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Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander viewers are advised that this resource may contain images and voices of people who have died.

Nexus: Eora: mapping Aboriginal Sydney, 1770-1850

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Old painting of Sydney Harbour
Nexus: Eora: mapping Aboriginal Sydney, 1770-1850

SUBJECTS:  Arts, History

YEARS:  9–10


Why are artworks viewed as important sources of historical information?

In this clip, you will see a range of artworks created about and by the Eora people, the original inhabitants of Port Jackson (site of today's Sydney Harbour).

These artworks were part of a State Library of NSW exhibition in 2006, which was designed to depict the lives of the Eora before and after colonists arrived in Australia, up to 1850.


Things to think about

  1. 1.Imagine a coastal region of Australia growing from a population of 1500 to a bustling city of four million. What sort of evidence might you expect to find of the culture that existed before the population explosion? What might artworks created today reveal about our way of life to people who discover them in the future?
  2. 2.What evidence about activities and beliefs important to the Eora people between 1770 and 1850 can you find in the artworks depicted in this clip? What are some similarities and differences between the culture depicted in these artworks and the culture of the colonists who arrived in Australia in the 18th and 19th centuries? In what ways did the Eora contribute to the type of city that Sydney would become?
  3. 3.What, if anything, surprised you about the culture of the Eora as shown in the clip? Melissa Jackson, one of two people listed in the exhibition catalogue as in charge of 'Aboriginal liaison and consultation', says in the clip that the 'reaction of the local Indigenous community was overwhelming'. Why do you think the Aboriginal people of Sydney might have responded so positively to this exhibition?
  4. 4.Conduct your own research to find useful resources, including the exhibition's online catalogue, on the lives of the Eora from 1780-1850. Create a timeline that illustrates the effects of colonisation on the Eora, including images and text. Be sure to note dates for which you couldn't find information to add to your timeline. Find out more about at least two of the clans of the Eora people today, such as the Cadigal and Wangal.


Copyright

Metadata © Australian Broadcasting Corporation and Education Services Australia Ltd 2012 (except where otherwise indicated). Digital content © Australian Broadcasting Corporation (except where otherwise indicated). Video © Australian Broadcasting Corporation (except where otherwise indicated). All images copyright their respective owners. Text © Australian Broadcasting Corporation and Education Services Australia is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License (CC BY-SA 4.0).

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