Welcome to Darug Lands

The land on which you are standing is the traditional home of the Boorooberongal clan of the Darug people.

We, the Darug born of this land, born of the spirit, have walked this country since the Dreaming. Darug territory embraces both land and water, from the Blue Mountains to the Tasman Sea, from the Hawkesbury in the north toward Appin in the south. We join with and echo our ancestors’ voices as we continue to live in our ancestral home.

We have gathered here for thousands of years to hunt and feast, to sing and dance in ceremony – it is a land rich in our Dreaming.

Our mothers and fathers, grandmothers and grandfathers are our teachers. They teach us of the Dreaming, our language and our culture as their parents taught them. Our bodies and minds carry their wisdom and the memories of a different past. While our lives are different to those of our ancestors – we have survived and adapted and, because of this, we are still here, with a sixty thousand year culture in our blood and in our hearts. Our language is an important part of maintaining our culture, a way of passing on the old ways of our people.

We welcome you to Darug lands.

TIATI MURRA DARUGA PEMEL
KOI MURRA YA PEMEL NGALARINGI BUBBUNA
BAN NYE YEMNA WURRA NANG
NYE DICE GAI DYI YA NANGAMI DYARRALANG
DARUGA NGALARINGI TIATI NGALARINGI NANGAMI GAI
GU YA WILLY ANGARA GU-NU-GAL DA
GU-NU-GAL
DA LA-LOEY MOOGOO COT-BALLIE NANGAMI
DICE LA-LOEY GNIA TARIMI GU-NU-GAL
TIATI NGALARINGI YA DARUGA EORAH
MITTIGAR GURRUNG BURRUK GNEENE DA
DARUGA PEMEL
DIDGEREE GORE

Aunty Edna Watson | Darug Elder

Creation Story of the Dyarubbin

The creator of Dyarubbin (the Hawkesbury River) is Gurangatty commonly known as the rainbow serpent (the Bara, eel) who rests in the large waterholes in the bends of the Dyarubbin and in the sandstone overlooking the resting places.

Our songline tells the story of an aeons long battle between the Gurangatty and Mirrigan (a large quoll). Then continuing north the Gurangatty created our rivers and land. Through Darug country this songline continues.