The Canberra area has been inhabited for 21,000 years. Then the area was covered in permanent snow and glaciers, and inhabitation was probably transitory. There is evidence of Bogong moth hunting dating back 1000 years. Bogongs are high in fat and protein, and have a nutty flavour. Around 3000 years ago the population became more stable, and stayed that way until the 1830s when smallpox and other diseases were introduced. By the 1870s there were no more great gatherings in the area.

The language of the region seems to have been Ngarigo. The language area borders on the Gundungara area (see Goulburn) and some words are identical between the languages. The borders of the area are hard to know as nineteenth century non-Aboriginal sources used towns as border markers, and the real boundaries could have been many kilometres away.

Blanket lists of 1834 and 1844 indicated that there may have been two groups living in the Canberra area. One was led by Jimmy the Rover, or Noo-lup, and consisted of 47 people, based variously near the Brindabellas or near Hall. The other consisted of 60-70 people lead by Hong Hong, Hong Gong, Ong Gong or Joo-doo-mung, based at the mountains west of Murrumbidgee or at Yarralumla.

In the 1911 census there were 11 full-blood Aborigines in the area of the Australian Capital Territory, and only one by 1947. However, the part-aboriginal population has grown from 8 in 1911 to 172 by 1954.

Today Canberra is partly significant for Aborigines because of the Commonwealth Government's involvement in Aboriginal Affairs.

Sources:
The Encyclopedia of Aboriginal Australia, AIATSIS. 1994

Flood, Josephine Recent research on traditional Aboriginal society of the Canberra area Canberra Historical Journal ns No 13 March 1984 p 17-25 ML Q990.206/5

York, Barry The story of Canberra: official history in the Bicentennial year Canberra Historical Journal ns No 23 March 1989 p 2-7 ML Q990.206/5

References:
Flood, Josephine The Moth Hunters Australian Institute of Aboriginal Studies, Canberra, 1980

Gillespie, Lyall Canberra's Original Inhabitants Canberra Historical Journal ns No 22 Sept 1988 p 25-35

Gillespie, Lyall Leslie Aborigines of the Canberra Region Published by author, Canberra 1984

Meehan, Betty Living off the Land, Ngunnawal Aboriginal people and food in the Canberra region Symposium of Australian Gastronomy Proceedings No 7 1993 p 36-41

Sites of Significance in the ACT National Capital Development Commission, Canberra, 1988-1990