| aka:Dharawal,Darawal,Carawal,Turawal,Thurawal,Thurrawal,Thurrawall,Turu-wal,Turuwul,Turrubul,Turuwull Tharawal (AIATSIS),nd (SIL)[1] | |
 Sydney Basin bioregion | |
| Hierarchy | |
|---|---|
| Language family: | Pama–Nyungan |
| Language branch: | Yuin–Kuric |
| Language group: | Yora |
| Group dialects: | Tharawal[2] |
| Area | |
| Bioregion: | Sydney Basin |
| Location: | Sydney andIllawarra,New South Wales |
| Coordinates: | 34°S151°E / 34°S 151°E /-34; 151 |
| Rivers | Georges andShoalhaven |
| Notable individuals | |
TheTharawal people and other variants, are anAboriginal Australian people, identified by the Yuin language.[2] Traditionally, they lived as hunter–fisher–gatherers in family groups orclans with ties ofkinship, scattered along the coastal area of what is now theSydney basin inNew South Wales.
Dharawal meanscabbage palm.[3]
According to ethnologistNorman Tindale, traditional Dharawal lands encompass some 450 square miles (1,200 km2) from the south ofSydney Harbour, throughGeorges River,Botany Bay,Port Hacking and south beyond theShoalhaven River to theBeecroft Peninsula. Their inland extent reachesCampbelltown andCamden.[4]
TheGweagal were also known as the "Fire Clan". They are said to be the first people to make contact withCaptain Cook. The artist Sydney Parkinson, one of the Endeavour's crew members, wrote in his journal that the indigenous people threatened them shouting words he transcribed aswarra warra wai, which he glossed to signify 'Go away'. According to spokesmen for the contemporary Dharawal community, the meaning was rather 'You are all dead', sincewarra is aroot in the Dharawal language meaning 'wither', 'white' or 'dead'. As Cook's ship hove to near the foreshore, it appeared to the Dharwal to be a white low-lying cloud, and its crew 'dead' people whom they warned off from returning to the country.[5]
TheCubbitch Barta clan registered anIndigenous land use agreement forHelensburgh in 2011.[6]
The whale is the main totem for the Dharawal people.[7] The historical artwork (rock engravings) of the Dharawal people is visible on the sandstone surfaces throughout their language area andcharcoal andochre paintings, drawings andhand stencils can be found on hundreds of rock surfaces and in the many dozens ofrock shelters and overhangs in that area of land.[citation needed] There is a public viewing site of one group of engravings atJibbon Point, showing a whale and awallaby. According to an early Dharawal informant, Biddy Giles,[b] these images commemorated notable events, a successful hunt and the stranding of a whale.[9][10]
The Dharawal people lived mainly by the produce of local plants, fruits and vegetables and by fishing and gatheringshellfish products. The men also hunted land mammals and speared fish. The women collected the vegetable foods and were well known[by whom?] for their fishing and canoeing prowess. There are a large number ofshell middens still visible in the areas around the southern Sydney area and a glimpse of the Dharawal lifestyle can be drawn from an understanding of the kitchen rubbish left on the midden sites.[citation needed]
Source:Tindale 1974, p. 198
Authority control databases: National |
|---|