Suburban Snapper People!, 2021
Acrylic and graphite on board
90 x 152.5cm
BKE004
Copyright The Artist
The area now known as Ryde/Hunters Hill was long ago named Wallumatta by its original inhabitants. Wallumatta roughly translates as ‘snapper place’ and the people of the region (the Wallumattagal...
The area now known as Ryde/Hunters Hill was long ago named Wallumatta by its original inhabitants. Wallumatta roughly translates as ‘snapper place’ and the people of the region (the Wallumattagal or Wallumedegal people) caught huge snapper fish in both the Lane Cove and Parramatta Rivers, which form boundaries on 2 sides of the area.
When the British arrived in 1788, Wallumatta was reportedly home to a clan of about 20-40 people. All the original inhabitants of the region are said to have died from smallpox.
I really do wonder about that. Surely some people moved inland or away from the sickness and death. How can anyone know for certain that ALL the Wallumattagal people died? It isn’t very long ago that the Indigenous people of Tasmania were thought to ALL have died (which we now know isn’t so).
When the British arrived in 1788, Wallumatta was reportedly home to a clan of about 20-40 people. All the original inhabitants of the region are said to have died from smallpox.
I really do wonder about that. Surely some people moved inland or away from the sickness and death. How can anyone know for certain that ALL the Wallumattagal people died? It isn’t very long ago that the Indigenous people of Tasmania were thought to ALL have died (which we now know isn’t so).