Alison Muir Damning the Molongolo Past Aboriginals living in the area now known as The Australian Capital Territory, Australia are thought to be the Ngan Girra and to have spoken in the Ngunnawal language. Aboriginal tenure on land is custodial and is based on respecting and maintaining the elements of the land and its spirituality for both the current and the future inhabitants. In contrast Western tenure allows alteration of the environment to meet the immediate desires of the current inhabitants. Thus the riverbed and flood plain that evolved slowly to become what we call the Molonglo have been dammed to form a lake and an aesthetic backdrop for Canberra. The Waterway is a metaphor for the two cultures passing in this landscape