#barangaroo

On the upper edge are the reflected lights of North Sydney, while the sandstones slabs on the southern foreshore were hewn from the ground of what is now Barangaroo Reserve.

A tranquil dawn.

Barangaroo Reserve | © Saying Hello (November 2015)

Barangaroo was a Cammeraygal woman of the Eora nation. Women were the main food providers for their families, fishing from their bark canoes (nowie) with lines and hooks. They fished sustainably, only catching what they needed each day. The British invaded Australia in 1788, decimating the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander populations. Of those who survived, many were raped, enslaved or kidnapped. One of these was Woollarawarre Bennelong, Barangaroo's second husband. Kidnapped as a youth, he would go on to become the first published Aboriginal author. In his early life, he attempted to negotiate with the British colonisers, much to Barangaroo's anger. 

In 1790 British colonists plundered four thousand salmon fish in one day. This fish were presented to Bennelong and other Eora men by the British male officers as a way to establish authority. This was the beginning of environmental damage that continues to this day, and also diminishing women’s status as the main food providers for family and community. Barangaroo refused to meet with the British, to wear colonists' clothes, and to accept the displacement of Eora women. 

This art installation celebrates the mighty Barangaroo's stance by inviting the public to create ice fish which are then placed into a canoe and set alight each evening of the Sydney Festival. Check out my Insta Stories for more on Four Thousand Fish.