Aboriginal Heritage
Aboriginal people were the first people living in this area, as elsewhere in Australia, and it is argued by some historians that Europeans are more correctly described as "invaders" than "discoverers" or "first settlers". (1)
We are uncertain about the tribal boundaries of the local Aboriginal people and about the languages spoken. One source indicates the people were of the Daruk group.
It seems the local Aboriginal people were friendly with the Darkinjan people who lived in the Wyong area and further west, and there were tribal visits and intermarriages. In addition to tribal and language areas, there were descent groups or clans and smaller food collecting groups made up of different families. (2,3)
Numbers may not have been high by our standards but the area was well occupied by Aboriginal people judging by the large numbers of sites and the comments of the first European visitors.
Aboriginal people and the land
Aboriginal people have lived in the Gosford/Wyong region for thousands of years according to carbon-dating at a site at Mangrove Creek which goes back 11,000 years. They had a special relationship with the land where they had lived for so long, sometimes described by anthropologists as not so much the people owning the land as the land owning the people. The social groups, which we call tribes, claimed hunting rights and religious sanction for the occupation of areas with loosely defined boundaries - often defined by natural features with mythological significance.
Patricia Vinnicombe in "A Study of Aboriginal Sites in the Gosford Wyong Area" for the National Parks and Wildlife Service in 1980 notes numerous sites on the Bouddi Peninsula including eighty two just in the Putty Beach, Hardys Bay and Rileys Bay area. It was clearly a favoured place for Aboriginal life. (4)
The landforms and associated rock materials contributed to life in various ways. The flat rocks of the Hawkesbury Sandstones were used for ceremonial engravings and the caves for shelter from the wind rain and cold. Pools in rocks held water for various purposes and were sometimes deepened to retain water for dry weather. Accumulations of clay in the Narrabeen formations (ranging from white through yellow to red) were used for body decoration whilst pebbles of quartz and other hard rocks were made into tools and fish hooks. Larger tools were shaped from basalt found in places around the district including the Peats Ridge area. These tools needed to be sharpened, as evidenced by the many rubbing grooves in the area.
The coastal and estuarine waters provided an abundance of marine life. Vinnicombe lists some forty kinds of fish identified from middens.
Aboriginal people were expert at fishing with line and spear as well as at gathering crabs, lobsters, prawns, yabbies and many kinds of molluscs. Molluscs were important because they could be carried to rock shelters far from their source. Large amounts of shells are found in middens including oysters, mussels, limpets, pipis, cockles, whelks and triton shells some of which came from sea rock platforms and some from mud flats of the estuary. Australian fur seals must have occurred on the Central Coast as their remains have been found in middens.
Vinnicombe lists 113 plants in the Central Coast region which were sources of food, medicine, fish poisons, weapons and utensils.
Many plants had multiple uses. Take the Xanthorrhea or Grasstree as an example. The young centre shoots are edible, the flowers contain nectar, the long flower stem could be made into a spear and the resin extracted for shafting stone and shell implements and for mending leaking canoes and wooden vessels. Segments of the trunk when rubbed together readily produce fire.
The Macrozamia or Burrawang, one of our most common plants produces fleshy seeds. These were collected, removed from the hard outer covering, crushed, soaked in water for some days to remove poisonous substances and then roasted in the fire.
Other plants used by the Aboriginal people include:
The lumpy growths common on Angophora costata (Sydney Red Gum) could be used for bowls or even cradles, whilst weapons and digging sticks were made from hardwood trees. Timber was burnt in fires for warmth at night, cooking, and hardening and gluing weapons. Grass, reeds, vines, leaves and bark provided string, utensils and materials for shelters.
The birds and mammals of our area balanced the aboriginal diet and there is ample evidence in middens of kangaroos, wallabies and possums. Aboriginal people speared kangaroos and wallabies by pursuing them or surrounding them when they grazed. Snares for catching animals and birds were observed by early Europeans in the Hawkesbury area. Kangaroos and wallabies figure prominently in drawings and engravings, and must have been of ritual as well as economic importance.
Remains of various water birds have been found in middens. Fairy penguins may have been eaten. Parrots were certainly eaten as were crows. Brush turkeys would have been an easy prey, and birds' eggs were gathered.
