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Dictionary of Sydney

The Dictionary of Sydney
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Wowawme, the monster fish Waway’s lookout place...

The Dictionary of Sydney was archived in 2021.

Wowawme, the monster fish Waway’s lookout place June 2017

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McGarvie’s list and Aboriginal Dyarubbin

Subjects

Aboriginal Religions and Beliefs Rivers and Catchments Sandstone Water

Natural features

Hawkesbury River (Dyarubbin)

Places

Dorumbolooa Hawkesbury district Sackville (Dorumbolooa) Wowawme

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Joy Lai

Artist and photographer.

McGarvie’s list and Aboriginal Dyarubbin

This essay follows on from Introducing the Dyarubbin Project: Aboriginal history, culture and places on the Hawkesbury River, New South Wales

Rivers and Catchments

Religions and Beliefs

Aboriginal

Sandstone

Water

Hawkesbury River (Dyarubbin)

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River that runs for 120 kilometres from the confluence of the Nepean and Grose rivers west of Sydney to Broken Bay north of Sydney. The Darug and Darkinjung people who lived along the river called it Dyarubbin.

Wowawme

Area on the Hawkesbury River (Dyarubbin) at Sackville. The name was shared by local Aboriginal people with the Rev John McGarvie in 1829 as he wrote a list of place names used by the Darug and Darkinyung people along the river. Wowaw- refers to the Ancestral monster fish Waway or Wau-waiy, while ‘-me’ is the Being’s eye.The river is very deep at this point, and the hollows of the formidable cliffs above look like heavily-browed eyes, watching down the river reach.

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Hawkesbury district

Area surrounding the Hawkesbury River to Sydney's north and north-west, which was important in early colonial agriculture and the site of the early towns of Richmond and Windsor.

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Sackville (Dorumbolooa)

North-western rural suburb, named after Viscount Sackville, British Secretary of State for the Colonies. It is the site of the Sackville Ferry, a cable car ferry crossing Hawkesbury River. The Aboriginal name for the area shared by local people with the Rev John McGarvie in 1826 is Dorumbolooa.

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Dorumbolooa

Historically significant area on the Hawkesbury River (Dyarubbin) around Sackville Reach and Portland Head that was identified by the Aboriginal people who were sharing knowledge with the Rev John McGarvie in 1829 as he wrote a list of place names used by the Darug and Darkinyung people along the river. The name means 'the zone where the rainbow passes through'.

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