Sites of Significance

Middens are the accumulation of mainly shellfish remains from meals and feasts held by Aboriginal people over many generations. The size of just one midden found near here on North Creek was estimated to be more than 11,000 cubic metres or enough to fill about four olympic swimming pools.

“We collect artefacts from the Angels Beach area and along the seaside” Uncle Artie Ferguson 2015

“Selected routes would be chosen for movement between East Ballina and Lennox Head. There were pathways which followed the ridgelines from their campsites to the Lennox Head Bora and ceremonial sites. The middens along North Creek were very important features which were a part of the stories for the area and along the coast and these middens at North Creek are connected to the tool making and ceremonial sites” Lois Cook 2014

All across this place Aboriginal people made camps, hunted and gathered food. Large campsites containing artefacts and kitchen middens over 12,000 years old were located here.

Just as European settlement at Ballina from the 1850s onwards had a significant impact on the lives of the local Aboriginal people, so did it also impact on the area’s natural and cultural heritage.

In the 1890s vast midden deposits were quarried for road base, fertiliser and lime mortar for building. Later during the 1950s – 1960s the sand dunes were extensively mined for minerals.

These activities drastically impacted the natural and cultural heritage of the area, destroying middens, relocating and dispersing Aboriginal cultural material and remains, and disturbing coastal vegetation.

Today an active part of Aboriginal cultural practice here around Ballina is the identification, conservation and protection of Aboriginal sites of significance.