An understanding of history is important to an understanding of our society. How the story is told depends on the teller and the times in which they lived. The history of Aboriginal occupation in Brisbane has largely been recorded by white tellers rather than by a combination of both white and black observers. Learning about our society through a study of the past requires that we remember who documented the history and what motivated them.

Land, language, and people are linked together in three important elements of Aboriginal culture: family, clan, and language. In the Brisbane area the Yaggera language group was used and the clans associated with this group of languages were the Jagera and the Turrbal. The Turrbal, also called 'the Duke of York's clan' by the whites, mainly lived north of the Brisbane River, and the Jagera were mostly located south of the river. Today the exact territorial boundary of these two groups is in question.

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