Tharawal
Dharawal people | |
---|---|
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 and Illawarra, New South Wales |
Coordinates: | 34°S 151°E / 34°S 151°ECoordinates: 34°S 151°E / 34°S 151°E |
Rivers | Georges and Shoalhaven |
Notable individuals |
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/2/22/Dharag-Neighbors1.png/220px-Dharag-Neighbors1.png)
The Dharawal, or Tharawal, people are Indigenous Australians, those Australian Aboriginal people who are united by the Dharawal (or Tharawal) language,[2] and strong ties of kinship. They lived as skilled hunter–fisher–gatherers in family groups or clans scattered along the coastal area of what is now known as the Sydney basin, in New South Wales.
Etymology[]
Tharawal means cabbage palm.[3]
Country[]
According to Norman Tindale, the Tharawal's traditional lands encompass some 450 square miles (1,200 km2) from the south of Sydney Harbour, through Georges River, Botany Bay, Port Hacking and south beyond the Shoalhaven River to the Beecroft Peninsula. Their inland extent reaches Campbelltown and Camden.[4]
Clans[]
The Gweagal were also known as the "Fire Clan". They are said to be the first people to first make contact with Captain 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 as warra 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', since warra is a root 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]
The Cubbitch Barta clan registered an Indigenous land use agreement for Helensburgh in 2011.[6]
Lifestyle[]
The historical artwork (rock engravings) of the Dharawal people is visible on the sandstone surfaces throughout their language area and charcoal and ochre paintings, drawings and hand stencils can be found on hundreds of rock surfaces and in the many dozens of rock shelters and overhangs in that area of land.[citation needed] There is a public viewing site of one group of engravings at , showing a whale and a wallaby, celebrating successful hunts and whale strandings.[7] Those engravings are marred by recent European inclusions. The original Jibbon point engravings (pecked and abraided petroglyphs) show a pod of killer whales hunting a seal. The leading whale is shown as a scarified and initiated animal indicating his status as a totemic spirit of high esteem.[citation needed]
It has been claimed that there were no remaining descendants of the Dharawal people, however after the Mabo v Queensland verdict and the Native Title Act 1993 there have been claims lodged by descendants of the Wodiwodi Clan who claim to have survived the early decimations and gradually moved back into the areas formally occupied by other clans. These Wodi Wodi clansmen are claiming lineage to the Dharawal tribe. Others claim descent from the Gweagal clan.[citation needed]
The Dharawal people lived mainly by the produce of local plants, fruits and vegetables and by fishing and gathering shellfish products. The men also hunted land mammals and speared fish. The women collected the vegetable foods and were well known for their fishing and canoeing prowess. There are a large number of shell 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 themidden sites.[citation needed]
Alternative names[]
- Carawal. (Pacific islands phonetic system, c had the value of th)
- Darawad
- Five Islands tribe
- Ta-ga-ry. (tagara = north)
- Thurawal
- Thurrawal
- Thurrawall
- Turawal
- Turrubul
- Turuwal
- Turuwul
- Turuwull
Source: Tindale 1974, p. 198
See also[]
Notes[]
- ^ This map is indicative only
Citations[]
- ^ Dousset 2005.
- ^ Jump up to: a b AIATSIS 2012.
- ^ Organ & Speechley 1997, p. 7.
- ^ Tindale 1974, p. 198.
- ^ Higgins & Collard 2020.
- ^ "Cubbitch Barta Clan of the Dharawal People Indigenous Land Use Agreement (ILUA)". ATNS: Agreements, Treaties and Negotiated Settlements. Retrieved 31 July 2020.
- ^ Watt 2014, p. 104.
Sources[]
- Dousset, Laurent (2005). "Tharawal". AusAnthrop (Australian Aboriginal tribal database). Archived from the original on 16 October 2014. Retrieved 4 January 2013.
- Goodall, Heather; Cadzow, Allison (2014). "Gogi". Dictionary of Sydney. Dictionary of Sydney Trust. Retrieved 9 October 2015.
- Higgins, Isabella; Collard, Sarah (28 April 2020). "Captain James Cook's landing and the Indigenous first words contested by Aboriginal leaders". Dictionary of Sydney. ABC News.
- "Language information: Dharawal". AIATSIS. 23 August 2012. Retrieved 4 January 2013.
- Organ, Michael K.; Speechley, Carol (1997). "Illawarra Aborigines - an Introductory History". In Hagan, J. S.; Wells, A. (eds.). A History of Wollongong. University of Wollongong Press. pp. 7–22.
- Ridley, William (1875). Kámilarói, and other Australian languages (PDF). Sydney: T. Richards, government printer.
- Tindale, Norman Barnett (1974). "Tharawal(NSW)". Aboriginal Tribes of Australia: Their Terrain, Environmental Controls, Distribution, Limits, and Proper Names. Australian National University Press. ISBN 978-0-708-10741-6.
- Watt, Bruce (2014). The Shire: A journey through time. Cronulla, Australia: Bruce Watt. pp. 11, 26, 27, 67. ISBN 978-0646920191.
- Watt, Bruce (2019). Dharawal: the first contact people; 250 years of black and white relations. Cronulla, Australia: Bruce Watt. pp. vi, vii, 3, 5, 21, 43, 46, 50, 56, 87, 95, 111–114, 112, 121–122. ISBN 978-0646996837.
- Williams, Shayne T. "An indigenous Australian perspective on Cook's arrival". BBC News.
Further reading[]
- Bibliography of Tharawal people and language resources, at AIATSIS
- Kohen, J. L; Blacktown and District Historical Society (1993), The Darug and their neighbours : the traditional Aboriginal owners of the Sydney region, Darug Link in association with the Blacktown and District Historical Society, ISBN 978-0-646-13619-6 (Trove and Worldcat entries)
- Tindale's Catalogue of Australian Aboriginal Tribes, South Australian Museum.
External links[]
- Aboriginal peoples of New South Wales