First Nations stories
Read and reflect on First Nations history, culture and experience
Featured
First Nations
Coomaditchie: The Art of Place
The works of the Coomaditchie artists speak of life in and around the settlement of Coomaditchie, its history, ecology and local Dreaming stories
First Nations
Cummeragunja Walk Off
The Cummeragunja Walk Off which began in February 1939 has been described as the first ever mass strike of Aboriginal people in Australia. It brought about changes to the Aborigines Protection Act of NSW
First Nations
A fisher woman of Warrane
Daringa’s short but fascinating life reflects the connection of coastal Aboriginal peoples to the water, and the key role played by women in the fishing economy
From our exhibitions
First Nations
Seeing Sydney, Knowing Country: The Library of the Dreaming
Dharawal and Yuin designer Alison Page shares the knowledge and philosophies that define Aboriginal understandings of Country and the life that is lived on it
First Nations
Do touch
We all know we can’t touch collection objects or artworks displayed in museums. However, the display Cast in cast out by First Nations artist Dennis Golding at the Museum of Sydney included a ‘do touch’ element
First Nations
Coomaditchie: The Art of Place
The works of the Coomaditchie artists speak of life in and around the settlement of Coomaditchie, its history, ecology and local Dreaming stories
Cast in cast out: recasting fragments of memory
An in-depth look at Dennis Golding's experiences and childhood memories of growing up in ‘The Block’
First Nations
How to weave an opera house
Inspired by a stunning shellworked model of the Sydney Opera House by Bidjigal artist Esme Timbery, First Nations curator Tess Allas commissioned a woven model of the iconic building from master weavers Steven Russell and Phyllis Stewart
First Nations
Alexander Riley, legendary Aboriginal police tracker
The remarkable talents of Aboriginal trackers who worked for NSW Police in the 20th century are featured in a display at the Justice & Police Museum
From our Collections
First Nations
Grief in the archives: a Blak reflection on Sorry Day
In this article, Dylan Hoskins, Project Assistant on the First Nations Community Access to Archives project, reflects on the significance of National Sorry Day through his lived experience as an Aboriginal person
![NRS 12061 [12/8749.1] 62/1515pt1, p334](https://cdn.sanity.io/images/zl9du87e/production/f95209714e7233f28b7abc814dbc999c0d9033e3-1404x2000.jpg?rect=0,525,1404,861&fit=max&auto=format)
First Nations
Advocacy, allyship and the rise and fall of the Aborigines Protection Board
In the lead-up to 26 January, the State Archives Collection provides opportunities to explore and reflect on past examples of advocacy and allyship in the fight for First Nations rights
First Nations
Day of Mourning
January 26 has long been a day of debate and civic action. Those who celebrate may be surprised of the date’s significance in NSW as a protest to the celebrations of the anniversary of the arrival of the First Fleet on what was then “Anniversary Day” in NSW
First Nations
Maria Lock’s 1831 petition
This extraordinary document is of great interest historically – and, as Dr Penny Stannard discovered, it also contains a moving connection to her own family that continues to resonate down the generations
First contacts
![Pencil drawing of Bathurst 1818, Plans of Government Buildings at Bathurst, Main series of letters received [Colonial Secretary], 1788–1826.](https://cdn.sanity.io/images/zl9du87e/production/ec5b53147e75bdc6536c142340cae04b71adc992-3203x1998.jpg?fit=max&auto=format)
First Nations
Convict farmer Antonio Roderigo and a ‘dastardly massacre’
A dispute over potatoes farmed by convict-settler Antonio Roderigo was one of many hostile events between colonists and Wiradyuri people that led to the Bathurst War of 1824
Convict Sydney
Myall Creek massacre
On Sunday 10 June 1838, at least 28 Aboriginal people were massacred by a group of 12 Europeans at Myall Creek Station
Expansion
Convicts played a crucial role in the new colony’s rapid spread, which dispossessed and displaced Australia’s First Peoples, and indelibly altered their lands
On This Day
Report of the Myall Creek Massacre
This important document is one of the first official reports to the authorities of the atrocity in June 1838 that later became known as the Myall Creek Massacre, in which 28 Aboriginal people were killed
Music
![[Sydney from the north shore], Joseph Lycett, 1827.](https://cdn.sanity.io/images/zl9du87e/production/efb0ca986f6e159dd142f8014c35c3b1010cbc06-1346x908.jpg?fit=max&auto=format)
Hearing the music of early New South Wales
A new website documents an exciting partnership between Museums of History NSW and the University of Sydney in an exploration of Indigenous song and European settler vocal and instrumental music in early colonial NSW
First Nations
Paving the way ... Harold Blair: The first Aboriginal opera singer
A short documentary that offers a glimpse into the life of Harold Blair, a world-renowned tenor, family man and political campaigner who sought social justice and human rights for Australia’s First Nations people
First Nations
Harold Blair, trailblazer
Wulli Wulli tenor Harold Blair AM was Australia’s first professionally trained Aboriginal opera singer
![Owner bound volume of assorted songs, in the collection of Rouse Hill House & Farm, 1850-1864. [music]](https://images.slm.com.au/fotoweb/embed/2023/10/d2e0918e22304feb90e19681abbaafec.jpg)
First Nations
‘Gii, Gundhi (Hearts and Homes)’
A single song can have a thousand meanings depending on its interpreter. Yuwaalaraay storyteller and musician Nardi Simpson shares her version of a 19th-century parlour song