Salt Pan Creek

Last updated

Salt Pan Creek
Saltpancreekswamp.jpg
EtymologyEarly settlers took salt from the swampland by evaporating the salt water. [1]
Location
CountryAustralia
State New South Wales
Region Sydney Basin (IBRA), Canterbury-Bankstown, Southern Sydney
Local government areas City of Canterbury-Bankstown,
Georges River
Physical characteristics
Source 
 • locationwest of Mount Lewis
Mouth confluence with the Georges River
 • location
 Earlwood
Length7 km (4.3 mi)
Basin size26 km2 (10 sq mi)
Basin features
River system Georges River
[1]

Salt Pan Creek is an urban watercourse of the Georges River catchment, located in the Canterbury-Bankstown region of Sydney, in New South Wales, Australia.

Contents

Course and features

Mangroves on the shores of Salt Pan Creek. Saltpancrk1a.jpg
Mangroves on the shores of Salt Pan Creek.

Salt Pan Creek rises west southwest of the suburb of Mount Lewis, within the City of Canterbury-Bankstown local government area, and flows generally south by east through Georges River local government area, before reaching its confluence with the Georges River, at Riverwood. The catchment area of the creek is approximately 26 square kilometres (10 sq mi), and is subject to flooding due to vegetation modification and urban development. [2]

Vegetation in the catchment area consists of three endangered ecological species, including coastal saltmarsh, Cooks River Castlereagh Ironbark Forest, and Shale / Sandstone Transition Forest. Vegetation varies substantially throughout the catchment area and includes freshwater environments, estuarine environments, mangroves and saltmarshes, riparian and terrestrial environments, which provide important habitat for native fauna. [2]

History

Aboriginal Australians lived on both sides of the Georges Creek for many years before the colonisation of Australia. The Salt Pan Creek area, on the northern shore of the Georges River between present-day Padstow and Riverwood is the traditional country of the Bediagal clan of the Dharug people. [3]

Salt Pan Creek was named by early colonial settlers, who took salt from the swampland by evaporating the salt water. [1]

From as early as 1809, the land surrounding Salt Pan Creek was the site of uprising by Indigenous Australians against colonial settlement. Tedbury, the son of Pemulwuy, an Aboriginal elder, was involved in a skirmish that saw Frederick Meredith, a European settler, injured with a spear and forced to abandon his farm. Meredith and another settler were seeking to clear and cultivate land surrounding the creek that may have been an important food source for Aboriginal people. [4]

In the 1920s, the Aboriginal Anderson and Rowley families bought land along the creek that was not farmed owing to the fact that it was low-lying, and had large amounts of sandstone and forest. The surrounding land was similar to these two blocks, and became camps for Aboriginal people not wanting to live on Aboriginal reserves, which were controlled by the Aborigines Welfare Board. They lived by working for a variety of jobs for cash, and by using their knowledge of the flora and fauna of the area. Some sold wildflowers door-to-door; others collected the bright red gum tips and Christmas bush and sold them at the Friday night markets. They were all able to gather oysters, prawns and river fish, and there were swamp wallabies and other game which could be hunted for food. The land remained as open camping grounds for Aboriginal people until the 1930s. [3]

Ellen and Hugh Anderson maintained contact with the Aborigines Inland Mission, and met the founders of the Australian Aboriginal Progressive Association (AAPA) in the 1920s, Aboriginal rights activist Fred Maynard and missionary Elizabeth McKenzie Hatton. In 1924, AAPA set up a safe house in Homebush, not far away, for Aboriginal girls who had left their apprenticeships. [3]

Between 1926 and 1935, lands surrounding the creek became a focal point for Indigenous rights, as they set up squatter camps that consisted of refugee families whose traditional lands had been taken by settlers, and also those seeking to escape the Aboriginal Protection Board. [4] The land was important because it was freehold, and therefore not under any government or missionary control, and politics was a major source of conversation at the camp. [3]

The refugees included Bill Onus, Jack Patten, Jack(o) Campbell (from Kempsey [3] ), Pearl Gibbs, [5] Ted Thomas from Wallaga Lake Aboriginal Station, Bert Groves, and siblings Tom Williams Jnr and Ellen James, grandchildren of Ellen Anderson. [3] In 1933, Joe Anderson (aka "King Burraga" [6] ) was filmed at Salt Pan Creek by Cinesound news delivering a message about Indigenous rights. [7]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Georges River National Park</span> National park in Sydney, Australia

