ALWAYS WAS ALWAYS WILL BE

ALWAYS WAS, ALWAYS WILL BE

NAIDOC WEEK, 8-15 November, 2020

Celebrating NAIDOC Week, 8-15 November 2020

Aboriginal people are believed to have inhabited the Queanbeyan region for some 20,000 years.

The area now known as Googong has a rich cultural history for the traditional custodians. There is evidence of the Ngunawal peoples’ occupation of this area as it was/is rich in cultural and natural resources which sustained the Ngunawal people. Googong has many Aboriginal sites which are viewed by the Ngunawal people as holding spiritual significance, including the London Bridge Arch.

The meaning of the word 'Googong' is obscure but it is most likely to be of Aboriginal origin. The Googong area was generally accepted to be the land between Burra and Queanbeyan east of Jerrabomberra Creek and this area subsequently formed most of the ‘Parish of Googong’. In the 1850's the area came to be known as ‘Googongs’ or 'Gugong ' and McDonald's stone cottage as 'The Googongs'. A modern translation of the word ‘Googong’ is a place to unwind or relax.

Celebrating NAIDOC Week, 8-15 November 2020

#NAIDOC2020

#AlwaysWasAlwaysWillBe

Munnagai Woggabaliri, in the Aboriginal language of the Ngunawal people, means come play. This name was chosen for the Montgomery Rise playground on Sunset Place as a welcoming invitation to people to gather and play together.

There were many traditional recreational pastimes believed to have been played at Aboriginal gatherings and celebrations. An example of one of these earlier games was Marngrook, a football game which featured punt kicking and catching a stuffed possum skin ball. It was commented that players exhibited outstanding skills, such as leaping high over others to catch the ball – like the modern equivalent of AFL.

A similar type of game was Boogalah, a game where a ball, made of sewn-up kangaroo skin, is thrown in the air.

Celebrating NAIDOC Week

#NAIDOC2020

#AlwaysWasAlwaysWillBe

With acknowledgment, Thunderstone Aboriginal Cultural Services, and Ngambri people as the traditional custodians of the Queanbeyan and surrounding regions.