On this day in 1994, The Canberra Times reported on the recognition and heritage listing of a special Aboriginal site in Latham, ACT.
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Unaware that she was evoking a scene of a time before white settlement, two year old Selina played - much as her ancestors probably did - in what is now Umbagong Park.
The Ngunnawal land, previously known as Latham District Park, was renamed at a ceremony conducted by MLA Wayne Berry and Ngunnawal elder Don Bell. Aboriginal artefacts were first found at the site in the early 1980s. In 1984, a young boy whose family had just moved to Latham from the South Coast, found a group of 19 grooves on the rocks beside Ginninderra Creek and recognised them as axe-grinding grooves.
The grooves, authenticated as being of Aboriginal origin, are now classified by the National Trust of Australia and listed on the Register of the National Estate of the Australian Heritage Commission.
The convener of the Latham District Landcare Group, Chris Watson, said the area's importance was not well known but it had been recognised by the Umbagong name, meaning axe in Ngunnawal language. He said: "It's amazing that such a significant site is right here in our own backyards and it is not known about by too many people in Canberra. It's not just a historical spot, though, it's also very beautiful and untouched; places like this are becoming very rare."