Georges River National Park is a protected Australian National Park, under the management of the NSW National Parks and Wildlife Service. The park falls in the regions of the Sutherland Shire Council and Canterbury-Bankstown Council. Located in the city of Sydney, 25 km south-west of the CBD, surrounded by neighbouring suburbs of Lugano, Illawong, Alfords Point, Padstow Heights, Revesby Heights, Picnic Point and Sandy Point. The primary use of the park is to service for recreational activities such as; bush walking, picnics, barbeques, boating, fishing, and water/jet skiing. The park is Segmented into 15 sectors along the riverbanks of the Georges River, encompassing 514 hectares (1,270-acres), housing many native aquatic and terrestrial Australian flora and fauna. The traditional custodians are the Dharug people located on the north side of the river, and Dharawal people located on the south of the river.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Georges River</span> River in New South Wales, Australia

The Georges River is an intermediate tide-dominated drowned valley estuary, located to the south and west of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Narrabeen</span> Suburb of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia

Narrabeen is a beachside suburb in northern Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Narrabeen is 23 kilometres north-east of the Sydney central business district, in the local government area of Northern Beaches Council and is part of the Northern Beaches region. This area was named Broken Bay by James Cook as he sailed by.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Merri Creek</span> River in Victoria, Australia

The Merri Creek is a waterway in southern parts of Victoria, Australia, which flows through the northern suburbs of Northcote. It begins near Wallan north of Melbourne and flows south for 70 km until it joins the Yarra River at Dights Falls. The area where the creek meets the river was traditionally the location for large gatherings of the Wurundjeri people and is suspected to have been the location for one of the earliest land treaties in Australia between Indigenous Australians and European settlers.

The Myall Creek massacre was the killing of at least twenty-eight unarmed Indigenous Australians by twelve colonists on 10 June 1838 at the Myall Creek near the Gwydir River, in northern New South Wales. After two trials, seven of the twelve colonists were found guilty of murder and hanged, a verdict which sparked extreme controversy within New South Wales settler society. One—the leader and free settler John Fleming—evaded arrest and was never tried. Four were never retried following the not guilty verdict of the first trial.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Peakhurst</span> Suburb of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia

Peakhurst is a suburb in Southern Sydney, or the St George Area, in the state of New South Wales, Australia 21 kilometres south-west of the Sydney central business district. Peakhurst is in the local government area of the Georges River Council.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Roselands, New South Wales</span> Suburb of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia

Roselands is a suburb to the south-west of the Sydney CBD, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Roselands is located 16 kilometres south-west of the Sydney central business district in the City of Canterbury-Bankstown. It is one of the easternmost suburbs in the Western Sydney area and is one of the major suburbs in Sydney without a train station.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Narwee, New South Wales</span> Suburb of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia

Narwee is a suburb in southern Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Narwee is located 18 kilometres south of the Sydney central business district and is part of the St George area. Narwee is in local government areas of City of Canterbury-Bankstown and Georges River Council. The postcode is 2209, which it shares with neighbouring Beverly Hills.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Earlwood, New South Wales</span> Suburb of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia

Earlwood is a suburb of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Earlwood is located 10 kilometres south-west of the Sydney central business district, and is part of the Canterbury-Bankstown area. It is in the local government area of the City of Canterbury-Bankstown.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Coxs River</span> River in New South Wales, Australia

The Coxs River, a perennial river that is part of the Hawkesbury-Nepean catchment, is located in the Central Tablelands, Blue Mountains, and Macarthur regions of New South Wales, Australia.

The murnong or yam daisy is any of the plants Microseris walteri, Microseris lanceolata and Microseris scapigera, which are an important food source for many Aboriginal peoples in southern parts of Australia. Murnong is a Woiwurrung word for the plant, used by the Wurundjeri people and possibly other clans of the Kulin nation. They are called by a variety of names in the many different Aboriginal Australian languages, and occur in many oral traditions as part of Dreamtime stories.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bidjigal</span> Aboriginal Australian people

The Bidjigal people are an Aboriginal Australian people whose traditional lands are modern-day western, north-western, south-eastern, and southern Sydney, in New South Wales, Australia. The land includes the Bidjigal Reserve, Salt Pan Creek and the Georges River. They are part of the Dharug language group, and there is debate as to whether the clan is part of the Dharug or Eora people.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Djadjawurrung</span> Aboriginal Australian people in Victoria

Dja Dja Wurrung, also known as the Djaara or Jajowrong people and Loddon River tribe, are an Aboriginal Australian people who are the traditional owners of lands including the watersheds of the Loddon and Avoca rivers in the Bendigo region of central Victoria, Australia. They are part of the Kulin alliance of Aboriginal Victorian peoples. There are 16 clans, which adhere to a patrilineal system. Like other Kulin peoples, there are two moieties: Bunjil the eagle and Waa the crow.

