Shayne Williams, Dharawal:
Our spirit ancestors created Dharawal country and its various life forms. This shaped our kinship, social structures and lore. Our Dreaming stories provide us with a spiritual reasoning for existence.
One story tells us how animals, once in human form, came to this country in a big vessel. Another tells of how the spirits of the dead return to Dharawal country in low-lying clouds.
Seeing the world through a spiritual lens is logical for us, and we view the events of April 1770 through the same lens.
Dharawal Dreaming was created in collaboration with the La Perouse community alongside animation specialists, The Sequence Group. View transcript
Reimagining the arrival
When the Endeavour came into view, it would have been a strange event for the people on the shore. Let’s imagine the discussions at that time.
Petra Silva, Dharawal:
Nandamanjang bandamirri nhay dhalugawal. Yagay! Babamara ba djadjamara yanbarambul ma ma.
Mingang nhay? Nandayirambul garru? Nandayirambul barngga? Nandayirambul guwinjwulawala?
Yagay! Warrwarrawa!
We have seen the smoke since the day before yesterday. Hey! Father and brother, come here quick, quick.
What is that? Can you both see the cloud? Can you both see the island? Can you both see the spirits?
Hey! They are all dead!