CATTAI AUDIO WALK : 11 Stories from the River Dyarubbin

Listen to stories of Dyarubbin / The Hawkesbury River and original music and song they have inspired as you walk along the river & Cattai Creek in Cattai National Park..or from the comfort of wherever you are. Here at Cattai, the river leaves the floodplain and returns into sandstone country. Dharug artist Leanne Mulgo Watson is our guide as we hear how Cattai is the start of a sacred zone to the Dharug. We learn of the first recorded meetings between European exploratory parties and Dharug people at Little Cattai and Cattai Creeks in 1789 & 1791, the colonisation & frontier war that followed and how this place was granted to Surgeon Thomas Arndell. We learn the importance of the Cattai Creek / Dyarubbin confluence as a meeting place & ceremonial ground, hear of the ongoing Aboriginal presence in the area, of Kurringy the leader of the Caddie Creek Tribe and the destruction of an Eel engraving. We listen to stories of the Arndell family, the homestead, Hope Farm Mill, Ebenezer Church and the impact of continual flooding which saw this place become a National Parks in the 1980s. We learn of sand mining, water quality, waste water and weed management in the catchment. We learn of the once mighty Hawkesbury Nepean Catchment Management Trust, the Hawkesbury Nepean Waterkeeper Alliance and a Platypus study on Cattai Creek. WALKING DIRECTIONS: (approx 1.6km loop): Starting by the road (Arndell’s Trail) just before the end of the picnic ground, ( near Picnic Shelter 7), we head towards the riverbank and walk upstream, to the left, until we reach Cattai Wharf, then continue our walk upstream, following the road until we reach the gate opposite the green building. We walk through the gate and towards the confluence of Cattai Creek and Dyarubbin, returning back through the gate, across the road and head up the hill to the Caddie homestead. We head down the grassy slope in front of the house and to our right back towards the picnic ground, walking along the lagoon, before returning to where we started. GUESTS: (in order of appearance) Gil Jones, Geologist and Author of ‘Wasteland, Wilderness Wonderland’ Jasmine Seymour, Dharug artist, writer & educator Jan Barkley-Jack, Historian & author of "Hawkesbury Settlement Revealed”, Grace Karskens, Emeritus Professor of History at the University of NSW & author of “People of the River" Yvonne Arndell Tuckerman, Hawkesbury local & descendant of Thomas Arndell Ted Brill, former Principal, Ebenezer Public School, Hawkesbury Historical Society Michael Kemp, Hawkesbury local & descendant of Peter Kemp and Thomas Arndell Dr Ian Wright, Associate Professor, Environmental Science, Western Sydney University The late Ted Books OAM, former Hawkesbury City Councillor & descendant of Captain John Grono Sue Martin, Environmental educator, Cattai Hills Environment Network, Hawkesbury Waterkeeper Alliance Dr Michelle Ryan, Lecturer Ecology and Environmental Science, Western Sydney University and Hawkesbury Nepean Water-keeper Rhiannon Wright, Dharug educator Erin Wilkins, Dharug educator ARTWORK: Marri Badu Muru © Leanne Mulgo Watson 2022 MUSIC: “11 Stories from the River Dyarubbin” © Oonagh Sherrard, with Dharug songs © Jasmine Seymour and © Stacy Jane Etal.

Musicians: Dimitri Vouros, Gary Daley, Jess Ciampa, Jasmine Seymour, Stacy Jane Etal, Oonagh Sherrard ABOUT: 11 Stories From the River Dyarubbin is a collaborative public art work led by composer/ producer Oonagh Sherrard with Hawkesbury Regional Museum, Dharug Custodian Aboriginal Corporation, WSU Sustainable Futures and Hawkesbury Historical Society. Created with support from the NSW Government through Create NSW, Museums & Galleries NSW and assisted by the Australian Government through the Australia Council, its Arts funding and advisory body.

FURTHER INFORMATION: ⁠https://www.hawkesbury.nsw.gov.au/museum/historical-walks/11-stories-from-the-river-dyarubbin⁠

WATCH EPISODE ON YOU TUBE:

⁠https://youtu.be/wx6tfVE7S0w⁠