Wurundjeri Tribe Land and Compensation Cultural Heritage Council

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Sign acknowledging Aboriginal Custodians of the land Sign acknowledging Aboriginal Custodians of the land.JPG
Sign acknowledging Aboriginal Custodians of the land

The Wurundjeri Tribe Land and Compensation Cultural Heritage Council was established in 1985 by descendants of the Wurundjeri people who are the traditional custodians of the country around Melbourne. There are three family groups in the council: the Nevins, Terricks and Wandins with 30 elders and about 60 members. [1]

Wurundjeri ethnic group

The Wurundjeri are Indigenous descendants of the people of the Indigenous Australian nation of the Wurundjeri language group, in the Kulin alliance. They occupied the Birrarung Valley. Its tributaries are the present location of Melbourne. Before European settlement, they lived predominantly as aquaculturists, swidden agriculturists, and hunters and gatherers. Seasonal changes in the weather, availability of foods and other factors would determine where campsites were located, many near the Birrarung and its tributaries.

Contents

The members of the Council are all descendants of a Woiwurrung / Wurundjeri man named Bebejan, through his daughter Annie Borate (Boorat), and in turn, her son Robert Wandin (Wandoon). Bebejan was a Ngurungaeta of the Wurundjeri people and was present at John Batman’s ‘treaty’ signing in 1835. [2]

Bebejan also known as Bebejern or Jerum Jerum, was a Ngurungaeta of the Wurundjeri people of the Woiwurung language group in the present day Australian state of Victoria. He was at the meeting which purportedly gained signatures to Batman's Treaty in 1835 and signed it along with seven other tribal leaders. The contract itself is historically significant as it was the first and only documented time when Europeans negotiated their presence and occupation of Aboriginal lands directly with the traditional owners. Bebejan was most probably elevated to tribal leadership after the decimation of the second smallpox plague in 1828. The fact that he was elevated over Billibelleri, his wife's uncle, is testament to the Aboriginal leadership system being merit-based, not lineal descent. Billibelleri readily became number two man (Songman) to his younger nephew and succeeded Bebejan as leader in 1836. Bebejan was also the father of William Barak as well as nephew-in-law to Billibellary.

Ngurungaeta is a Woi-Wurrung word often said to mean 'head man' or 'tribal leader', used by clans of the Woi-Wurrung tribes and Taung Wurrung Ngurai-illum Wurrung. Ngurungaeta held the same tribal standing as an Arweet of the Bunurong and Wathaurong people. The current Ngurungaeta is Murrundindi. The term became of particular importance as an identifier of senior men prepared to accept Anglo control in the latter part of the 19th Century. It is unlikely that the term was used to express genuine recognition of senior members of traditional groups in the Melbourne area after the 1840s, following the death of Billibellary ca 1846.

John Batman Australian settler and explorer

John Batman was an Australian grazier, entrepreneur and explorer. He settled in the north-east of the Van Diemen's Land Colony in the 1820s, and later as a leading member of the Port Phillip Association he led an expedition which explored the Port Phillip Bay area on the Australian mainland with a view to establishing a new settlement there. He is best known for his role in the founding of the settlement on the Yarra River which became the city of Melbourne, eventual capital of the new Colony of Victoria, and one of Australia's largest and most important cities.

Roles

The Wurundjeri Land Council has a number of different roles:

The Victorian Government has granted land of cultural significance for the Land Council to manage. These sites include:

Sunbury earth rings

The Sunbury earth rings are prehistoric aboriginal sites located on hills to the west of Jacksons Creek near Sunbury, Victoria, Australia.

Coranderrk indigenous national heritage site in Healesville VIC

Coranderrk was a government reserve for Australian Aborigines in the state of Victoria between 1863 and 1924, located 50 km north-east of Melbourne.

The Council had a statutory role under Commonwealth legislation that gave it the power to grant or refuse consent to disturb Aboriginal sites. This gave the Council members a significant say in how their important cultural places were managed.The Victorian state government introduced the Aboriginal Heritage Act 2006 and the Wurundjeri Council is now approved as a Registered Aboriginal Party under that Act, which will allow the Council to continue to make decisions about its cultural places. However the decision recognised only the area not under dispute with other parties. The other parties include the Wathaurung/ Wathaurong people to the west, the Dja Dja Wurrung/ Jaara Jaara people to the north-west, the Taungurung people to the north, the Gunai/Kurnai people to the east and the Boon Wurrung/ Bunurong people to the south. The dispute over territorial boundaries has been under challenge since they were set down in 1984 legislation. [2] [3]

Registered Aboriginal Party

Registered Aboriginal Parties are recognized Aboriginal people per the Victorian Aboriginal Heritage Act of 2006. Aboriginal people are recognized as the "primary guardians, keepers and knowledge holders of Aboriginal cultural heritage". They protect and manage the Aboriginal cultural heritage in Victoria, Australia.

