Aboriginal past comes to life

The past will be brought to life with the publishing of a new Aboriginal history of Ryde, developed through Ryde City Council.

Author and history expert from Macquarie University Keith Vincent Smith has documented the history of the Wallumedegal people who inhabited this area.

One thousand copies of the history will be published, with a copy being sent to every local school.

The history was produced in conjunction with the Aboriginal Needs Paper - Social Plan 2005, which identifies significant issues for the local Indigenous population.

The plan is the final of eight needs papers for Council and will be forwarded to the Department of Local Government by the end of December.

With help from Darug representative Chris Tobin, Aboriginal Project Officer Susan Moylan-Coombes, and indigenous solicitor and author Robyn Quiggan, the documents were prepared and presented to the council last week.

“We have discovered the diverse and extremely talented indigenous people of this area. We found in our studies that the City of Ryde can be a lonely and difficult place for indigenous people,” Ms Quiggan said.

The history will add to the city’s already deep roots in its own history, which now include the Aboriginal point of view.

Artist Chris Tobin, who represents his mother’s people of this area, presented council with a painting to remind them of the ancestors of this area.

“This area was known as ‘where the clever men are’, so I was inspired by that and created this painting,” Mr Tobin said.

Surrounded by Ryde City councillors and those associated with a soon-to-be released Aboriginal History of Ryde, Mayor Ivan Petch holds a celebratory painting by Chris Tobin. TWT on-the-spot PHOTO

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