Brookvale Public School

The original Australian inhabitants were called Aboriginals. They had different names for themselves. Today, Aboriginal people call themselves Koories if they come from Eastern New South Wales or Murri if they come from Western New South Wales.

Aboriginal people were never nomadic. Aboriginal people camped at different places within their own country because of religious beliefs or because of seasonal food.

Originally there were at least 719 different Aboriginal regions within Australia. each had there own language. Today there are just 70 remaining languages within New South Wales.

The main regions around the Sydney area are Kuringgai, Dharruk and Dharawal.

As well as different languages, people had their own Dreaming Stories, songs, dances and weapons. Sometimes they were friendly to each other and other times they were angry or fighting. During friendly times groups would gather to trade, celebrate and barter things.

In each country small clans of 50-60 people similar to large families would camp, hunt and travel together. Each of these clans had their own name. In Kuringgai region there 11 different groups such as Carigal, Birrabirragal and Kayimai people. They would often meet to have songs, dances and arrange marriages.