Wathaurong, also called the Wathaurung and Wadawurrung, are an Indigenous Australian tribe living in the area near Melbourne, Geelong and the Bellarine Peninsula. They are part of the Kulin alliance. The Wathaurung language was spoken by 25 clans south of the Werribee River and the Bellarine Peninsula to Streatham. They were sometimes referred to by Europeans as the Barrabool people. The area they inhabit has been occupied for at least the last 25,000 years, with 140 archaeological sites having been found in the region, indicating significant activity over that period.

Taungurong

The Taungurong people, also known as the Daung Wurrung, were thirteen clans who spoke the Daungwurrung language and were part of the Kulin alliance of indigenous Australians. They lived to the north of and were closely associated with the Woiwurrung speaking Wurundjeri people. Their territory was to the north of the Great Dividing Range in the watersheds of the Broken, Delatite, Coliban, Goulburn and Campaspe Rivers. They were also known by white settlers as the Devil's River Tribe or Goulburn River Tribe.

Administration

In 2003 questions were raised over claims of missing funds. Wurundjeri Land Council revenue is predominantly from rental of buildings on the 38-hectare former Army School of Health site in Healesville and a $550 a day fee paid by developers for cultural "site monitoring" by the association to obtain approval for work on culturally sensitive areas. [4]

In 2007 the Land Council opened an office at the refurbished Abbotsford Convent to engage with members of the wider community and provide community space for members. The site is on the Yarra River Dreaming Trail, an important part of the bigger creation story of the Wurundjeri people and their country. There are important Wurundjeri camping sites located nearby which have been used for thousands of years. A little way north is the confluence of the Merri Creek and Yarra River near Dights Falls; the burial site of Billibellary; the location of the Aboriginal Protectorate, Native Police Corps headquarters and Merri Creek Aboriginal School.

Abbotsford Convent former Roman Catholic convent in Abbotsford, Victoria, Australia

The Abbotsford Convent is located in Abbotsford, Victoria, an inner city suburb of Melbourne, Australia. The Convent is in a bend of the Yarra River west of Yarra Bend Park, with the Collingwood Children's Farm to its north and east, the river and parklands to its south and housing to its west.

Merri Creek river in Victoria, Australia

The Merri Creek is a waterway in southern parts of Victoria, Australia, which flows through the northern suburbs of Melbourne. It begins near Wallan north of Melbourne and flows south for 70 km until it joins the Yarra River at Dights Falls. The area where the creek meets the river was traditionally the location for large gatherings of the Wurundjeri people and is suspected to have been the location for one of the earliest land treaties in Australia between Indigenous Australians and European settlers.

Yarra River river in Victoria, Australia

The Yarra River or historically, the Yarra Yarra River, is a perennial river in east-central Victoria, Australia.

Related Research Articles

Healesville, Victoria Town in Victoria, Australia

Healesville is a town in Victoria, Australia, 52 km north-east from Melbourne's central business district. Its local government area is the Shire of Yarra Ranges. At the 2016 Census, Healesville had a population of 7,461.

Kulin ethnic group

The Kulin nation is an alliance of five Indigenous Australian tribes in south central Victoria, Australia. Their collective territory extends around Port Phillip and Western Port, up into the Great Dividing Range and the Loddon and Goulburn River valleys.

William Barak Indigenous Australian

William Barak, was the last traditional ngurungaeta (elder) of the Wurundjeri-willam clan, first inhabitants of present-day Melbourne, Australia. He became an influential spokesman for Aboriginal social justice and an important informant on Wurundjeri cultural lore.

The Boon wurrung, commonly written Bunurong, are Indigenous Australians of the Kulin nation, who occupy South-Central Victoria, Australia. Before British settlement, they lived as all people of the Kulin nation lived, sustainably on the land, predominantly as hunters and gatherers, for tens of thousands of years. They were referred to by Europeans as the Western Port or Port Philip tribe and were in alliance with other tribes in the Kulin nation, having particularly strong ties to the Wurundjeri people.

