The Wurundjeri Woi Wurrung Cultural Heritage Aboriginal Corporation, previously the Wurundjeri Tribe Land and Compensation Cultural Heritage Council, is a Registered Aboriginal Party representing the Wurundjeri people, an Aboriginal Australian people of Victoria.
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 were three family groups represented in the Council: the Nevins, Terricks and Wandins, which included 30 elders and about 60 members. [1] The members of the Council (later Corporation) 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]
In 2003 questions were raised over claims of missing funds, after the organisation had not complied with its obligations to hold annual general meetings and lodge annual statements. Wurundjeri Land Council revenue was at that time predominantly from rental of buildings on the 38-hectare (94-acre) former Army School of Health site in Healesville and fees paid by developers for cultural site monitoring, to obtain approval for work on culturally sensitive areas. [3]
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. [2] [4] In 2006 the Victorian state government introduced the Aboriginal Heritage Act 2006 , under which the council became approved as a Registered Aboriginal Party, [5] which allows the council to continue to make decisions about its cultural places. However the decision recognised only the area not under dispute with other parties. [2] [4]
The Corporation has a number of different roles:[ citation needed ]
The Victorian Government has granted land of cultural significance for the Land Council to manage. These sites include:[ citation needed ]
Boundary disputes have existed among a number of parties, including the Wathaurong people to the west, the Dja Dja Wurrung to the north-west, the Taungurong people to the north, the Gunai/Kurnai to the east and the Boon wurrung/Bunurong people to the south. The dispute over territorial boundaries continued to be challenged even after being set down in 1984 legislation. [2] [4]
In June 2021, the boundaries between the land of two of the traditional owner groups in greater Melbourne, the Wurundjeri and Boonwurrung, were agreed between the two groups, after being drawn up by the Victorian Aboriginal Heritage Council. The new borderline runs across the city from west to east, with the CBD, Richmond and Hawthorn included in Wurundjeri land, and Albert Park, St Kilda and Caulfield on Bunurong land. It was agreed that Mount Cottrell, the site of a massacre in 1836 with at least 10 Wathaurong victims, would be jointly managed above the 160 m (520 ft) line. The two Registered Aboriginal Parties representing the groups were the Bunurong Land Council Aboriginal Corporation and the Wurundjeri Woi Wurrung Cultural Heritage Aboriginal Corporation. [6]
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.[ citation needed ]
The history of Melbourne details the city's growth from a fledgling settlement into a modern commercial and financial centre as Australia's second largest city, Melbourne, in the state of Victoria.
The Wurundjeri are an Aboriginal Australian nation of the Woiwurrung language group, in the Kulin nation. They occupied the Birrarung Valley before British settlement of the area, around the present location of Melbourne, and were called the Yarra tribe by the settlers. The Wurundjeri are one of several sub-groups or clans of Woiwurrung people who traditionally occupied some of the territory now the site of the city of Melbourne. There were two separate clan groups, Wurundjeri-balluk and Wurundjeri-willam.
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. The median age was 44 years.
Abbotsford is an inner-city suburb of Melbourne, Australia, 2 kilometres (1.2 mi) north-east of Melbourne's Central Business District. Its local government area is the City of Yarra. At the 2016 census, Abbotsford had a population of 8,184.
The Kulin nation is an alliance of five Indigenous Australian nations 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, was a 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, are an Aboriginal people of the Kulin nation, who occupy from Werribee River to Wilsons Prom, Victoria, Australia, including part of what is now the city and suburbs of Melbourne. Before British colonisation, they lived as all people of the Kulin nation lived, sustainably on the land, for tens of thousands of years. They were called the Western Port or Port Philip tribe by the early settlers, and were in alliance with other tribes in the Kulin nation, having particularly strong ties to the Wurundjeri people.
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 is 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.
Coranderrk was an Aboriginal reserve run by the Victorian government between 1863 and 1924, located around 50 kilometres (31 mi) north-east of Melbourne. The residents were mainly of the Woiwurrung, Bunurong and Taungurong peoples, and the first inhabitants chose the site of the reserve.
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 c. 1846.
Land councils, also known as Aboriginal land councils, or 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. Land councils are self-supporting, and not funded by state or federal taxes.
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.
The Kulin languages are a group of closely related languages of the Kulin people, part of the Kulinic branch of Pama–Nyungan.
Aboriginal Victorians, the Aboriginal Australians of Victoria, Australia, occupied the land for tens of thousands of years prior to European settlement. Aboriginal people have lived a semi-nomadic existence of fishing, hunting and gathering, and farming eels in Victoria for at least 40,000 years.
Ian D. Clark is an academic historian and Toponymist whose primary work has focused on Victorian Aboriginal history, aboriginal toponymy and the frontier conflict between Indigenous Australians and immigrant settlers during the European settlement of Victoria, Australia.
The Mount William stone axe quarry is an Aboriginal Australian archaeological site in Central Victoria, Australia. It is located 9 kilometres (5.6 mi) northeast of Lancefield, off Powells Track, 10 kilometres (6.2 mi) north of Romsey and 78 kilometres (48 mi) from Melbourne. Known as Wil-im-ee Moor-ring, meaning "axe place" in the Woiwurrung language, the greenstone quarry was an important source of raw material for the manufacture of greenstone ground-edge axes, which were traded over a wide area of south-east Australia.
The Woiwurrung, also spelt Woi Wurrung, Woiwurrong, Woiworung, Wuywurung, are an Aboriginal Australian people of the Woiwurrung language group, in the Kulin alliance.
A Registered Aboriginal Party (RAP) is a recognised representative body of an Aboriginal Australian people per the Aboriginal Heritage Act 2006 (Vic.), whose function is to protect and manage the Aboriginal cultural heritage in the state of Victoria in Australia.
The Bunurong Land Council Aboriginal Corporation is a Registered Aboriginal Party and incorporated association representing the Bunurong community in the state of Victoria, Australia, particularly in matters relating to the Victorian Aboriginal Heritage Act 2006.
This month we interview Megan Goulding, CEO of the Wurundjeri Tribe Land Compensation and Cultural Heritage Council.