Indigenous Cultural Heritage and Scarred Trees Info-Popup Historic Note: Scarred Trees
Trees inside Parramatta Park still bear evidence of Aboriginal use of this land. Many stringy bark trees have large vertical gashes in them, called ‘scars,’ which evidence the stripping of the bark for making canoes. Aboriginal use of canoes is also shown in the Parramatta City Council logo. The logo bears an image of an Aboriginal man using a trident spear, also referred to as a ‘fizz-gig’ by early British colonists. These spears were made of the points and barbs from pieces of bird or mammal bone, stingray spines, shell, fish teeth or hardwood. The multiple-pronged spear was useful for catching fast-moving fish. In the background is a woman sitting in a canoe.