The Blue Mountains

The Blue Mountains contains some of the traditional lands of the Gundungarra and Darug tribal groups. There are many sacred sites within the greater Blue Mountains region that belong to these two groups including caves, axe sharpening sites, gathering grounds and wells.

 

Some of the more well-known sites include:

 - A series of wells near the Great Western Highway.

 - Well's cave near Blackheath which is estimated to be over 12,000 years old.

 - A multitude of rock art sites near Hazelbrook and Woodford.

 

These sites are incredibly sacred to the indigenous people and should be passed down with care to the following generations.

 

The indigenous people also had very clever ways of getting food in a sustainable way. They used fire-stick farming to regenerate the landscape by burning different areas at different times. This made travelling easier by thinning out the thick vegetation, encouraged animals to those areas to eat the fresh new shoots and helped keep the soil nutrient rich. They also gathered food from different areas in a grid-like fashion to prevent areas from being over-harvested.