Barangaroo - Maritime - Coastal - Inner Sydney

Barangaroo occupies the old East Darling Harbour stevedoring foreshore between Millers Point / Walsh Bay and Darling Harbour — Gadigal Country of the Eora Nation. The modern precinct takes its name from Barangaroo, a Cammeraygal woman and leader at British colonisation, remembered in early colonial records as fiercely protective of her culture and as the second wife of Bennelong. Shell middens and other evidence point to long Aboriginal use of these shores for fishing, gathering and ceremony.

From the 1820s the western foreshore grew into a working port timber and marine products, then wool warehouses and wharves. Mid-nineteenth-century industry included the Millers Point gasworks. After the 1900 plague clearances, the Sydney Harbour Trust cut Hickson Road into the headland and lined East Darling Harbour with long finger wharves and sheds (Walsh Bay still shows that pattern). In the Depression years Hickson Road was the “Hungry Mile,” where casual wharf labourers hunted a day’s work.

Containerisation and the shift of heavy freight to Port Botany ended the site’s life as a modern stevedoring port. In 2003 the NSW Government announced urban renewal of the East Darling Harbour wharves; the named precinct Barangaroo followed, with Barangaroo Reserve restoring a headland park of native planting beside commercial towers and public foreshore walks. Official heritage interpretation leans on both First Nations stories and the maritime working history of Millers Point and Walsh Bay.

Barangaroo History Brought Woman To Tears

Truganini – Among the Last of the Tasmanian Aboriginal People

Truganini - The Last Of The Tasmanian Aboriginals

By the Time Truganini Was 17 She'd Been Raped (And Probably Contracted Syphullis), Her Mother Had Been Stabbed To Death, Her Uncle Had Been Shot, Her Stepmother Had Been Kidnapped By Mutinous Convicts Who Took Her To China, Her Sisters Had Been
Enslaved By Sealers, And Her Betrothed Had Been Murdered In Front Of Her. 
In Truganini's Case Each Assault Ipon Her Family Was Violent And Unprovoked. Her Mother Was Stabbed To Death. 

Tasmanian Aboriginal Women Were Much Prized By The Sealers Because They Were Highly Skilled Hunters Who Could Earn A Lot Of Money. 
The Treatment By The Sealers Was Undescribable
One Popular Torture For The Women Who Were Not Working Hard Enough Was To Tie The Women Face Down On The Ground and Put Hot Coals On Their Backs. 
In One Case Some Sealers Caught A Woman Who Had Tried To Escape, Tied Her Up, And Then Cut Flesh From Her Ears And Her Thighs And Them Forced Her To Eat It. 

 

The Cadigal People And The Eastern Beaches

Every Day Along The Eastern Beaches Of Sydney We Speak Words That Continue To Connect Us With The Cadigal People, The Traditional Owners (TO's) Of Cadigal Country

Aboriginal Place Names Are Spread Across Australia From Coast To Coast, Derived From The Various Languages & Dialects That Once Dominated Their Respective Landscapes. Some Of The Names Were Adopted By Colonisers & Have Been Subsumed Into Mainstream Australian Culture, Others Are Still Used By TO's, Some Are No Longer Used At All, But Have Been Recorded Historically, & There Are Many That Have Been Lost From Memory.

When You Lay Asleep Last Night & Hear The Sound Of The Ocean, of Waves Breaking On The Shore, That Sound We  Need  A sentence To Describe Is Expressed By the Cadigal In One Word "BONDI"

Historically Bondi Was Spelt Variously As Boondi, Bundi, Bundeye & Boodye. With Such A Beautiful & Poetic Meaning, It Is Surprising That It Is Not More Commonly Known. 

Alternatively, The Australian Museum Has A Record That Bondi Means The "Place Where A Fight Of Nulla's Took Place." It Has Been Suggested That This Latter Meaning May Derive From The Dull Wet Crack. A Nulla (An Aboriginal Weapon) Would Have Made As If It Hit Someone In The Head In Warfare Or Payback Ceremonies; A Sound Analogous To Be The Wet Crack Of Waves Breaking On Rocks. 

Tamarama Has Two Distinct Spellings As "Gamma Gamma," & Elsewhere As "Cramarama." It's Original Phonetic Pronunciation Must Lie Somewhere Between The Three Variations. Despite Maroubra Folklore, Historical Evidence Suggests That It Is Tamarama That Means "Thunder" Or "Thunder Clap" Or "Thunder Storm" 

Unfortunately For Coogee, It's Name Doesn't Have Quite The Poetic Sensibility That Bondi Does, Though It's Great For Sledging Coogee Residents In Sport Or Pub Banter. The Name Coogee Has Been Derived From The Aboriginal Word "Kudjah" (Kudjii), Meaning "Smelly" Or "Bad Smell". It Is Believed That The Name Derived From The Smell Of Large Deposits Of Rotting Seaweed That Once Built Up Along The Shoreline. There Is Good Historical Record That The True Name Of Coogee Bay Is "Bobroi"

"Boora" Is The Name Of Long Bay. The Traditional Word For A Pathway Was Recorded As "Mo-Ro" & Elsewhere As "Maru". Maroubra Is Believed To Be A Combination Of The Words "Maru" (Pathway) & "Boora" (Long Bay). Long Bay Was An Important Camping & Ceremonial Ground For The Cadigal, And The Traditional Pathway That Led There Passed Right Through Present Day Maroubra. 

For TO's, The Importance of Place Names Is Obvious. It Would Be Difficult To Find Significant Geographical Features In Australia That Don't Have An Original Name That Forms Part Of Greater Narratives Of Creation And Lore, Which Us Whitefellas Have Called Dreamtime these Stories Weave Their Way Across The Country Along Song Lines Often So Vast In Distance That Even Distinct Language Groups Are Custodians Of Only Part Of The Story. 

Since 2001 The NSW Government Has Committed To Recognising Aboriginal Cultural Heritage By Registering Original Place Names So That They Are Set Aside With Existing Names. Already 20 Locations Around Sydney Harbour Have Been Formally Gazetted As Dual Names Under The NSW Geographical Names Board Dual Naming Policy. 

But The Significance Of Aboriginal Place Names Is Not Just Important For TO's. They Are A Defining Element Of The Cultural Identity Of Australia. Many Are So Commonly Used, Subsumed Into Our Daily Lives, & Others So Subtle That We Fail To Recognise Their Significance. However, To Foreign Ears These Names Cleary Distinguish Themselves As Exotic; They Are Uniquely Our Own. As Such Defining Characteristics Of Our Nation In The Growing Cultural Monotony Of Globalisation, They Are Features We Should Celebrate. 

The Cadigal Have Left The Eastern Beaches Of Sydney A Greater Cultural Legacy Than The Place Names we Speak Of Daily

And when I Feel Up To Writing Again I Will Follow Up With The Greatest Gift & Legacy That The Cadigal Left Us.