Abstract dark blue pattern with curved and geometric lines and shapes, resembling stylised waves or leaves, on a matching dark blue background.

Places

mubaya – speak an unknown language

yuridyuwa – sit near (to sit near anyone)

berewalgal – people from a distant place

Aboriginal people have always lived in Sydney. Following the arrival of the First Fleet in 1788, the British encountered Aboriginal people around the coves and bays of Port Jackson. The Aboriginal communities here were both generous and combative towards the colonisers. Many places around the harbour remained important hunting, fishing and camping grounds long after Europeans settlement, and continue to be culturally significant today.

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Archaeology, Essays, People, Places, War
  • The Domain and Royal Botanic Gardens

    The Domain and Royal Botanic Gardens

    Author: Paul Irish The Governor’s Domain has been a public space since the earliest days of the Sydney colony, and continued to be used for many years by Aboriginal people.…

  • The site of First Government House

    The site of First Government House

    Author: Paul Irish and Tamika Goward Sydney’s first Government House overlooking Sydney Cove was built for Governor Arthur Phillip in 1789. The building and its grounds were an important place…

  • Hyde Park South

    Hyde Park South

    Until the mid-1820s, Aboriginal people travelled from all over Sydney, and as far away as the Hunter and the Illawarra, to gather at a ceremonial contest ground to the south…

  • Australian Museum

    Australian Museum

    The Australian Museum is Australia’s oldest natural history museum. It was established in 1827 when the British Colonial Office authorised a museum in NSW for the collection of ‘rare and…

  • Prince Alfred Park (Cleveland Paddocks)

    Prince Alfred Park (Cleveland Paddocks)

    Prince Alfred Park, earlier known as Cleveland Paddocks, was an Aboriginal camp site until the mid-19th century. Sydney’s Aboriginal people lived here, west of the city centre, until the coming…

  • Lake Northam

    Lake Northam

    Blackwattle Creek was once a tidal watercourse that extended from its marshy headwaters at Glebe towards the suburbs of Redfern and Waterloo to the south. Lake Northam within Victoria Park…

  • Bennelong Point / Dubbagullee

    Bennelong Point / Dubbagullee

    Bennelong Point / Dubbagullee, the peninsula on the eastern side of Sydney Cove, was the site of a brick hut built for Bennelong by Governor Arthur Phillip in 1790. Within…

  • Lilyvale Campsite

    Lilyvale Campsite

    Author: Paul Irish and Tamika Goward The Rocks area is mainly known as a place of early European history, but it was also used by Aboriginal people for many years…

  • Sheas Creek (Alexandra Canal) Alexandria

    Sheas Creek (Alexandra Canal) Alexandria

    Author: Paul Irish and Tamika Goward At Beaconsfield in the 1890s, workers on the Alexandra Canal began cutting through the sediments of Shea’s Creek and made some remarkable discoveries. The…

  • Tank Stream Sydney

    Tank Stream Sydney

    Author: Paul Irish and Tamika Goward Central Sydney is built in the Tank Stream valley. The Tank Stream now runs underneath the city, but its fresh water was one of…