Imagine standing here centuries ago. Aboriginal people fished and collected shellfish around what we now call White Triangle Point. They cooked their meals right here.
Yurong Point, now known as Mrs Macquarie’s Chair, has a rich history. It was a popular spot for Aboriginal people long before European settlement. They lived around this point for thousands of years.
The area around White Triangle Point was rich in resources. Oysters mussels and fish thrived. Possums wallabies and kangaroos were plentiful. Edible plants grew here too.
Shells and animal bones were discarded forming middens. These middens are mounds of waste left by Aboriginal people camping near the coast. They show how people used the land.
In the 1990s an amateur archaeologist found two Aboriginal sites. One was a sandstone rockshelter. These shelters offered protection. Aboriginal people lived in them or created art on the walls.
The Yurong rockshelter has faint white hand stencils. These stencils were made by blowing a mixture of white ochre water and animal fat over a hand.
The other site found near White Triangle Point was an Aboriginal midden. This large midden is buried under soil grass and European rubbish now. It contains Sydney cockles Sydney rock oysters hairy mussels periwinkles and limpets.
Fish bones were also found along with a small stone tool. Later debris from 19th-century picnics is mixed in. Clay pipes ceramic ginger beer bottles and glass bottles are among the finds.
When the British arrived in 1788 they renamed Tubowgule as Cattle Point. They confined cattle and horses here. Colonists also crushed middens to make lime slurry for building. This led to it becoming known as Limeburners’ Point.
Later it was named Bennelong Point. This honors Woollarawarre Bennelong. He was a member of the Wangal people. Bennelong served as an interlocutor between the Eora and the British.
Archaeologists have uncovered seawalls retaining walls and pick marks here. This shows how the rocky outcrop has been shaped over time. These remnants tell the story of Sydney Cove.
Aboriginal people of coastal Sydney spent much of their time fishing. Both men and women fished. Men used multi-pronged spears. Women used hooks and lines.
They ate various marine animals. Whales seals and dolphins visited Sydney Harbour. Whale strandings were a chance for a large feast.
Shellfish was a staple food. Oysters mussels cockles and limpets were commonly eaten. The suburb Cabramatta is named after the local Aboriginal name for shipworms.
Crustaceans were also part of the diet. Blue Swimmer Crabs Mud Crabs and Spiny Lobsters were common. Crayfish were caught with small hoop nets.
Remember as you enjoy the view from White Triangle Point that you are walking on land with a rich past. Aboriginal people thrived here for thousands of years. Their story is etched into this land.