Aborigines spearing fish. Others diving for crayfish, a party seated beside a fire cooking fish, by Joseph Lycett. National Library of Australia.
Pre-Colonial Sydney
It is believed that the Aborigines of Australia first arrived on the continent some 25,000 years ago from southeast Asia, either by canoes, or by the now submerged Saul Shelf which once joined Australia to mainland Asia. At the time of the arrival of the first white explorers, the Aboriginal population was in the vicinity of 300,000. Scattered across the face of the continent, there were some 500 semi-nomadic tribes and sub-tribes, each of which was made up of clans or families. Each tribe had its own language, with dialects of a common language being common where a tribal area was vast. Each clan, comprising of between 20 and 300 people, had its own territory through which it wandered, hunting animals and collecting food before moving camp as the seasons changed and the food supply diminished. Communication between clans was common, particularly for initiation ceremonies and social gatherings, but tribes rarely came together.
There are about 29 clan groups in what is now the Sydney metropolitan area, referred to collectively as the Eora Nation. There has been extensive debate about which group or nation these 29 clans belong to. It is generally acknowledged that the Eora are the coastal people of the Sydney area, with the Dharug (Darug) people occupying the inland area from Parramatta to the Blue Mountains. The Dharawal people’s lands are mostly confined to the area south of Botany Bay, extending as far south as the Nowra area, across to the Georges River in Sydney’s west.
Clans or bands (called ‘tribes’ by the Europeans) within Sydney belonged to several major language groups, often with coastal and inland dialects.
There is some disagreement as to the degree of cultural separateness of the people who traditionally lived in the adjoining lands which comprise greater Sydney, encompassing most of the western suburbs and stretching up to the Blue Mountains.
However, there is much evidence to suggest that the major language groups of greater Sydney were different groups using different languages and different initiation rites. There is evidence of Aboriginal people migrating in a north-south direction but none from east to west. The appearance of men from the inland group was different from that of coastal men who were missing their right incisor tooth, removed during their initiation.
Similarly, when Bennelong of the Wangal people went into Parramatta in 1789, he did not understand the language spoken there so that’s another practical example of clans being distinct entities. The 29 clan groups of the wider Sydney region were associated with specific areas of land by family boundaries, and distinguished by body decorations, hairstyles, songs and dances, tools and weapons.
The findings of Australian Museum archaeologist Dr Val Attenbrow's Port Jackson Archaeology Project, and research undertaken for her book, Sydney's Aboriginal Past, provide a basis for the material for Aboriginal People of the Sydney region webpage.
These sources include: written descriptions, oral histories, drawn and painted illustrations as well as objects collected by the earliest colonists and visitors to Port Jackson in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries, as well as the archaeological record.
When the British arrived in January 1788, there were more than 1500 Aboriginal people living in the area from Botany Bay to Broken Bay and as far west as Parramatta. They belonged to many clans including the the Gadigal, Wangal, Wallumedegal, Boromedegal, Gamaragal, Borogegal, Birrabirragal and Gayamaygal. They spoke languages now known as Darug, Dharawal. To the south-west Gundungurra and to the north-west of the Hawkesbury River Darginung was spoken.
Fish and fishing were an important part of life although a range of marine and land animals as well as plant foods provided a varied diet for people living near the coast.
Archaeological research on sites such as Aboriginal rock engravings and shell middens* along with the excavated artefacts and food remains provide a record of the distant past.
Using these sources, it is possible to bring together a picture of the changing life of Aboriginal people in the Sydney region over many thousands of years.
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The website "Barani: Sydney’s Aboriginal History" provides histories of people, places and events in the City of Sydney local government area that are associated with the histories of Sydney’s Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities. It highlights Sydney’s Aboriginal journey: its places, its history and its people. Barani celebrates a living culture in the heart of the city.
The Aboriginal Heritage Office is a joint initiative by Lane Cove, North Sydney, Willoughby, Ku-ring-gai, Strathfield and The Northern Beaches Council in a progressive move to protect Aboriginal heritage in these areas. Part of the work of the Aboriginal Heritage office is to monitor these Aboriginal sites on a day to day basis and long term management reports are developed to ensure their preservation and protection.
Another key role of the Aboriginal Heritage Office is to give Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal people involved with these council areas an avenue of approach to discuss issues or concerns they may have.
An important part of the role is to communicate with schools and other groups and help children develop a deeper understanding of the unique culture of the Aboriginal people.
In association with the local councils, talks, walks and activities are conducted to enhance appreciation of Aboriginal culture in the wider community. A selection of information leaflets on various Aboriginal Heritage topics are available to download. Find out more about what the AHO offers Councils and the community.
