The people of Blacktown Road: Shane Smithers and Julie Janson

Second cousins, Shane Smithers and Julie Janson, discuss their families and reflect on the difficulties of identifying as Aboriginal several generations ago: “There was such endemic racism that people…would hide it if they could.” They visit Blacktown Rd, near Freemans Reach, where their forebears lived in the late nineteenth century. This is one of several important living areas revealed during research for this website.

Keywords: Identity; racism; values; heritage; early settlement; change, city