Aboriginal Australians

One of the most important sporting and cultural events on the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander calendar returns.

On 29 April 1770, the Gweagal people of Kamay (Botany Bay) discovered James Cook and his crew as they sailed into the bay and came ashore. The eight days that followed changed the course of Australia’s history. 250 years later the events of those eight days and their continuing impact are still being debated, contested, felt.

In Aboriginal communities, our elders are our libraries; they hold our knowledge and connect us to our past while strengthening our future

Dyarubbin, the Hawkesbury River, begins at the confluence of the Grose and Nepean rivers and ends at Broken Bay. This long, winding and ancient river has been home to the Darug people for millennia and is a vital and sustaining resource.

Delve deep into the stories of Indigenous Sydney before European settlement, created through a close and innovative interrogation of the European records of early colonisation.

In Aboriginal communities, our elders are our libraries; they hold our knowledge and connect us to our past while strengthening our future

Dyarubbin, the Hawkesbury River, begins at the confluence of the Grose and Nepean rivers and ends at Broken Bay. This long, winding and ancient river has been home to the Darug people for millennia and is a vital and sustaining resource.

Sport — including boxing — has long been one arena where First Nations talent has been celebrated.

Darug people share a deeper story of Dyarubbin, the Hawkesbury River.

Bungaree (c 1775–1830) is a remarkable and enigmatic figure in Sydney and Australia’s colonial history. 

How can a dialogue between Indigenous ancestors and descendants forge connections to country for all Australians?

In 1770 the Gweagal people of Kamay (Botany Bay) discovered James Cook and the Endeavour. The Library’s new exhibition explores the eight days that followed.

An Aboriginal leader’s assistance to the artists of the Newcastle penal settlement led to an unprecedented visual record of the local Indigenous people.

A contributor to the Library’s Living Language exhibition reflects on Indigenous resistance, survival, and the New England linguicide.

A list of Aboriginal placenames was a trigger for seeking the ‘real secret river’.

We've recently digitised a remarkable series of  photos showing players from the Redfern All Blacks rugby league team taken at Redfern Oval in 1946.

A major exhibition opening in July at the Library will celebrate UNESCO’s International Year of Indigenous Languages.

Photographs from the Deadly Awards by Jamie James.

This mysterious portrait of an unknown, handsome young Aboriginal man is believed to have belonged to Governor Lachlan Macquarie, described as ‘One of the NSW Aborigines befriended by Governor Macquarie’. Part of the Works in Focus series.

An 1802 portrait of a young Eora man, by French artist Nicolas-Martin Petit, is remarkable for its attention to detail.

Portrait of Gumbaynggirr and Bundjalung people from the 1870s show how photography shaped race relationships in the nineteenth century. 

Members of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities are advised that this story contains names and images of deceased people.

Our 2017 Merewether Fellow Stephen Gapps looks at resistance and warfare in colonial Sydney on the anniversary of the Appin Massacre of 1816. 

Hear Jonathan Jones, Bruce Pascoe and Richard Aitken share their thoughts about some of the items on display in Planting Dreams. 

The Gurindji’s struggle sparked a national network of support organisations and became a symbol of the land rights movement.

A Common Place displays 15 dramatic portraits of Moree Murries taken by Michael Riley, one of Australia’s leading Indigenous contemporary artists.

The Proclamation Board (1828-1830) is a four-strip pictogram aimed to communicate that those who committed violent crimes, be they Aboriginal  Australian or colonist, would be punished.

In 1868, 13 cricketers from Victoria's western districts sailed from Sydney to become the first Australian team to tour England.

Members of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities are advised that this story contains names and images of deceased people.

A great inventor, an Indigenous rights advocate and Australia's first published Aboriginal writer.

The discovery and acquisition of a fascinating album compiled by Captain James Wallis reveals the artistic collaborations between a commandant and a convict.

Delve deep into the stories of Indigenous Sydney before European settlement, created through a close and innovative interrogation of the European records of early colonisation.

On 29 April 1770, the Gweagal people of Kamay (Botany Bay) discovered James Cook and his crew as they sailed into the bay and came ashore. The eight days that followed changed the course of Australia’s history. 250 years later the events of those eight days and their continuing impact are still being debated, contested, felt.