The Ngunnawal people (alternatively Ngunnawal tribe, or more latterly Ngunnawal Nation) are the indigenous Australian inhabitants whose traditional lands encompass much of the area now occupied by the city of Canberra, Australia and the surrounding Australian Capital Territory. They spoke the Ngunnawal language. The Indigenous Australians are the first inhabitants of the Australian continent and its nearby islands, continuing their presence during European settlement. ... For other uses, see Canberra (disambiguation). ... Motto: Pro Rege, Lege et Grege (For the Queen, the Law and the People) Nickname: (none) Other Australian states and territories Capital Canberra Government Administrator Chief Minister Const. ... The city of Canberra is named after the Ngunnawal word Kambera Ngunnawal language, language spoken by the Ngunnawal people, an Australian Aboriginal tribe who lived in the Canberra area. ...

When first encountered by European settlers in the 1820s, the Ngunnawal people lived in an area roughly bounded by what is now the towns of Queanbeyan, Tumut, Boorowa and Goulburn. The Ngunnawal people were neighbours of the Yuin (on the coast), Ngarigo (who lived south east of Canberra), Wiradjuri (to the west) and Gundungurra (to the north) peoples. Queanbeyan sign Bridge near the centre of town over the river Queanbeyan is a city in south eastern New South Wales, Australia. ... Tumut is a town and local government area area in New South Wales, Australia, roughly 4 hours south-west of Sydney. ... Boorowa is a farming town in New South Wales, Australia and administrative centre of about 3000 people. ... The most famous landmark in Goulburn, the Big Merino Sheep Goulburn (34°44′ S 149°44′ E) is a provincial cathedral city in New South Wales, Australia characterised by a particularly long main street. ... The Wiradjuri, or Wiradhuri, are an indigenous people of Australia, who speak the Aboriginal language of that name. ...

The earliest direct evidence for indigenous occupation in the area comes from a rock shelter near the area of Birrigai near Tharwa, which has been dated to approximately 20,000 years ago. However, it is likely (based on older sites known from the surrounding regions) that human occupation of the region goes back considerably further. Whether the original occupants of these early sites were ancestral to the Ngunnawal is not directly known, however Ngunnawal lore and tradition identify strongly with these sites and the surrounding lands, indicating a lengthy association. The term indigenous peoples has no universal, standard or fixed definition. ... Tharwa, (postcode 2620) is a village within the Australian Capital Territory south of Canberra. ...

They were gradually displaced from the Canberra area beginning in the 1820s when graziers began to occupy the land there. In 1826 a thousand Aborigines at Lake George protested an incident involving a shepherd and Aboriginal woman, though the protesters moved away peacefully. Some Ngunnawal people worked at properties in the region.

Some histories of Australia record the last full-blooded Ngunnawal person, Nellie Hamilton, dying in 1897. However, it has been regarded by some indigenous Australians as a biased attempt to claim that they were wiped out when there are many Ngunnawal people still around today. [1]

Some Ngunnawal people helped found the Aboriginal Tent Embassy in 1972. The Aboriginal Tent Embassy in Canberra has existed intermittently since 1972. ...

The opening speech by the chairman at the constitutional convention at Old Parliament House held on 2 February 1998 included

We acknowledge that we are meeting today on country of which the people of the Ngunnawal tribe have been custodians for many centuries and on which the members of that tribe performed age-old ceremonies of celebration, initiation and renewal.

In October 2002, some Ngunnawal members wanted to evict the residents of the tent embassy who had "lost their way". [2]

The ACT Planning and land authority's annual report in 2004 called for research into the Ngunnawal language to name beaches at Lake Tuggeranong and Lake Ginninderra, and to agree to recognise traditional names of geographic features. [3] Lake Tuggeranong Lake Tuggeranong is an artifical lake in the Canberra district of Tuggeranong. ... Lake Ginninderra is an artificial lake located on the Ginninderra Creek and adjacent to the Belconnen Town Centre. ...

External links

• 'The Death and Resurrection of the Ngunnawal: A Living History'