Armidale Regional Council acknowledges the traditional custodians of Armidale region and pays respects to Elders past, present and emerging. The Armidale regional community pays tribute to local Aboriginal Custodians’ love of land, love of people and love of culture.
Aboriginal Peoples have been living on and travelling through the Armidale region for thousands of years. Aboriginal People made use of the abundant natural resources found across the area. Rock art as well as stone tools are located throughout Armidale and the surrounding areas. Many locations throughout the New England were well known meeting sites for Aboriginal People.
To learn more about the history and heritage of the people who first called this area home, utilise knowledge and resources available:
Aboriginal Cultural Centre and Keeping Place
Aboriginal Cultural Centre and Keeping Place protects, celebrates, and shares Aboriginal Culture with local people and visitors. It is a museum, art gallery, gathering place and education centre.
'Rola (stone)' documentary shares some of the local Aboriginal People’s dreaming stories in relation to the New England Landscape.
Aboriginal rock art
'Making Old Markings New' was a 2018 project supported by Arts North West which tells the story of some of the Aboriginal rock art in the Armidale region.
Armidale Regional Council employs Cyril Green as the Aboriginal Community Development Officer. He facilitates Council's Aboriginal Action Plan 2015-2019 (PDF 821.8KB), as well as coordinates the local Aboriginal Inter-agency meetings, annual NAIDOC Week activities and other Aboriginal community events. Cyril can be contacted on (02) 6770 3936 or emailed at cgreen@armidale.nsw.gov.au