History

Understanding the past story of indigenous peoples in the Australian landscape can be difficult for a number of reasons. Firstly, this record comes to us as an an oral history, one that is passed down over time and prone to mistranslation. To this we can add after occupation, the dislocation of peoples from their land, suppression of their language as well as misappropriation and misunderstanding of their knowledge by colonists.

At the time when white settlers moved into the area, the forest formed part of a natural barrier between the Wiradjuri language group south of the Castlereagh (Barr) River and the Kamilaroi north of the river. The main areas occupied by the first peoples in the area were along the river valleys of the Castlereagh (Barr) in the NW, the Talbragar in the SE and the Macquarie (Wambool) in the west. Here there was a permanent water supply, good food and material resources and a manageable environment. Researchers suggest that the forest itself was probably used for seasonal resources and special cultural events as long term occupation would have been hindered by the lack of reliable water sources and difficult terrain. The overwhelming majority of indigenous occupation sites in the forest have been found along major creek lines, particularly Denmire, Ranters and Goondy Creeks to the NW and Goan and Spring Creeks to the SE. These creek lines formed the basis for pathways by which people could move between the larger river valleys.

You can find more information about the history of Aboriginal people in the Forest and Dubbo area in the following publications, please note that these publications may contain images and the names of deceased persons;

'We are a farming class’: community, class and place in Dubbo’s farmlands, 1870–1950" by Peter Wooley (2021), particularly pgs. 291-310. https://openresearch-repository.anu.edu.au/bitstream/1885/243951/1/P%20Woodley%20-%20We%20are%20a%20farming%20class_2021.pdf

Claiming inheritance: Aboriginal people, native title and cultural inheritance - A story from Dubbo, NSW by Helena Onnudottir (2001), particulalrly pgs. 125-157. https://figshare.mq.edu.au/articles/thesis/Claiming_inheritance_Aboriginal_people_native_title_and_cultural_heritage_a_story_from_Dubbo_New_South_Wales/19439603 

 
A treatise on aborigines of Dubbo and district : their camplife - habits - and customs by Edward Josiah Garnsey (1942)