RAHS Day Lecture – Awabakal and Nikkin: Reconnecting histories of First Peoples, coal and colonists

Event Date & Time: Wednesday, 5 June 2024 @ 1.00 pm – 2.00 pm

Event Location: Online via Zoom

Cost: Free

Event Description:

In the late 1790s colonists encountered exposed coal measures along the 35-kilometre stretch of coastal cliffs from Newcastle’s Nobby’s Head to Catherine Hill Bay near Lake Macquarie. Geologist Edgeworth David later declared this extensive carbon-rich strata to be ‘probably the finest of its kind in the whole world.’ As this paper discusses, the prevalence of visible coal seams means it is no surprise that Awabakal people of the region named, used and traded bituminous, heat-softened, tar-like nikkin (coal).

About the speaker:

Julie McIntyre is an Associate Professor of History at the University of Newcastle. She researches the relationship between commodity production, distribution and consumption centred on grape wine, people, plants and place. Research for her new book for Princeton University Press on Australia in global context has led to her interest in the Indigenous histories of coal and other minerals.