page_title: Nurragingy Reserve
section_title: History
hierarchical_section_title: Nurragingy Reserve / History
caption_attribution_description: English: The Chinese Gardens at the Nurragingy Reserve.
context_page_description: The Nurragingy Nature Reserve is an Australian open urban park and forest, nature reserve and garden, it is a protected area owned by Western Sydney Parklands Trust and operated by Blacktown City Council that opened in 1981. The Nature Reserve is a site of state heritage significance because of its combination of historical, social and cultural values. The site was the first land grant ever given to Aboriginal people in Australia. The land grant is associated with two significant Aboriginal figures from the early colonial period-Nurragingy and Colebee-to whom the land was jointly granted in 1816. The location of the land grant is significant because it was an Aboriginal choice, being on land belonging to Nurragingy's clan. The land grant is valued by the contemporary Aboriginal community and the wider Australian community as a landmark in the history of cross-cultural engagement in Australia. For Aboriginal people, in particular, it represents a key historical site symbolising Aboriginal resilience and enduring links to the land.
context_section_description: The name "Nurragingy" commemorates one of the two aborigines of the Dharruk (Dharug, Daruk) tribe who received the first land grant to natives from Governor of New South Wales, Lachlan Macquarie in 1819. The other title holder was Colebee, whose name has been given to the Centre within the Reserve. A painting by local Aboriginal artist Danny Eastwood, depicting this land grant hangs inside the Colebee Centre.
  Prior to the 1970s the land was part of the Cumberland Timber Forest which was a supplier of commercial timber. In the 1970s the land was purchased by the New South Wales state government with the intention of turning it into a green belt for Western Sydney which was facing rapid expansion. In 1981 the state government allowed a portion of the land to be used as a recreational area.
caption: Nurragingy Chinese Garden
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