THE LAND ON WHICH WE STAND

Welcome to and Acknowledgement of Country

The Awabakal and Worimi peoples are acknowledged by New Lambton Football Club as the Traditional Custodians of the land and waters situated within the Newcastle local government area, including wetlands, rivers creeks and coastal environments. It is known that their heritage and cultural ties to Newcastle date back tens of thousands of years.

New Lambton Football Club acknowledges that we operate on the grounds of the traditional country of the Awabakal and Worimi peoples.

We recognise and respect their cultural heritage, beliefs and continuing relationship with the land, and that they are the proud survivors of more than two hundred years of dispossession.

New Lambton Football Club reiterates its commitment to address disadvantages and attain justice for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples of this community.

Protocols for welcoming visitors to Country has been a part of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultures for thousands of years. View Reconciliation Australia protocols.

In the Newcastle Local Government Area (LGA) there are 3 Local Aboriginal Land Councils (LALCs). The LALC can assist with identifying local Traditional Custodians who can perform a Welcome to Country.

Commence planning well in advance to allow time for decision making and discussion with the LALCs and Traditional Custodians.

The Dreaming

Aboriginal peoples’ long and rich cultural and spiritual connections to Country and each other, their ceremonies, natural landmarks, sacred objects, lore and beliefs are linked through the Dreaming. Biraban, the eagle hawk, is held in highest regard by the coastal tribes. Homage to the eagle hawk is conveyed in their stories and linked to their tribal social structures. Koin is another revered local sky-hero who announces the coming of Kooris from distant tribes for rites or corroborees.

Sacred Sites

Natural landscape features and known sacred sites include Whibayganba, Newcastle’s famous landmark Nobbys. It is said that a notorious kangaroo jumped from TahlbihnPoint, at the site now known as Fort Scratchley, to the safety of Whibayganba. The kangaroo remains hidden in the island’s bowels occasionally thumping its tail and making the land tremble. The thumping is said to be a reference to the region’s earthquake activity.

There is also a high cliff named Yi-ran-na-li, renowned for being a fearful place. Yi-ran-na-li must be respected by all, and no one should linger or speak in its vicinity because of the danger of falling rocks.

Yarns Parai (Stories on Country)

The Lower Hunter Freight Corrider is a dedicated freight rail line currently proposed by State government between Fassifern and Hexham – an area of cultural and archaeological sensitivity. As part of this infrastructure project, Transport for NSW have worked together with Biraban, Mindaribba and Awabakal Local Aboriginal Land Councils, the Saretta Art & Design Project Team with Professor John Maynard and Pambalong knowledge keepers to develop an interactive Story Map outlining the Aboriginal Cultural Values within the Lower Hunter Freight Corridor footprint on country that travels across the lands of the Awabakal and Wonnarua people. View Yarns Parai (Stories on Country) for cultural stories of the Lower Hunter region.

Awabakal Dictionary

As a result of many years of research and development by the Arwarbukarl Cultural Resource Association (ACRA), Miromaa Aboriginal Language and Technology Centre has produced the Awabakal Dictionary – Community Edition. The Awabakal language belongs to the traditional Awabakal people and any of its descendents. Its authors invite all Aboriginal people living in Awabakal country to become familiar with and attempt to learn or at least use some of the fragments of the Awabakal language to preserve its unique culture and reanimate its rhythm and melody to ring through Parai Awabakalkoba (Awabakal country) once again. It also asks the reader to use it in a respectful manner, and to follow language protocols if you wish to name any object, place or organisation by first contacting the ACRA for advice to check whether it is culturally appropriate to do so and is the correct expression.

Dual Naming

In 2016, an application by the Guraki Aboriginal Advisory Committee to the NSW Geographical Names Board, with supporting documentation from primary sources such as maps, sketches and descriptions dating back as early as 1798, resulted in the official recognition and gazettal of the following eight significant geographical features within the Newcastle local government area:

  • Whibayganba – Nobbys Headland
  • Tahlbihn – Flagstaff Hill (Fort Scratchley)
  • Burrabihngarn – Pirate Point (Stockton)
  • Yohaaba – Port Hunter
  • Coquun – Hunter River
  • Khanterin – Shepherds Hill (The Hill)
  • Toohrnbing – Ironbark Creek
  • Burraghihnbihng – Hexham Swamp