History of Australia and the Aboriginal People

Here I am doing another post about the history of Aboriginals,like many cultures the Aboriginal people would pass down stories, myths, legends and dances from one generation to the next, they are not alone many other cultures have done the same.

The Aboriginal people have what is called The Dreaming, The Dreaming is history, it tells of how the world was formed, how the world which was featureless was transformed into mountains, hill, valleys and waterways, it tells how the stars were formed and how the sun came to be.

In the Sydney metropolitan area there are close to 5,000 Aboriginal sites, yes 5,000 that is a bloody lot. These sites are under threat every day from development, vandalism and natural erosion, these sites naturally cannot be replaced so once destroyed they are gone forever. Some sites are still in reasonable condition such as the sites located in Land Cove, North Sydney, Willoughby and Ku-ring-gai areas, these sites hold an important part of our history.

Naturally the Aboriginal people, who once occupied these areas, left important evidence of their past and way of life before colonisation. All Aboriginal sites are significant to Aboriginal people because they are evidence of the past Aboriginal occupation of Australia and are valued as a link with their traditional culture. Clues to what these sites were used for can also be surmised by talking with Elders from other parts of Australia where traditional knowledge has not been lost to the same degree.

The Sydney Basin is one of the richest provinces in Australia in terms of Aboriginal archaeological sites. There are thousands of Aboriginal sites, more than half of which contain rock art, and in Sydney’s sandstone belt at least 1500 rock shelters have been discovered to contain cultural deposit.

All Aboriginal sites have legal protection under both state and federal law and it is an offence to damage or destroy them without agreement from the Department of Environment and Conservation (DEC).