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Many places around the City had Aboriginal names. Some of these names continued to be used by the Europeans, though many were jettisoned in favour of English naming. Sometimes the new arrivals introduced a new Aboriginal name while ignoring the traditional one. For example, the name 'Bennelong Point' was given to the place the indigenous people called 'Tubowgule.'

Because the Aboriginal people did not have a written tradition, there area number of deferent spelling that have been recorded over the past 200 years. Any of the spellings in this glossary have been taken from Jakelin Troy's "The Sydney Language" in the Macquarie Dictionary of Aboriginal Words (1994).


Ar-ra-re-agon Snapper Island
Bayinguwa / ba-ing-hoe Garden Island
Be-lang-le-wool Clarke Island
Coodyee Millers Point
Cookaroo Royal Botanic Gardens
Gong-ul Spectacle Island
Goudjoulgang / pannerong Rose Bay
Jerrawon / carraginn Elizabeth Bay
Jubgalee/Tubowgule Bennelong Point
Kiarabily Kirribilli
Kogerrah / Kogarah Rushcutters Bay
Jerrowon Bay Elizabeth Bay
Kogerrah / Kogarah Rushcutters Bay
Mattewanye Fort Denison
Meliawool Campbells Cove
Memel Goat Island
Pirrama Pyrmont
Quiberee Lavender Bay
Talla-wo-la-dah The Rocks
Tarra Dawes Point
Tumbalong Darling Point
Waalamool Woolloomooloo Bay
Warinyama / Wa-rea-mah Cockatoo Island
Warrung / Warrane Sydney Cove
Willara Woollahra Point
Wuganmagali/ Kookaroo / Yah-loong Farm Cove
Cookaroo Royal Botanic Gardens
Yuron Mrs Macqaurie’s Chair
 
badabarang eastern grey kangaroo
badangi Sydney rock oyster
barani yesterday
barra fish hook
baruwaluwu dolphin
binyang bird
bubuk boobook owl
bulga hill
bunda hawk
burra eel
buruwang island
daringyan stingray
dingu dingo
duwal spear (short, with two barbs)
dyiral shoal water
gabba / gaba white man (possibly taken from the word "governor"
gadyan Sydney cockle
gamai spear (general name)
gaining cave
garradjun fishing line made from bark
garrigarrang sea
gawura whale
girra girra seagull
gunya dwelling made by people
guru deep water
koori generic term for Aborigine used in Sydney and most of NSW
marrang sand, beach
ngurra camp
numi canoe
walamai snapper
walumil Port Jackson shark
waragal mackeral
wirambi bat
wulaba rock wallaby
wumbat wombat
yara crab
 
AAF Aboriginal Australian Fellowship
ACTU Australian Council Trade Unions
AECG Aboriginal Education Consultative Group
AIATSIS Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies
APA Aborigines Progressive Association
ATSIC Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Commission
Boomali Boomali Aboriginal Artists Co-operative
CFMEU Construction, Forestry, Mining and Energy Union
DAA NSW Department of Aboriginal Affairs
FCAATSI Federal Council of the Advancement of Aborigines and Torres Strait Islanders
GIS Gadigal Information Services
ICERD UN International Covenant on the Elimination of all Forms of Racial Discrimination
NAHHC National Aboriginal History and Heritage Council
NAIDOC National Aboriginal and Islander Day Observance Committee
NAISDA National Aboriginal and Islander Dance Association
NIAAA National Indigenous Arts Advocacy Association
NPWS NSW National Parks and Wildlife Service
Tranby Tranby Aboriginal Co-operative College

 

 

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