Aboriginal Sydney (Cadi, Djubuguli)

Sydney was named after Sydney Cove, on which the city is located, which in turn was named after Thomas Townshend, the First Viscount Sydney of England; the port is called Port Jackson.

Sydney's Aboriginal name "Djubuguli" refers to what is today named Bennelong Point (where the Opera House stands), whereas "Cadi" denotes the entire Sydney Cove.

The largest open-air art gallery

Sydney is home to one of the largest open-air art galleries in the world, says Jenny Munro, Chairperson of the Metropolitan Local Aboriginal Land Council. More than 4,000 rock engraving sites have been identified in the greater Sydney region so far, well over 600 of which are in the inner area of Sydney.

Before the invasion Sydney was home to at least 1,500 Eora and Ku-Ring-Gai people, whose traces are left in the greater Sydney area. While many traces were destroyed by the extending city some remain accessible and provide an insight into a culture at least 50,000 years old. It is assumed that Aboriginal people adapted to the changing coastline when it was 12km further to the east at the end of the ice age, 20,000 years ago.

Visible Aboriginal history

The evidence of Aboriginal occupation of Sydney's area is still visible

• through Aboriginal place names (e.g. Parramatta, Cabramatta, Cammeray, Kurnell,...)
• by piles of shells, called middens
• by rock engravings (also called petroglyphs)
• by scarred trees where Aboriginal people cut away part of the tree's bark
• by stone tools or other artefacts
• and even by the course of some streets believed to have been Aboriginal walking tracks (e.g. Oxford Street, King Street, George Street, Warringah Road)

Many Aboriginal sites are not signposted, known only to the very interested people. I hope these pages attract more attention to Aboriginal heritage by Sydney's visitors.

Today, Sydney's Aboriginal communities take great pride in being able to demonstrate that, in spite of such a violent history of dispossession, they have survived.—Melinda Hinkson in: "Aboriginal Sydney"

Guide to Sydney's Aboriginal places

I have compiled guides for several significant Aboriginal places. Sites which are also accessible by public transport are marked with a bus, those inaccessible within a reasonable time by public transport are marked with a car.

Aboriginal sites in the CBD

• First flag (where the British flag was raised for the first time)
• Harbour, Sydney Cove
• Museum of Sydney, Bridge Street
• Opera House, Bennelong Point
• Royal Botanic Gardens (Cadi Jam Ora display)
• Sydney Observatory
• Tank Stream, Sydney's first water supply
• Town Hall is Sydney's first burial ground.

Aboriginal sites of the north

• Spit Bridge to Manly, Sydney harbour north shore
• Woodford Bay, Lane Cove, where a Reconciliation Memorial Plaque recognises the resistance to British invasion of the local Cameraygal people. It was unveiled in February 2004.

Aboriginal sites of the east

• Bondi, public Golf Course
• Bondi, Mackenzies Point
• Bondi, Ben Buckler
• Oxford Street, Paddington, once was a track running towards South Head and Bondi Beach, used by local Indigenous people.

Aboriginal sites of the south

• Bundeena, Royal National Park
• Redfern

Aboriginal sites of the west

• Blacktown. Before European settlement, the area was inhabited by the Dharug tribe. In the 1820s, Governor Macquarie built "Black Town", an institute aimed at assimilating Aboriginal people. This was abandoned by 1833 but the name stuck. These days, Blacktown is still home to large numbers of Indigenous people.
• Cleves Park, Putney, is the burial place of Aboriginal man Bennelong.

Books about Aboriginal Sydney