Barangaroo

Barangaroo (c.1750 – 1791) was a member of the Cammeraygal clan of Aboriginal Australians during the early period of the British colonisation of Australia. She is most well known as being the second wife of Bennelong, who was a pioneering interlocutor between the Aboriginal people and the early British military establishment in New South Wales.^[1]

While Bennelong spent considerable time in the British settlement in Sydney, Barangaroo maintained her way of life with her people. She was a skilled angler, providing fish for her clan caught in and around the harbour, using a canoe known as a nawi. Barangaroo would only ever catch enough for her people's needs, so when she witnessed the British trawl thousands of fish, she was outraged.^[2][3][4]

She had two children and a husband prior to being Bennelong's wife, all of whom died. Her first husband is said to have died of smallpox, which was brought by the British. While with Bennelong, she had a baby girl named Dilboong. Barangaroo died in 1791 not long after giving birth and the baby also only survived for a few months.^[5] Barangaroo had a traditional cremation ceremony with her fishing gear, and her ashes were scattered by Bennelong around Governor Phillip's garden, in the area of the present day Circular Quay.^[5][4]