Attachment A4 Brief Aboriginal Historical Study of the Botany Road Precinct and Surrounds – Botany Road Precinct Brief Aboriginal History of the Botany Road Corridor and Surrounds Cox Inall Ridgeway for THE CITY OF SYDNEY FINAL April 2021 About this document This brief Aboriginal Historical Study has been prepared by Indigenous social change agency Cox Inall Ridgeway (CIR) for the City of Sydney Council (the City) as part of the strategic planning review of an area known as the ‘Botany Road Corridor’ (the Study Area). It is one of a number of reports prepared by CIR for the City, including a Project Report, Statement of Aboriginal Significance for the area, and an Archaeological Assessment. This brief history draws on historical research including interviews conducted by CIR with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander community members in 2020. It provides a brief overview of the history of the Study Area and surrounds (including Redfern, Waterloo, Eveleigh and Alexandria) and profiles a number of places which help illustrate the rich and diverse social history of the area, prioritising Aboriginal voices, views and stories. It is a short introductory history and is not intended to be a complete account of the rich and diverse histories of the Study Area and surrounds. This document has been authored by CIR for the City. It reflects the independent insights and analysis of CIR, not the City of Sydney Council or any other organisation. While all care has been taken by CIR to ensure information is accurate, the document may contain errors. i The copyright for this document is vested with the City of Sydney Council. Copyright does not extend to Indigenous cultural knowledge or other Indigenous Cultural and Intellectual Property (ICIP) collected through this project. Consistent with the terms of CIR’s engagement with the City and commitment to Aboriginal stakeholders and community members: rights to stories, knowledge and ICIP rights remain with knowledge holder and custodians, and are not transferred or impacted as a result of being shared with CIR, or included in this document. ii Acknowledgements CIR acknowledges and pays respects to the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander nations of Australia. We acknowledge and thank the Elders, organisations, staff and community members who participated in this project and shared their advice, knowledge and insights. Thank you in particular to: Gadigal Elders and descendants; the Metropolitan Local Aboriginal Land Council; the City of Sydney Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Advisory Panel; the City of Sydney Indigenous Leadership and Engagement team; the City of Sydney Strategic Planning and Urban Design staff; and the TZG urban design and heritage teams. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander readers are advised Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander readers should be aware that this document contains images, names and references to deceased persons. Table of Contents Brief Aboriginal history of the Botany Road Corridor _______________________________ v Introduction ___________________________________________________________________ v Gadigal Country ________________________________________________________________ vi Invasion and colonisation ________________________________________________________vii Urban development _____________________________________________________________ ix Working life ___________________________________________________________________ ix ‘Aboriginal Redfern’ _____________________________________________________________ xi Activism and self-determination ___________________________________________________ xii Shared history _________________________________________________________________ xiv Struggle and strength ____________________________________________________________ xv Gentrification _________________________________________________________________ xvii Today________________________________________________________________________ xvii Selected places of memory and connection _____________________________________xix Map _________________________________________________________________________ xix Aboriginal Legal Service __________________________________________________________ xx The Empress and the Clifton _____________________________________________________ xxi Aboriginal Medical Service _______________________________________________________ xxii The Black Theatre _____________________________________________________________ xxiii Radio Redfern and Koori Radio ___________________________________________________ xxv About the project ________________________________________________________ xxvii Project team _________________________________________________________________ xxvii Historical study research approach _______________________________________________ xxvii iii Project limitations ___________________________________________________________ xxviii References _______________________________________________________________ xxix Interviews, oral histories and reflections __________________________________________ xxix Books _______________________________________________________________________ xxix Websites _____________________________________________________________________ xxx Film and video ________________________________________________________________ xxx Other sources _________________________________________________________________ xxx End Notes ______________________________________________________________ xxxiii iv Brief Aboriginal history of the Botany Road Corridor Introduction Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people have a long history with the inner Sydney suburbs of Redfern, Waterloo and Alexandria, and the place defined as the ‘Botany Road Corridor’ (the Study Area). The connection runs deep, the spirit of place is alive still. People and culture, language and history are entwined, as roots of the giant Moreton Bay figs which stand tall throughout the region. The area is part of Gadigal Country, within the Eora Nation.1 The Gadigal clan is one of the 29 Aboriginal clans of the Sydney basin which make up the Eora nation.2 As the City of Sydney’s Barani website reports: “The territory of the Gadi(gal) people stretched along the southern side of Port Jackson (Sydney Harbour) from South Head to around what is now known as Petersham.”3 Aboriginal people established and used this place for many generations prior to invasion and colonisation by the British. They used the heath and wetlands in this area to camp, hunt, fish, construct tools, keep and share knowledge, create art, and harvest plant foods and medicine. They maintained pathways through the dune heath that connected coastal and inland clans. When the British invaded, Aboriginal people sought refuge here. Significantly impacted through displacement, disease and frontier conflict, Gadigal people and other clans and nations based in the Sydney basin adapted and responded. Indeed, Aboriginal people were part of the working life of the colony. As Sydney expanded, Aboriginal people became an integral part of the city, adapting, negotiating, and forging shared histories. During the twentieth century, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people from across Australia, and NSW in particular, came together to work, reconnect with family, and build communities in Redfern, Waterloo, Alexandria, Eveleigh and Darlington. The area became known as ‘Aboriginal Redfern’, the most recognised and significant urban Aboriginal place in Australia. Aboriginal Redfern was the birthplace of urban Aboriginal rights. It is a key site of protest, the home of successful campaigns for recognition of land rights, human rights and civil rights, and of the first community-controlled organisations, such as the Aboriginal Medical Service. These people, events and organisations were instrumental in driving significant change for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians, and for all Australians. They played a key role in changing the law, and shaping Australia’s understanding of First Nations people and itself as a nation. It is probably no coincidence that ‘Aboriginal Redfern’ played such a significant role in shaping 20th century Aboriginal history. The place itself is imbued with cultural meaning. Located specifically within the Study Area are a large concentration of individual sites where important historical, political and social events, activities and organisations were formed or flourished, and where significant Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people or families were born or lived. v Much of this history is not documented or recognised in official histories of Sydney. In many ways, this project is part of this process of reclamation and the re-storying of place, where the Aboriginal voice can be restored to a more central place in the narrative. Gadigal Country Prior to invasion, colonisation and industrial transformation of the land, the Study Area and surrounds were a waterscape of permanent ponds and semi-permanent wetlands supporting waterbirds, freshwater fish and turtles, forests of paperbark and swamp mahogany, sedges, reeds, ferns and lilies. Freshwater springs rose near current day Surry Hills and formed streams and creeks that flowed southwards through this area towards Botany Bay. Small watercourses flowed through the study area and can be seen depicted as culverts under Botany Road in 19th century maps. The sprawling Lachlan Swamps, located at toady’s Centennial Park, were three times the size of the current park and surrounded by wetland vegetation. The Lachlan