1945. Spotted by a soccer talent scout, he played for Everton in England and returned after…

  • Ricketty Dick

    Ricketty Dick

    Author: Laila Ellmoos Ricketty Dick (c1795-1863) was an Aboriginal man who lived in Sydney in the early to mid-19th century. He was also known as Warrah Warrah or William (Bill)…

  • Pemulwuy

    Pemulwuy

    Pemulwuy was a courageous resistance fighter who led a guerrilla war against the British settlement at Sydney Cove from 1788 through to 1802. Because of his resistance to the invaders,…

  • Cora Gooseberry

    Cora Gooseberry

    Cora Gooseberry was wife to King Bungaree and was an identity in Sydney for 20 years after his death. Her Aboriginal name was recorded as ‘Carra or Kaaroo’. She was known…

  • Bennelong

    Bennelong

    Bennelong (who also went by the names Wolarwaree, Ogultroyee and Vogeltroya) was from the Wangal people and is regarded as one of the most significant and notable Aboriginal people in…

  • Bungaree

    Bungaree

    Known for being able to straddle both black and white societies, Bungaree was from the Garigal clan at Broken Bay and moved to the Sydney area. He was a diplomat, mediating between…

  • Colebee

    Colebee

    Colebee (also known as Coleby) was a warrior of the Gadigal clan at Port Jackson when the British First Fleet arrived in 1788. The customs and lifestyle of the local Aboriginal…

  • Arabanoo

    Arabanoo

    Arabanoo (c1760-89) was the first of Governor Arthur Phillip’s protégés. Phillip’s plan was to learn the language and customs of the local people. He believed that if some of them…