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Wareamah (pronounced waw-ree-ah-mah), a First Nations name for the island, connects to the waterways and homelands of the Wallumedegal, Wangal, Cammeraygal and Gadigal peoples and it continues to hold significance for Traditional Owners and Custodians. First Nations peoples were part of the island’s maritime workforce and some experienced periods of incarceration on the island during the 19th and early 20th century.
Burriburri Dreaming story
Dharawal people have a story about the creation of islands stretching from Sydney Harbour to the Shoalhaven. This tells the story of Burriburri (humpback whale) searching for his barangga (large vessel).
Natural balance disturbed
From the mid-nineteenth century, the island’s landscape was reshaped for different uses including a convict gaol and a shipyard. As a result signs of the island’s early use by Sydney’s First Nations peoples are no longer visible.
First Nations convicts
During Cockatoo Island’s convict era (1839 to 1869), First Nations peoples were a small but notable segment of the convict population. The conditions on the island led to the early deaths of many of these men with authorities concluding that confinement in an overcrowded setting, as well as low immunity to diseases circulating in the gaol, were the cause. [Source: ‘Under the Colony’s Eye: Gentlemen and Convicts on Cockatoo Island 1839-1869’, Sue Castrique, 2014, Anchor Books Australia.]
During the late 19th century vulnerable youths, including First Nations children, were held on the island during the reformatory, nautical and industrial school period.
Aboriginal Tent Embassy
One of the island’s contemporary First Nations stories is that of the Aboriginal Tent Embassy Land Claim. On 20 November 2000, an Aboriginal rights group, led by Wiradjuri woman Isabel Coe, rowed to Cockatoo Island – then inaccessible to the public – and established a camp, claiming the site for all Aboriginal people. The group of 10 was a branch of the Aboriginal Tent Embassy, which has occupied land outside Old Parliament House in Canberra since 1972.
The federal government took legal action to have the group removed and the matter proceeded to the NSW Supreme Court. The group’s claim was ultimately rejected and, consequently, they left the island peacefully on 13 March 2001. Artworks on the upper island, including murals on the timber shed and searchlight tower, are reminders of the Tent Embassy and the continuing connection between First Nations peoples with Wareamah.
