Continuing Country · layered histories
Country, river crossings and the mountain country beyond
Rural ACT is this archive's practical grouping for places beyond Canberra's main suburban centres. It brings together Birrigai, Tharwa, Tidbinbilla, Namadgi and Mount Stromlo without suggesting that they form a single administrative district. Their histories connect through Country, work, movement and care for the landscape.
At Tidbinbilla, Birrigai and Hanging Rock shelters are part of a landscape rich in Aboriginal heritage. The surrounding mountains hold continuing cultural significance. Farther south, Namadgi preserves evidence of habitation, resource gathering and gatherings for trade and ceremony. Its declaration as a national park in 1984 added a new chapter to that much longer history.1, 2
Tharwa's story includes Aboriginal families who worked on nearby pastoral properties. Canberra Tracks records Harry Williams's decades of work as a farmer and stockman for the De Salis family at Cuppacumbalong. These accounts place Aboriginal people within the working life of the nineteenth-century district, alongside their enduring connections to the land.3
Mount Stromlo adds scientific work to this wider landscape. The observatory remains an astronomy research centre, although the firestorm of 18 January 2003 severely damaged its telescopes. Its heritage trail allows that history of research, destruction and continued work to be read on the mountain itself.4