Gowrie Primary School

The Ngunnawal people were the first residents of the Canberra region. A rock shelter near Birrigai dates Ngunnawal activity at 20,000 years ago int the last Ice Age. They may have lived here much longer than that, possibly 60,000 or more years.

20,000 years ago is about the time of the coldest period of the Ice Age (Pleistocene). 'Tuggeranong' comes from the Ngunnawal language and means cold place - snow would have covered the valley for much of the winter, with icy streams and cold winds blown from a glacier near Mt Kosziusko.

Gradually the climate changed and the winters were not so severe. The Ngunnawal people could stay in the valley all year, hunting marsupials, birds, freshwater fish and yabbies.

In spring, fish and yabbies, wattle pods and orchid tubers appeared. Bogong Moths began to arrive to spend summer in cool rock crevices. The moths were also an important source of food. The Ngunnawal people gathered in great numbers for the arrival of the moths and it was a time of feasting and ceremonies.

There are more than 100 Aboriginal sites in the park, including art sites, a stone axe quarry, stone arrangements and many campsites.

The arrival of Europeans was disasterous for the Ngunnawal and their numbers had been severely reduced by the end of the 1800's.