Walata Tyamateetj a Guide to Government Records About Aboriginal People in Victoria
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walata tyamateetj A guide to government records about Aboriginal people in Victoria Public Record Office Victoria and National Archives of Australia With an historical overview by Richard Broome walata tyamateetj means ‘carry knowledge’ in the Gunditjmara language of western Victoria. Published by Public Record Office Victoria and National Archives of Australia PO Box 2100, North Melbourne, Victoria 3051, Australia. © State of Victoria and Commonwealth of Australia 2014 This work is copyright. Apart from any use as permitted under the Copyright Act 1968, no part may be reproduced by any process without prior written permission from the National Archives of Australia and Public Record Office Victoria. Requests and inquiries concerning reproduction and rights should be directed to the Publishing Manager, National Archives of Australia, PO Box 7425, Canberra Business Centre ACT 2610, Australia, and the Manager, Community Archives, Public Record Office Victoria, PO Box 2100, North Melbourne Vic 3051, Australia. National Library of Australia Cataloguing-in-Publication entry: Victoria. Public Record Office, author. walata tyamateetj: a guide to government records about Aboriginal people in Victoria / Public Record Office Victoria and National Archives of Australia; with an historical overview by Richard Broome. ISBN 9780987283702 (paperback) ISBN 9780987283719 (ebook) Victoria. Public Record Office.–Catalogs. National Archives of Australia. Melbourne Office.–Catalogs. Aboriginal Australians–Victoria–Archives. Aboriginal Australians–Victoria–Bibliography–Catalogs. Public records–Victoria–Bibliography–Catalogs. Archives–Victoria–Catalogs. Victoria–Archival resources. National Archives of Australia. Melbourne Office, author. Broome, Richard, 1948–. 016.99450049915 Public Record Office Victoria contributors: Tsari Anderson, Charlie Farrugia, Sebastian Gurciullo, Andrew Henderson and Kasia Zygmuntowicz. National Archives of Australia contributors: Grace Baliviera, Mark Brennan, Angela McAdam, Hilary Rowell and Margaret Ruhfus. Copyeditor: Melita Granger Designer: Marianna Berek-Lewis, 5678 Design Proofreader: Meredith Sherlock Indexer: Max McMaster Front cover image: Vicki Couzens, Untitled, mixed media on paper, 2005. Public Record Office Victoria collection. walata tyamateetj A guide to government records about Aboriginal people in Victoria Public Record Office Victoria and National Archives of Australia With an historical overview by Richard Broome 4 PB Foreword 5 I am very proud and honoured to be associated with Public Record Office Victoria and the National Archives of Australia. When I first became a member of the Public Records Advisory Council (PRAC) I had no idea what to expect, and I certainly had no idea that I would still be working with them almost 20 years later! As far as I know, my appointment to PRAC was the first time that a Koorie person had been appointed to such a committee in Australia. The concern and eagerness to do something for the Koorie community started with Ross Gibbs, the former Keeper of Public Records, who set up a Koorie Taskforce to look at what resources Public Record Office Victoria had on Koorie issues and how to make these available to the Koorie community. The publication in 1993 of My Heart is Breaking, a guide to Aboriginal records held at Public Record Office Victoria and the National Archives of Australia, and the accompanying touring exhibition were very early achievements. The stories in My Heart is Breaking brought the past history of the traditional owners of this land to the present. I believe that there will be no Koorie family in Victoria that has not been touched by the events documented in the records listed in this book. My Heart is Breaking helped to bring about a better understanding and appreciation of one of the oldest continuing cultures in the world, and assisted in bridging a cultural gap that has been neglected for many years in the education system in Victoria. This new publication walata tyamateetj will continue to be an important resource for cross-cultural training programs, and I also recommend it to all Koorie organisations, schools, educational institutions and individuals who are interested in the history of Victoria. The National Archives of Australia and Public Record Office Victoria are to be congratulated for producing walata tyamateetj. When I look back on the past 20 years it is just one of many significant achievements in the partnership between Public Record Office Victoria and the Koorie community in Victoria. The work started by Ross Gibbs has been continued by Justine Heazlewood, and in addition to several advisory committees there have been training programs and positions for Koorie staff, touring