Snakes, lizards and goannas were an important food since they could easily be caught when inactive in winter. Bees nests provided honey. Ants and ants' eggs provided fat, as did the larvae of various insects (including those known to us as witchetty grubs).
The Coming of the Europeans
Written history of this area is inevitably from a European perspective and we can only try to imagine what a shock it must have been to the Aboriginal people to see the first sailing ships and make contact with the first Europeans. Aboriginal people appear to have been quite friendly towards Phillip and Hunter when they explored Broken Bay in 1788 and 1789. William Bradley, who accompanied Governor Phillip, describes in his journal how they were met by the Aboriginal people.
We are uncertain about the tribal boundaries of the local Aboriginal people and about the languages spoken. One source indicates the people were of the Daruk group.
It seems the local Aboriginal people were friendly with the Darkinjan people who lived in the Wyong area and further west, and there were tribal visits and intermarriages. In addition to tribal and language areas, there were descent groups or clans and smaller food collecting groups made up of different families. (2,3)
Numbers may not have been high by our standards but the area was well occupied by Aboriginal people judging by the large numbers of sites and the comments of the first European visitors.
Aboriginal people and the land
Aboriginal people have lived in the Gosford/Wyong region for thousands of years according to carbon-dating at a site at Mangrove Creek which goes back 11,000 years. They had a special relationship with the land where they had lived for so long, sometimes described by anthropologists as not so much the people owning the land as the land owning the people. The social groups, which we call tribes, claimed hunting rights and religious sanction for the occupation of areas with loosely defined boundaries - often defined by natural features with mythological significance.
Patricia Vinnicombe in "A Study of Aboriginal Sites in the Gosford Wyong Area" for the National Parks and Wildlife Service in 1980 notes numerous sites on the Bouddi Peninsula including eighty two just in the Putty Beach, Hardys Bay and Rileys Bay area. It was clearly a favoured place for Aboriginal life. (4)
The landforms and associated rock materials contributed to life in various ways. The flat rocks of the Hawkesbury Sandstones were used for ceremonial engravings and the caves for shelter from the wind rain and cold. Pools in rocks held water for various purposes and were sometimes deepened to retain water for dry weather. Accumulations of clay in the Narrabeen formations (ranging from white through yellow to red) were used for body decoration whilst pebbles of quartz and other hard rocks were made into tools and fish hooks. Larger tools were shaped from basalt found in places around the district including the Peats Ridge area. These tools needed to be sharpened, as evidenced by the many rubbing grooves in the area.
The coastal and estuarine waters provided an abundance of marine life. Vinnicombe lists some forty kinds of fish identified from middens.
Aboriginal people were expert at fishing with line and spear as well as at gathering crabs, lobsters, prawns, yabbies and many kinds of molluscs. Molluscs were important because they could be carried to rock shelters far from their source. Large amounts of shells are found in middens including oysters, mussels, limpets, pipis, cockles, whelks and triton shells some of which came from sea rock platforms and some from mud flats of the estuary. Australian fur seals must have occurred on the Central Coast as their remains have been found in middens.
Vinnicombe lists 113 plants in the Central Coast region which were sources of food, medicine, fish poisons, weapons and utensils.
Many plants had multiple uses. Take the Xanthorrhea or Grasstree as an example. The young centre shoots are edible, the flowers contain nectar, the long flower stem could be made into a spear and the resin extracted for shafting stone and shell implements and for mending leaking canoes and wooden vessels. Segments of the trunk when rubbed together readily produce fire.
The Macrozamia or Burrawang, one of our most common plants produces fleshy seeds. These were collected, removed from the hard outer covering, crushed, soaked in water for some days to remove poisonous substances and then roasted in the fire.
