the comfort of wherever you are...

Dharug educator Rhiannon Wright is our guide as we hear of the enduring Dharug relationship with the river, the cultivation of Yams, the dreaming of Gurangady and engravings along the river. Windsor was a port town & we hear stories of the river as a road, wharves, boat building & river crossings. We learn about colonist Andrew Thompson & frontier violence, stolen Aboriginal children, Mioram & John Howe, Windsor’s first Bridge & the long running community protest to save it. With local students, we explore the number 11 & the beautiful mathematics of rivers.

DIRECTIONS:

Starting behind Hawkesbury Regional Museum on the Balga, the hill on Thompson Square, the walk will take you down to the wharf via the viewing platform, then back along the riverside path through Howe Park, across Rickaby’s Creek into Deerubbin Park then return to Hawkesbury Regional Museum.

GUESTS: (in order of appearance)

Erin Wilkins, Dharug educator

Leanne Mulgo Watson, Dharug artist 

Jasmine Seymour, Dharug artist, writer and educator

Children form Windsor Public School, years 5 & 6 2019

Ted Books, Hawkesbury local, former Hawkesbury Councillor and descendant of John Grono

Kate Mackaness, Community Action For Windsor Bridge

Grace Karskens, Emeritus Professor of History at UNSW and author of “People of the River"

Martin Gauci, Community Bushcare Officer, Hawkesbury City Council

Tom Hubble, Associate Professor of Geology, University of Sydney

Jen Dollin, Head of Sustainability Education, Western Sydney University

Sharon Lamb, Hawkesbury local and descendant of Henry Kable

Sue Cusbert, Technical Officer, Western Sydney University

The late Ron Males, Hawkesbury local

Jan Barkley-Jack, Historian and author of "Hawkesbury Settlement Revealed”

Children from Windsor South Public School’s Dharug language class 2021

Bruce Gardiner, Cornwallis farmer (from an archival interview recorded in 1984 for the On the Record Project, Courtesy of Hawkesbury Voices, Hawkesbury Library Service.)

Kirstie Fryirs, Professor, School of Natural Sciences, Macquarie University

READINGS from:

The Maitland Mercury and Hunter River General Advertiser Jun16 1864

Sydney Gazette 6 Aug 1809

Sydney Gazette 1802

Illustrated Sydney News 16 Jul 1867

ARTWORK:

Marri Badu Muru © Leanne Mulgo Watson 2022

MUSIC:

'11 Stories from the River Dyraubbin' © Oonagh Sherrard, with Dharug songs © Jasmine Seymour and © Stacy-Jane Etal and musicians: Dimitri Vouros, Gary Daley, Jess Ciampa and Oonagh Sherrard.

ABOUT:

11 Stories From the River Dyarubbin is 11 audio walks along Dyarubbin - stories of the river's history, ecology, geology & people at the places they happened with original music.

A collaborative public art work led by composer/ producer Oonagh Sherrard with Hawkesbury Regional Museum, Dharug Custodian Aboriginal

Corporation, WSU Sustainable Futures and Hawkesbury Historical Society.

Created with support from the NSW Government through Create NSW, Museums and Galleries NSW and assisted by the Australian Government through the Australia Council, its Arts funding and advisory body.

FURTHER INFORMATION:

⁠https://www.hawkesbury.nsw.gov.au/museum/historical-walks/11-stories-from-the-river-dyarubbin⁠