exhibitions, books published on Koorie families, and resources made available to the Koorie community as a result of research done by a team of enthusiastic and specially trained volunteers. In fact, looking back on all of these achievements I can say that the relationship between the Koorie community and Public Record Office Victoria has been one of the most positive relationships that I have ever seen between the Koorie community and a government department, largely because of Ross Gibbs and Justine Heazlewood. I have the deepest respect for the honesty and integrity and commitment of both of these people. I consider them as friends of mine. Jim Berg JP Gunditjmara Mob 6 PB LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS 10 Indicative locations of Victorian Aboriginal mission stations, reserves and settlements. 19 Petition lodged in 1931 with the Board for the Protection of Aborigines, by residents of Lake Tyers Aboriginal Station. 39 A page from Robert Hoddle’s 1837 survey field book with Aboriginal place names for locations in and around Melbourne. 40 Extract from Assistant Protector E.S. Parker’s census of Aboriginal people in the vicinity of Melbourne in March 1839. 42 Plan of the Aboriginal Protectorate Station on the Goulburn River, 1841. 43 A map of the Westernport District made by William Thomas, Assistant Protector of Aborigines, in 1841. 44 The land of the Gunai–Kurnai people in south Gippsland, as surveyed by Commissioner of Crown Lands Charles Tyers in 1847. 45 List of common English words with translations into 11 Aboriginal languages of south-eastern Australia, 1848. 46 List of Aboriginal members of the Native Police Corps, 1849. 47 List of Aboriginal people in the Moorabool and Bacchus Marsh area receiving blankets, including both their English and Aboriginal names, 8 April 1859. 48 Cover of Christian Ogilvie’s Coranderrk Journal, 1875–1877. 49 Tracing showing Coranderrk Aboriginal Station, 1878. 50 Letter from Coranderrk manager Reverend F.P. Strickland to Captain Page, General Inspector of the Board for the Protection of Aborigines, on 10 October 1881, stating that ‘the men are in a state of revolt’. 51 Petition from Coranderrk residents to the Chief Secretary of the Victorian Government in February 1882 during the Coranderrk Inquiry. 52 Coranderrk petition organised by activist and community Elder William Barak, presented to the Chief Secretary on 21 September 1886. 53 Map of Coranderrk Aboriginal Reserve, 1925. 54 Plan of survey of Lake Tyers Aboriginal Station, 1922. 55 Plan drawing of a sloyd (woodwork) room for Lake Tyers School (No 1319). 55 Senior pupils at Lake Tyers School. 56 Front cover of the pupils’ register for Antwerp Primary School, covering the period 1906 to 1937. 57 Detail of a map showing the Aboriginal reserve at Ebenezer and the nearby town of Dimboola. 58 Building constructed by the Public Works Department at Lake Tyers Aboriginal Station. 58 Building constructed by the Public Works Department at Framlingham Aboriginal Station. 59 Proposed plan dating from 1920 for a church building at Framlingham Aboriginal Mission Station. 60 Plan of site, Framlingham Aboriginal Colony, 1938. 61 Aboriginal Theatre programme, 1963. 62 Cover of Smoke Signals, vol. 1, no. 7, March 1962, published on behalf of the Aborigines Advancement League. 63 Cover of Smoke Signals, vol. 2, no. 4, August 1963, published on behalf of the Aborigines Advancement League. Contents 7 05 Foreword – Jim Berg 06 List of illustrations 08 Preface – Justine Heazlewood and David Fricker 11 Aboriginal people and government in Victoria – Richard Broome 17 Introduction 20 Records held by Public Record Office Victoria 64 Records in the National Archives of Australia Appendices 77 1 Public Record Office Victoria publications and resources 78 2 National Archives of Australia publications and resources 79 3 Understanding the Public Record Office Victoria archival system 80 4 Understanding the National Archives of Australia archival system 81 Glossary 83 Index 8 Preface PB A joint guide to government Uniquely for Victoria, the records created by the many Victorian government agencies overseeing the records about Aboriginal people administration of Aboriginal affairs have become part of held in Victoria was first published the collections held by both Public Record Office Victoria and the National Archives of Australia. The collection by the National Archives of was separated due to an administrative change of Australia and Public Record responsibility for Aboriginal affairs from the State to the Commonwealth in 1975. This guide highlights the wealth Office Victoria in 1993, during the of material about Aboriginal Victorians that can be found International Year of the World’s within government archives, and assists researchers to access these records, regardless of which archive they are Indigenous