Culture
INDIGENOUS
Sydney
Australia’s Aboriginal community has a history stretching back more than 65,000 years, making theirs the oldest known civilisation on Earth. And Sydney is home to a variety of sites and attractions that showcase this incredible culture. WORDs: Matilda Meikle
BENNELONG POINT
Now the site of the Sydney Opera House, Bennelong Point was once a small tidal island with a beach on the western side. The island was a place of ceremony and feasting for the Gadigal people – they would also fish and harvest food from the area, leaving the island to build up with discarded shells from many years of gatherings. The place takes its name from Woollarawarre Bennelong – a senior Eora man at the time of the First Fleet’s arrival. He was captured by early settlers in November 1789 and taken to Sydney Cove under the orders of Governor Arthur Phillip, who wanted to learn more about the natives’ customs and language. Bennelong quickly adapted to life among white men, dressed like them, and learned to speak English. In 1790, Governor Phillip built a brick hut for Bennelong at his request, on what then became known as Bennelong Point. Later, between 1818 and 1821, the tidal area between Bennelong Island and the mainland was filled in with rocks excavated from the peninsula to create a low platform, on which Fort Macquarie would be built. Today, the fine-dining restaurant at the Opera House, headed up by world-famous Executive Chef Peter Gilmore, is called Bennelong.
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