Something Before, That Still Remains: Experiential Treaty-Making on Kulin Country
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Something before, that still remains: Experiential treaty-making on Kulin Country Massimo Amerena BA (Hons), University of Melbourne Thesis submitted in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Applied Research Moondani Balluk Indigenous Academic Centre Institute for Sustainable Industries and Liveable Cities Victoria University April 2020 “I, Massimo Amerena, declare that the Master of Applied Research thesis entitled ‘Something before, that still remains: Experiential treaty-making on Kulin Country’ is no more than 60,000 words in length including quotes and exclusive of tables, figures, appendices, bibliography, references and footnotes. This thesis contains no material that has been submitted previously, in whole or in part, for the award of any other academic degree or diploma. Except where otherwise indicated, this thesis is my own work”. Date: 08/04/2020 Signed: ii Abstract Narrm, later named Port Phillip Bay by colonisers, shapes Aboriginal politics. This thesis is a place-based examination of the forms of treaty-making practised around Narrm. It aims to deepen the understandings of settler-Australians and historians of the political sophistication of the Kulin federation, a group of allied Aboriginal nations whose Country covers what is now central Victoria, Australia. Drawing on Aboriginal oral histories and colonial primary sources, as well as anthropological and archaeological scholarship, I use knowledge of Kulin culture and philosophy to explore, imagine, and decolonise the history of their politics from 14,000 years ago to the end of 1835. The forms of treaty explored in this thesis have been continuously practised for thousands of generations and exist within, and as an expression of, Kulin law. This thesis is divided into two parts, each consisting of two chapters. Part I examines the Kulin’s pre-colonial traditions of treaty-making, showing political relations were performed with Country, the non-human world and humans. Part II builds on this and shows that when encountering settlers in 1835 the bayside Kulin continued, and evolved, their treaty- making traditions. To describe these forms of Kulin political agreement-making, highlight Kulin agency and the political role of women, I introduce the term experiential treaties. An experiential treaty exists within the Indigenous oral tradition and is a political accord between a sovereign Aboriginal group and another party, be they a neighbouring Aboriginal clan, a refugee, a group of settlers as guests, or the non-human world of Country and animals. Exploring the Kulin world through experiential treaties centres Aboriginal political agency and self- determination. It is important to highlight that the practice of treaty-making does not have to include the modern or colonial settler-state. Experiential treaties are characterised by reciprocity and repetition, as they require iterative renewal through personal interactions between host and guest. With an imaginative approach based on Greg Dening’s historical methodology, I explore experiential treaty- making on Kulin country to decolonise Victorian history and highlight the silences and absences within current revisionist historiography of 1835. Rather than analyse the founding of Melbourne, I turn to the under- researched and unacknowledged political agency of the Waddawurrung living around present-day Geelong. Through exploring interactions with John Batman and his crew, I examine the exclusion of women from the narrative of 1835. Re-interpreting the political relations between the Waddawurrung and settlers camped at Indented Head shows that Kulin political traditions were continued, not disrupted, through what I term the Geelong Treaty based on the principle of iterative renewal and reciprocity. This thesis has significance in expanding the narrative of 1835 to include Kulin women and the Waddawurrung, but it also gives new depth to understandings of modern treaty-making and Indigenous activism in Victoria. As Wiradjuri legal scholar Mark McMillan states on the history and custom of Indigenous treaty-making: “There was something before, that still remains”. Key Words: treaty-making, Geelong Treaty, Kulin Treaty, Batman Treaty, Aboriginal treaties, decolonisation, Victorian colonisation, experiential treaties, Indigenous sovereignty, settler-colonialism, Kulin agency, Waddawurrung (Waddawurrung, Wathawurrung), Narrm (Port Phillip Bay), Beangala, Indented Head, William Buckley, cross-cultural lawful relations, environmental history, the Yarra camp. iii Dedication This thesis is dedicated to survivors and remainers. iv Acknowledgements I would not have made it through this thesis without the support, advice, and love of many people. First, family. My mum Leonie and dad John gave me unwavering love, emotional and financial support through the hardest times. My thesis, character and journey owe so much to them. My brother Dom has been the biggest influence on my development as a writer and reader: his suggestions, lessons and edits over the years made this work immeasurably better. I thank and pay tribute to my family, and thank Donna and Ellena, from the heart. The love and understanding of my friends and confidants, Harriet, Joe, Audrey, Jacques, and Carey gave me the strength to keep going. To all everyone who slogged through early drafts or commented on later ones, it meant and helped a lot. I deeply thank my principal supervisor, the inspiringly prolific Professor Tony Birch, for his personal guidance and continued belief in my research and writing. I am indebted to and grateful for the advice and insight Tony shared with me on politics, ethics, history, activism, community, fitness and football. Enjoy your retirement Tony. Dr Edwina Howell provided extremely valuable feedback on my thesis in its final stages, and I thank her for her academic supervision and her role in bringing me into the orbit of Moondani Balluk Indigenous Academic Centre. I hope Aotearoa treats her growing family well. Thanks to all the Moondani staff and community for their welcome and conversation, especially Dr Clare Land. Clare’s advice and emotional support was incredible, and it was a life- changing privilege to have made a small contribution to the development of her Decolonizing Solidarity Book Club project. To the members of that initial book club at VU (especially Nish), the productive uncomfortability we fostered in that board room was incredible. Many thanks also to Professor Ron Adams for his generosity and spirited conversations on writing and performing history. My writing craft and creativity were greatly improved through Ron’s workshops, as was my thesis through his comments on final drafts. Many others have contributed to my intellectual, ethical and professional development which is reflected in this thesis. Annabel Brown and Dr Travers McLeod from the Centre for Policy Development saw potential and importance beyond my passion and encouraged me to return to university to pursue this research. I am very glad I accepted their advice and took on the challenge. The Institute of Post-Colonial Studies has been a welcome refuge from the office and university; thanks to Carlos, Melinda and Jon for opening the reading room and programming such thought and practise provoking seminars. Thanks to Jack Latimore for encouraging my first articles on treaty and giving great copy advice, and Sian at Overland and Bhakthi (formerly) at Crikey for their subsequent edits. Thanks to Greg Naylor at The Geelong College for teaching Year 12 Rev’s with such exuberance that my interest in history was sparked. To the volunteers at Undercurrent and the staff at West CASA, thanks for showing me that healing is not done alone. v I’m also thankful to helpful staff at the Geelong Library Heritage Centre and the Alfred Deakin Prime Ministerial Library for their interest in my research and assistance in locating archival documents and material on Geelong and the Bellarine’s history. Many thanks to the generosity of the libraries, scholars and photographers who granted me permission to reproduce their work. They are acknowledged individually following the list of Figures. This thesis was financially supported by the Commonwealth Research Training Placement stipend. Through this funding I was able to use the excellent professional proof-reading services of Katherine Back, in the areas of Standard D (Language and Illustrations) and Standard E (Completement and Consistency) as outlined in the Australian Standards for Editing Practice. vi Table of Contents Abstract .................................................................................................................................................. iii Dedication .............................................................................................................................................. iv Acknowledgements ................................................................................................................................. v List of Figures & Tables ......................................................................................................................... x Selected Glossary .................................................................................................................................. xii Prologue: ‘Looking for an orchard’ ........................................................................................................ 1 Introduction ............................................................................................................................................