- Prior to 1789, the land district around Castlereagh and the Nepean River was the territory of a number of neighboring Aboriginal groups, the Mulgowi (Mulgoa), who lived on the Nepean River between present day Mulgoa and Castlereagh, and the Boorooberongal who occupied the land north of Castlereagh to beyond Richmond. Castlereagh was a middle ground, the boundary line between the two groups. Both belonged to the larger language group of the Darug, which extended from the sea to the mountains, taking in much of the Sydney basin.
- Both groups were hunter-gatherers, relying on the river and the forest land around it for food, shelter and other resources. Their diet included fresh water fish and shellfish, eels, possums (as their main source of protein) and kangaroo which were hunted in organized drives, often involving a number of groups coming together. Edible yams, berries and fruits were also collected, mainly from the rainforest valleys to the west of the River in the mountain foothills. As food sources were seasonal, groups moved around their territory to access the resource. In autumn eels were plentiful in the swamps and eddies of the river, while in summer when food was plentiful a number of groups would come to the River to take advantage of it.
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using fish traps in the river
- The river also provided other resources beside food. The gravel deposits that would later be exploited by miners and quarry workers, were also important to the Aboriginal people of the area. The main source for stone material in the Sydney region was the Nepean-Hawkesbury system and the associated tributaries. Chert and silcrete were used for small tool manufacture, such as scrapers, while the profusion of basalt pebbles made the area ideal for making axe heads and chisels. The Mulgoa who made these tools traded them for goods with other Aboriginal people throughout NSW.
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Stone axes made from river gravels
Information from Penrith Lakes Scheme—Conservation Management Plan, September 2010
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