Who We Aren't

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While we respect the right of coastal mob to use the word Eora / Iyura in their identification with place, we do not agree with the way Local Aboriginal Land Councils have misused the Dharug word  "Eora" over the years to erase the acknowledgement and actual presence of Darug-speaking peoples historically and today. 

We are Baramadagal / Burramattagal people of the Darug language group / Nation. 

Cultural governance is the original governing system of this continent. It continues today through kinship, obligation, relationship, and cultural law (First Laws).

For Baramadagal Darug people, governance is grounded in kinship-based authority, where roles and responsibilities flow through lineage and family connections rather than elections or appointments.

It is also centred on Country. Country is a living relation, and decisions are made with Country, not about it. Our responsibilities to water, land, ancestors, and future generations guide every action we take. Cultural governance is intergenerational, with Eldership and community leadership authority earned through lifelong practice, service, and practice of cultural responsibility. Accountability is relational to Kin, Country and Community. And governance is collective, consensual, and grounded in responsibility.

Cultural governance is continuing law. It exists whether the colonial state recognises it or not.

Colonial governance, on the other hand, is the system imposed through invasion and legislation. It operates through individual authority and legal appointment; to boards, directors, CEOs, rather than kinship. It is driven by compliance with legislation, constitutions, audits, and formal reporting. These structures prioritise efficiency, hierarchy, and risk management, not cultural obligation or relational accountability. Colonial governance is a tool, not a source of cultural legitimacy.

The Baramadagal Darug Tribal Governing Council (BDTGC) uses a corporate structure because it provides visibility in the mainstream world and the ability to function within colonial systems. It allows us to hold funding and insurance, enter contracts, meet requirements, and ensure administrative protection. But this structure does not create our authority.

Cultural governance provides identity, legitimacy, authority, obligation, continuity, and relationship to Country. Colonial governance provides visibility, structural safety, access to resources, and permission to operate in imposed systems. Neither replaces the other, but we believe they can work alongside each other.

The way we describe this balance is through a simple metaphor:

The corporation is the canoe; kinship is the river.

The canoe allows us to travel through the mainstream world; safely, visibly, and "legally". But it is the river that gives direction, carries our story, shapes and shares our responsibilities, and determines who is allowed to steer and when.

The canoe has no meaning without the river beneath it.

BDTGC is not a papers-issuing corporation. 

Confirmation of Aboriginality papers were never designed to replace cultural connection. They were meant to affirm what Community already knows: that a person is of genuine Aboriginal genealogical descent, is recognised by the community they belong to (are claimed) and identifies as an Aboriginal person.

The problem now is that too many people are seeking paperwork instead of culture. Instead of doing the deep relational work; reconnecting with family, learning Country, showing up, building trust - they go straight to incorporated Community structures asking for a certificate.

Communities spend their time, labour and cultural energy issuing these papers, only to watch some people disappear the moment they get what they came for. The certificate enables them to be tokenised when they go back into their mainstream lives; for jobs, scholarships, or social legitimacy, while the cultural work remains undone and the Community they claim receives nothing in return.

This is not what Aboriginal identity or Community responsibility looks like, and it is not something we support.

Confirmation papers were meant to uphold community authority, not be a shortcut around it. Without the relationships, kinship accountability and ongoing cultural engagement, a piece of paper means nothing.

If you believe you are a descendent of the lineage associated with the BDTGC, we encourage you to look for opportunities to build your relationships organically without the agenda of obtaining papers.

We appreciate that colonisation has caused disconnection across many family lines, and where we can create spaces for mob to come together to learn, heal and connect we will.

We just ask that you prioritise connecting genuinely - not just for papers.

We don't perform culture.

Within our cultural kinship system, we do have family members who may deliver cultural formalities where there is proper alignment to do so.

We also have members of the Community who may collaborate with you in the work you are doing. We encourage you to read the engagement guide first though, to see if your request is ready to be proposed to us.

We maintain wide networks within our family group and across the Darug landscape with other family groups. 

We encourage you to do the same. 

Culturally we defer to people whose family groups are traditionally from a certain area as the first attempt to engage. Or work in collectives with mixed lineages where we state that clearly.

Often in mainstream setting across Darug lands, there may not be any other Darug people present, in which case we will assume responsibility for protocols on that occasion. However, we would never orchestrate a space to exclude other Darug people so that we can always be seen as the 'highest point of cultural authority'. 

The case of Kimberley Land Council v Williams [2018] FCA 1955, involved a challenge to the registration of an Indigenous Land Use Agreement (ILUA) under the Native Title Act (NTA), Barker J upheld the decision of the delegate of the Native Title Register of the ILUA and made the following observation at [83] of the delegate’s reasons:

Where there are decisions that need to be made that will affect a particular part of the Balanggarra country, it is the family with the traditional connection to that area has pre-eminence in what the decision should be. This view is shared with the rest of the group, who, as required by their traditional laws and customs, ‘come behind’ and support that view, expressed by the persons who speak for that area.

We mention this protocol as articulated here, to show that as the Darug Community comprises of different family groups, you should naturally see people stepping forward as cultural protocol permits, and stepping back and supporting others as cultural protocol asks for.

If you don't see this, ask questions.