Sacred sites

The Butterfly Cave is a traditional women's meeting and ceremonial place located in West Wallsend, in the vicinity of Mt Sugarloaf.

Its significance to Aboriginal culture stems from its use as a meeting place with rich resources, where Aboriginal women performed traditional practices in safe and private surroundings. For many years, vegetation and natural springs offering visual links to other culturally significant landmarks across the region such as Mt Sugarloaf, have surrounded the cave. The area is still used as a place for spiritual connection and education of Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal people, especially young girls and women.

The Awabakal Local Aboriginal Land Council nominated the Butterfly Cave for declaration as an Aboriginal Place in 2011.

The middens, open campsites, stone quarries, caves and axe grind groovings found at Glenrock State Conservation Area are considered Aboriginal Sacred Sites.

For the Awabakal People, Glenrock State Conservation Area was a prosperous industry. Stone from Glenrock – known as Merewether chert – ochre and coal were traded with neighbouring tribal Countries throughout the region.

Being coastal and abundant with bush at the time, the variety of food available to the Awabakal People was aplenty. The Awabakal People used the many plants for food, medicine and shelter. The creeks and lagoon were a valuable water source.

Early pioneers named the area as 'glen', meaning 'narrow valley', and 'rock' due to its rugged nature. Glenrock was also known as Pillapay-Kullaitaran meaning 'Valley of the Palms', as the Cabbage Palm, Livistona australis, thrived throughout Glenrock prior to deforestation.

In 1932, the Scout Association of Australia was granted a lease of 40 hectares of land at Glenrock Lagoon and scouting activities continue to this day. Relics, rails, tunnels and shafts of early coal mining and other industrial infrastructure such as a coastal railway can still be seen throughout the landscape.

Pulbah Island is a small island in Lake Macquarie. The southern and western sides of the island have a rocky sandstone cliff face and shore line. The environment consists of open woodland with grey gum, scribbly gum, stringy bark, and yellow box trees, and an understorey of native grasses.

Pulbah Island is important to the Awabakal People because of two mythological stories, one being of Naruta-Ka-Wa, the Great Sky Lizard of Pulbah Island.

There are two small midden sites on Pulbah Island and archaeological evidence suggests that the midden sites pre-date European arrival in the area.

Pulbah Island Nature Reserve is an Aboriginal Place and is co-managed by the NSW National Parks and Wildlife Service in consultation with the Awabakal people.

The area we know today as Jewells Swamp was called Ngor-rion-bah by the Awabakal people translating as 'where the emu breeds'. The area was a rich and varied source of food.

There remain numerous sites of Aboriginal axe grinding grooves in the area. Archaeological work in and around this area reveals the large middens in the vicinity. These middens evidence thousands of years of Aboriginal occupation and contain fragments of the Aboriginal food sources including shells, fish and animal bone. These sites are very significant, fragile, irreplaceable and protected by government legislation.

This information has been taken from the Jewells Swamp listing on our Lake Macquarie History online portal. It was compiled from research conducted by Professor John Maynard.