Blacktown Showground is located on Darug Country. This land has thousands of years of custodianship and Aboriginal people have a deep connection to country and the land that supports all of us.

Country is a term Aboriginal people use to define all people, plants, animals, waters and land. We do not see ourselves separate from one another or our environment. We are all one and we are all connected on a spiritual and physical level. Our relationship to Country, our kinship and totem systems are a complexity of intertwined knowledge and respect. Just as we care for our Country through traditional land management practices such as Firestick (cultural burning), we also acknowledge and celebrate our seasonal calendar through hunting, movement and ceremony.

The landscape provides all we need in terms of plant and animal resource for food, medicine, tools etc. We never take more than we need and always ensure that what we use will remain and grow for future generations. We never farmed our lands; our yams were dug up to take only a portion of each and then replanted to continue to grow; our trees never logged and our animals not-hunted during specific times. Our landscape and all that encompasses Country, remained unchanged, forgiving and in abundance for thousands of years prior to settlement. - Erin Wilkins (Darug woman and educator)