Acknowledgment of Country

The ANU Australian Football Club acknowledges the Ngunnawal people, who are the Traditional Custodians of the land on which we play the great game of Aussie Rules, train, socialise, and call our home. We acknowledge that this territory was never ceded.

We pay our respects to elders past, present and emerging, and endeavour to recognise and honour those with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander heritage in all their involvements with our club.

We acknowledge the rich historical significance of of this land for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples and are proud to continue this connection to Country through The Aboriginal Heritage Trail.

Starting near Union Court, the trail follows Sullivans Creek downstream towards the lake. Sullivans Creek showed the path to the Molonglo, which in turn led the way to the larger Murrumbidgee River. The water sustained abundant resources for Aboriginal people to eat, and attracted larger wildlife, such as kangaroos, that could be hunted.

The trail demonstrates that prior to European settlement, this was a landscape that had been deliberately made by Aboriginal people. Professor Bill Gammage, an historian and author, and a contributor to the trail, studied the early survey maps of the region to discover an unnatural clearing near today’s South Oval. This clearing was maintained by Aboriginal people through periodic burning, to promote new growth that could be used to attract and trap kangaroos.

Many of the Schools and Centres that contribute to Aboriginal studies are featured on the trail, including the National Centre for Indigenous Genomics; the School of Archaeology and Anthropology; and the Tjabal Centre, a meeting place and support network for Indigenous students. The trail also highlights the social history of ANU, including the contribution made by students towards the establishment of the Aboriginal Tent Embassy; and the support of Abschol, an organisation established to support University scholarships for Aboriginal students.

The Aboriginal Heritage Trail is available on the ANU Walks app.