The Jaara baby was an Aboriginal Australian child who died at some stage during the 1840s to 1860s. The child's remains were discovered in 1904, and kept in storage by Museum Victoria for ninety-nine years, until in 2003 they were repatriated to the Dja Dja Wurrung community. The remains were of particular significance because they were found traditionally wrapped in possum skins along with about 130 other artifacts of both European and Aboriginal origin.

Simon Wonga Indigenous Australian leader

Simon Wonga (1824–1874), ngurungaeta and son of Billibellary, was an elder of the Wurundjeri indigenous people who lived in the Melbourne area of Australia. He was resolute that his people would survive the 'onslaught' of white men.

Djadjawurrung ethnic group

Djadjawurrung or Dja Dja Wurrung, also known as the Jaara or Jajowrong people and Loddon River tribe, is a native Aboriginal tribe which occupied the watersheds of the Loddon and Avoca rivers in the Bendigo region of central Victoria, Australia. They were part of the Kulin alliance of tribes. There were 16 clans, which adhered to a patrilineal system. Like the other Kulin peoples there were two moieties: Bunjil the eagle and Waa the crow.

Land councils, also known as land and sea councils, are Australian community organisations, generally organised by region, that are commonly formed to represent the Indigenous Australians who occupied their particular region before the arrival of European settlers. They have historically advocated for recognition of traditional land rights, and also for the rights of Indigenous people in other areas such as equal wages and adequate housing. Some states, such as the Northern Territory, have laws that provide for the existence of land councils and allocate them responsibilities for representing Aboriginal people in various matters. Other states do not have such laws, or have laws that provide for the existence of Aboriginal organisations that do not call themselves land councils to provide functions similar to those provided by land councils in some states. An example of this is in Victoria, where there are laws providing for organisations called 'Registered Aboriginal Parties', which provide functions in relation to Aboriginal people similar to those provided by land councils in, say, the Northern Territory.

Joy Murphy Wandin is an Indigenous Australian, Senior Wurundjeri elder of the Kulin alliance in Victoria, Australia. She has given the traditional welcome to country greeting at many Melbourne events and to many distinguished visitors where she says in the Woiwurrung language "Wominjeka Wurundjeri Balluk yearmenn koondee bik".

James Wandin, also known as Jim, Jimmy, or Juby, was the ngurungaeta of the Wurundjeri till his death in February 2006. He was the first Australian rules footballer of Aboriginal descent to play with St Kilda Football Club in 1952–1953.

Billibellary was a song maker and influential ngurungaeta of the Wurundjeri-willam clan during the early years of European settlement of Melbourne. He was known by various names including Billi-billeri, Billibellary, Jika Jika, Jacky Jacky and Jaga Jaga. He was an astute and diplomatic leader, described as powerfully built with an influence and reputation that extended well beyond his clan.

Franklinford, Victoria Town in Victoria, Australia

Franklinford is a small community in the Central Highlands of Victoria, Australia, located in the Shire of Hepburn. It was the site chosen by Edward Stone Parker to build the Loddon Aboriginal Protectorate station at Franklinford in January 1841 which was an important focus of the Dja Dja Wurrung people from 1841 until they were forcible resettled in 1864. It is located on the Midland Highway.

Kulin languages

The Kulin languages are a group of closely related languages of the Kulin people, part of the Kulinic branch of Pama–Nyungan.

Aboriginal Victorians

Aboriginal Victorians, the indigenous Australians of Victoria, Australia, occupied the land for tens of thousands of years prior to European settlement. According to Gary Presland, Aboriginal people have lived a semi-nomadic existence of fishing, hunting and gathering, and farming eels in Victoria for about 40,000 years.

References

  1. ↑ Interview with Megan Goulding in The Abbotsford Convent Muse, Issue 18 , September 2007. Accessed 1 November 2008
  2. 1 2 Victorian Aboriginal Heritage Council, Decision in relation to an Application by Wurundjeri Tribe Land and Compensation Cultural Heritage Council Inc to be a Registered Aboriginal Party , date of Decision: 22 August 2008. Accessed 2 November 2008
  3. ↑ Larry Schwarz, Aborigines seek law change over land row , The Age, 14 December 2003. Accessed 2 November 2008
  4. ↑ Larry Schwartz, Police inquiry into claims of missing funds , The Age, 12 October 2003. Accessed 2 November 2008
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