Pemulwuy and his peopleThe Indigenous people of the Sydney area were faced with a drastic change when the First Fleet arrived. Close to 1500 people arrived on the fleet, with inadequate supplies of food, sophisticated firearms, a cargo full of foreign animals and a confidence in their own dominance.
Governor Phillip originally upheld friendly relations. However, conflict was unavoidable due to the fundamentally contrasting perspectives. The Eora people were the traditional owners of the lands around Sydney Harbour, and they had an intricate system of laws that administered social relations, behaviour and resource use. The European invaders had no appreciation of this, and believed the Eora people to be savages. |