William Townsend Onus Jnr was an Aboriginal Australian political activist, designer, and showman, also known for his boomerang-throwing skills. He was father of artist Lin Onus.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lugarno, New South Wales</span> Suburb of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia

Lugarno is a suburb in the St George area of southern Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. It is located in the local government area of the Georges River Council, 23 kilometres south of the Sydney central business district.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chipping Norton Lake</span>

Chipping Norton Lake is a 49-hectare (120-acre) artificial lake and regional park located in the Sydney suburb of Chipping Norton, New South Wales, Australia. It is a part of the Georges River system. Chipping Norton Lake is managed by Liverpool City Council. The lake is an important recreational area for Liverpool, City of Canterbury-Bankstown and Fairfield City Council.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Australian Aboriginal Progressive Association</span> Aboriginal rights organisation in New South Wales, 1924–1927

The Australian Aboriginal Progressive Association (AAPA) was an early Indigenous Australian organisation focused on Aboriginal rights, founded in 1924 by Fred Maynard and based in Sydney, New South Wales (NSW). It ceased operations in 1927. The AAPA is known as the first Aboriginal activist group in Australia, with its membership roster peaking at over 600 members, with 13 branches and 4 sub-branches in NSW.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">City of Canterbury-Bankstown</span> Local government area in New South Wales, Australia

The City of Canterbury Bankstown is a local government area located in the South Western region of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. The council was formed on 12 May 2016 from a merger of the City of Canterbury and the City of Bankstown, after a review of local government in New South Wales by the state government.

The M5 cycleway is a predominantly on road 32-kilometre-long (20 mi) cycleway generally aligned with the M5 motorway in south-western Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. The eastern terminus of the cycleway is in Arncliffe where it connects with the Cooks River cycleway. The southwestern terminus of the cycleway is in Prestons where is connects with the M7 cycleway. The cycleway does not have a separate cycle lane or path, instead cyclists use the breakdown lane.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Australian Hall</span> Heritage-listed community building in Sydney, Australia

The Australian Hall is a heritage-listed community building located at 150-152 Elizabeth Street, in the Sydney central business district, in the City of Sydney local government area of New South Wales, Australia. It was the site of the Day of Mourning protests by Aboriginal Australians on 26 January 1938. It was also known as the Cyprus Hellene Club. The property is owned by the Indigenous Land Corporation, a statutory corporation of the Australian Government. It was added to the Australian National Heritage List on 20 May 2008 and was added to the New South Wales State Heritage Register on 2 April 1999.

References

  1. 1 2 3 "Salt Pan Creek". Geographical Names Register (GNR) of NSW. Geographical Names Board of New South Wales . Retrieved 10 April 2013. OOjs UI icon edit-ltr-progressive.svg
  2. 1 2 "Salt Pan Creek". Rivers and Creeks. Bankstown City Council . Retrieved 10 April 2013.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Goodall, Heather; Cadzow, Allison (2014). "Aboriginal People on Sydney's Georges River from 1820". The Dictionary of Sydney . Retrieved 19 November 2022.
  4. 1 2 Foley, Gary. "imeline of Significant Moments in the Indigenous Struggle in south east Australia". The Koori History Website . Victoria University . Retrieved 10 April 2013.
  5. ↑ Kleinert, Sylvia (2011). "Bill Onus". Design & Art Australia Online . Retrieved 18 November 2022.
  6. ↑ "Burraga Foundation". Burraga Foundation. Retrieved 19 November 2022.
  7. ↑ Vitale, Luke (12 December 2022). "The Many Histories of Salt Pan Creek". Sydney Review of Books.
33°57′S151°03′E / 33.950°S 151.050°E / -33.950; 151.050
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.