Histories of Sydney that have emphasised peaceful settlement on the one hand, or violent dispossession on the other, have all tended to obscure the fact that Aboriginal people stayed in this place, and survived, adapting to the new conditions in which they found themselves, as people do. The Dictionary has been pleased to publish some accounts of the continuity of Aboriginal life in Sydney, including Peter Read's pieces on Narrabeen Lagoon and Biddy Lewis. We also have Keith Vincent Smith's article on the Aboriginal camps around Sydney harbour where people continued to live on their country well into the nineteenth century. Keith's work is well known, and he has again painstakingly excavated the sources for hidden details, piecing them together like a puzzle. We look forward to new work from Keith on Sydney's clans, to be published in the Dictionary later this year. You can find all the articles Keith has contributed so far here. Most are about individual people from the early contact period, giving a real insight into what it must have been like to have the world turned upside down. And soon, in our next batch of material, we will have a long article by Val Attenbrow of the Australian Museum, on the archaeological evidence of Aboriginal life in Sydney for hundreds of years before the Europeans arrived. John Maynard's essay on Aboriginal politics to 1945 takes us through the turbulent years of Aboriginal activism during the early 20th century, which culminated in events like the Day of Mourning in 1938.  Important organisations such as the Australian Aborigines Progressive Association and the Aborigines Progressive Association have their own short entries.

George Morgan's work on Aboriginal people's movement through the city is outlined in his article on Aboriginal migration to Sydney since World War II, which have given some areas, such as Redfern and La Perouse, such strong and diverse Indigenous communities. And we have a range of shorter pieces on important Aboriginal organisations formed during the tumultuous 1960s and 1970s, including the FCAATSI, the Foundation for Aboriginal Affairs, Aboriginal Medical Service, Aboriginal Legal Service, Aboriginal Housing Company, Black Theatre and the Aboriginal and Islander Dance Theatre. Heidi Norman has written for us on more recent Aboriginal history in Sydney -- the development of the Aboriginal football competition, and the clubs that support it, which are part of the rich twentieth century heritage of Aboriginal organisation and activism. It's a great story. Sydney's Aboriginal history is rich and fascinating and will continue to be an area that the Dictionary team works hard to extend and deepen. If you know any good historians, amateur or professional, who are working in this area, please ask them to get in touch!