Australian Capital Territory (ACT)
The Australian Capital Territory (ACT) was part of New South Wales until transferred to the Commonwealth Government of Australia in 1911. At least one known conflict between Aboriginal people and colonists took place in what is now the ACT in 1834 near today’s Acton Peninsula. This is now the site of the National Museum of Australia and the Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies. Recorded conflicts between colonists and Aboriginal people took place at Lake Bathurst and at Lake George near today’s Canberra. Other such conflicts are believed to have taken place in the Tinderrys south-east of Canberra and on the Monaro. Research into what happened in the Canberra and surrounding districts during the colonial frontier period is ongoing.
Avery, Steven 1994, Aboriginal and European Encounter in the Canberra Region: a question of change and the archaeological record, (Link no longer available)
Gillespie, Lyall L 1984, Aborigines of the Canberra Region, Canberra
Jackson-Nakano, Ann 2001, The Kamberri: A History of Aboriginal Families in the ACT and Surrounds, Weereewaa History Series Volume 1, Aboriginal History Monograph 8, Canberra
Sekavs, M 1988, ‘Aboriginal History in the Nineteenth Century’ in ACT, Heritage Seminars, Volume 1
(See also New South Wales list below for the history of colonists’ movement ‘beyond the limits of location’ and their encroachment on First Nations’ Country in the part of New South Wales that was to become the Australian capital Territory in 1911).
Bibliography compiled by Jane Morrison 2012–2023. Page dated 6 September 2023, October 2023.
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