Other plants used by the Aboriginal people include:
- Banksia: nectar sucked from flowers; dried cones burnt for a long time in the fire
- Orchids: tubers eaten raw (to combat dysentery) or roasted after husks removed
- Stringybark: bark used for canoe hulls and for roofing on huts; smaller pieces used for torches
- Grevillea: nectar obtained from flowers
- Cabbage Tree Palm: young leaf bases and hearts eaten; gum sucked; bark fibres used for fishing lines; leaves used for temporary shelters
- Bracken Fern: staple diet; underground stems (rhizomes) roasted in ashes
The lumpy growths common on Angophora costata (Sydney Red Gum) could be used for bowls or even cradles, whilst weapons and digging sticks were made from hardwood trees. Timber was burnt in fires for warmth at night, cooking, and hardening and gluing weapons. Grass, reeds, vines, leaves and bark provided string, utensils and materials for shelters.
The birds and mammals of our area balanced the aboriginal diet and there is ample evidence in middens of kangaroos, wallabies and possums. Aboriginal people speared kangaroos and wallabies by pursuing them or surrounding them when they grazed. Snares for catching animals and birds were observed by early Europeans in the Hawkesbury area. Kangaroos and wallabies figure prominently in drawings and engravings, and must have been of ritual as well as economic importance.
Remains of various water birds have been found in middens. Fairy penguins may have been eaten. Parrots were certainly eaten as were crows. Brush turkeys would have been an easy prey, and birds' eggs were gathered.
Snakes, lizards and goannas were an important food since they could easily be caught when inactive in winter. Bees nests provided honey. Ants and ants' eggs provided fat, as did the larvae of various insects (including those known to us as witchetty grubs).
The Coming of the Europeans
Written history of this area is inevitably from a European perspective and we can only try to imagine what a shock it must have been to the Aboriginal people to see the first sailing ships and make contact with the first Europeans. Aboriginal people appear to have been quite friendly towards Phillip and Hunter when they explored Broken Bay in 1788 and 1789. William Bradley, who accompanied Governor Phillip, describes in his journal how they were met by the Aboriginal people.
When the Cutter first landed, they were met by a great number of the Natives, Men, Women & Children, the Men were all armed with Spears, Clubs, Stone Hatchets & Wooden Swords, they were all very friendly & when the Long boat landed were without arms, we passed the night in this Cove on board the Boats. William Bradley Voyage to NSW
On 4th March 1788, the party explored the "extensive piece of water" known today as Brisbane Water and they "found natives all the way up." (5) In 1789, a smallpox epidemic broke out amongst the Sydney Aboriginal people and when David Collins visited the south side of Broken Bay, he found that "in many places our path was covered with skeletons".
Details of the depopulation of the north side of Broken Bay are not known since few Europeans visited the area but it is possible that smallpox reduced the numbers of Aboriginal people considerably. In June 1789, after further explorations of the "north branch" (Brisbane Water), Captain John Hunter recorded that "in this harbour we did not see more than twenty natives." (6,7) An important article in The Australian in 1826 soon after European settlement of the area began, describes a walk from Bensville across to Cockrone Lake and on to Avoca, Terrigal, Erina and Narara. There is no mention of encountering any Aboriginal people except at Erina where the writer met a "group" some of them afflicted with sickness. Speaking of the "inexhaustible body of sea-shells" in the area of Brisbane Water, he says "it is difficult to believe the common opinion that these shells have been deposited by former natives because it implies a populousness which the present state of the blacks would hardly warrant." (8)
We have few written accounts of relationships between Aboriginal people and Europeans in our study area and none of any substance. The very lack of information suggests that here, as in other areas of the Central Coast, Aboriginal people soon lost their language, culture and tribal identity. Any direct descendants would be difficult to trace.
Aboriginal Sites
Apart from the very meager historical records, our knowledge of Aboriginal people of our area comes from Aboriginal sites. These include occupation and ceremonial sites: rock shelters, middens, carvings and so on.
The Daleys Point site is an important one with extensive flat areas of rock suited for rock engravings and ceremonial activities. The site is within a Public Reserve adjoining the national park.
The engravings include fish, whales, kangaroos and birds. There are grinding grooves beside a small pool and, below the rock shelf, caves with deep middens which have yielded carbon date readings from about 6000 to 5,500 years ago. The caves contain charcoal drawings of kangaroos, echidnas, fish and human figures.
The importance of the site has been recognised by individuals and institutions over the years. A proposed road from The Rip Bridge was re-aligned by the D.M.R. in 1974 to avoid any damage to it.
