Aboriginals
Relations with the aboriginals (the Dharug and Barkinung people) were reasonably harmonious, The natives treated the newcomers as welcome guests, teaching bush skills and assisting in the planting of crops, little realizing that the whites intended to stay and claim ownership of the land. Property ownership was completely alien to the Aboriginals who cared for the land, but did not 'own' it. There are stories to suggest that on at least one occasion the local aboriginals approached the "new" land owners over concern for their own peoples survival since the granted farmland given to the new settlers substantially reduced the tribes ability to gather food. As a result of the new settlers cultivation of land close to the rivers edge, the local tribes had lost the ability to collect yam and others resources. They were promised a percentage of the bounty in exchange for their labour during the harvest, however, once the crops were harvested the aborigines were slaughtered.
Read more about this topic: Macdonald River (St Albans)