Traditional Land Owners

Heritage of the Traditional Land Owners

The traditional Aboriginal groups of inner Sydney/Marrickville region are the Cadigal Wangal clans – the Eora people.

Cadigal land lies south of Port Jackson and stretches from South Head to Petersham with part of our southern boundary lying on the Cooks River.

On the western border lies the territory of the Wangal nation which extends along the southern shore of the Parramatta River to Parramatta.

Prior to the arrival of the First Fleet in 1788, the Cadigal and Wangal people successfully lived along The Cook's River for thousands of years. The Cook’s River was a beautiful and abundant water course. Over this time, an enormous body of knowledge and special skills were developed to harness the life sustaining resources that The Cook's River and the surrounding lands provided.

Suburbs close to the city such as Glebe are also the home of the Cadigal and Wangal ancestors and the surrounding bushland was rich in plant, bird and animal life with fish and rock oysters available from Blackwattle Bay.