This important site and others like it remind us of the precarious nature of Aboriginal archaeological remains; of our neglect of this heritage in the past and the need to step up preservation measures if it is to be kept for future generations.
Conclusion
Aboriginal people were part of a complex chain of life. They were able to live most successfully in this area by making effective use of the natural resources available.
Their lives were not just controlled by physical conditions however. They were governed by strict codes of social behaviour and guided by mythological and associated ritual ceremonies. (9)
Australians today can learn a good deal from the balanced and meaningful relationship between nature and people which our Aboriginal heritage reveals. We must ensure that this heritage on the Bouddi Peninsula in the form of Aboriginal sites is cherished and preserved.
References
Details of the depopulation of the north side of Broken Bay are not known since few Europeans visited the area but it is possible that smallpox reduced the numbers of Aboriginal people considerably. In June 1789, after further explorations of the "north branch" (Brisbane Water), Captain John Hunter recorded that "in this harbour we did not see more than twenty natives." (6,7) An important article in The Australian in 1826 soon after European settlement of the area began, describes a walk from Bensville across to Cockrone Lake and on to Avoca, Terrigal, Erina and Narara. There is no mention of encountering any Aboriginal people except at Erina where the writer met a "group" some of them afflicted with sickness. Speaking of the "inexhaustible body of sea-shells" in the area of Brisbane Water, he says "it is difficult to believe the common opinion that these shells have been deposited by former natives because it implies a populousness which the present state of the blacks would hardly warrant." (8)
We have few written accounts of relationships between Aboriginal people and Europeans in our study area and none of any substance. The very lack of information suggests that here, as in other areas of the Central Coast, Aboriginal people soon lost their language, culture and tribal identity. Any direct descendants would be difficult to trace.
Aboriginal Sites
Apart from the very meager historical records, our knowledge of Aboriginal people of our area comes from Aboriginal sites. These include occupation and ceremonial sites: rock shelters, middens, carvings and so on.
The Daleys Point site is an important one with extensive flat areas of rock suited for rock engravings and ceremonial activities. The site is within a Public Reserve adjoining the national park.
The engravings include fish, whales, kangaroos and birds. There are grinding grooves beside a small pool and, below the rock shelf, caves with deep middens which have yielded carbon date readings from about 6000 to 5,500 years ago. The caves contain charcoal drawings of kangaroos, echidnas, fish and human figures.
The importance of the site has been recognised by individuals and institutions over the years. A proposed road from The Rip Bridge was re-aligned by the D.M.R. in 1974 to avoid any damage to it.
This important site and others like it remind us of the precarious nature of Aboriginal archaeological remains; of our neglect of this heritage in the past and the need to step up preservation measures if it is to be kept for future generations.
Conclusion
Aboriginal people were part of a complex chain of life. They were able to live most successfully in this area by making effective use of the natural resources available.
Their lives were not just controlled by physical conditions however. They were governed by strict codes of social behaviour and guided by mythological and associated ritual ceremonies. (9)
Australians today can learn a good deal from the balanced and meaningful relationship between nature and people which our Aboriginal heritage reveals. We must ensure that this heritage on the Bouddi Peninsula in the form of Aboriginal sites is cherished and preserved.
References
- See. for example. Reynolds. H. The Other Side of the Frontier: Aboriginal Resistance to the European Invasion of Australia. Penguin. 1982.
- Tindale. N. B. Aboriginal Tribes of Australia. Canberra. ANU Press. 1974.
- "Aboriginal Languages in the South Central Coast. N.S.W.: Fresh Discoveries". Oceania. 41. 1. Sept •• 1970.
- Vinnicombe. Patricia. Prediliction and Prediction - A Study-.Of Aboriginal Sites in the Gosford Wyong Area. N.S.W. National Parks and Wildlife Service. July. 1980.
- Bradley. W. A Voyage to New South Wales. Sydney: Public Library of N.S.W. 1969.
- Collins. D. An Account of the English Colony in New South Wales. London. Cadell and Davies. 1910.
- Hunter. J. Historical Journal of Events at Sydney and at Sea 1787 1792. Angus & Robertson. 1968.
- "X.Y.Z." in an article in The Australian. 20 December 1826.
- See Vinnicombe p.xiv:6.