Cover illustration: Destruction of the Land The Red River

Marlene Young-Scerri, Four different groups are depicted here Brabralung Dreaming with different markings. This land was once plentiful and well cared for by the After reading the brief you sent me I people and they had their own system was quite saddened to learn how the of burning off to encourage new growth land was abused and destroyed with no for the next season. thought given for future generations. Plant and animal life was lost for good Many of the plants have been destroyed and this drove the Aboriginal people to for good now, and the animals are not slaughter sheep to survive. living in the area any more except for perhaps some possums. This painting is of the , and the surrounding area. The red is Aboriginal people only hunted what they the blood that flowed in the river, while needed to eat, and the skins were used the colours on the outer side of the to make cloaks and to wrap babies. They riverbank are from the tanning process respected the animals, the land and the that polluted the river. The animal plant life, only taking what was needed, tracks are kangaroo, possum, emu and they always gave back to the land. and lizard, and there is also an eel trap. The Aboriginal people hunted all these animals for food and clothing.

Possum Tracks

Eel Trap

Emu Tracks

Lizard Tracks

Camp Site

Plants

Maribrynong River

Kangaroo Tracks

Aboriginal Group 1

Aboriginal Group 2

Aboriginal Group 3

Aboriginal Group 4 Contents

The Earliest Inhabitants of the 2

Kinship Structure 4

Way of Life Pre-contact 6

Initial White Contact 10

Settler Impact 12

The Personalities 15

Historical Sites within the City 17

Bibliography 20

Acknowledgements 21

Warning: Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples are warned that this publication contains names and/or images of people who are now deceased.

1 The Earliest Inhabitants of the City of Moonee Valley

The Aboriginal people who lived in There were three subgroups of the the area which now includes the City -willam, which were known of Moonee Valley were not confined by the name of their ngurungaeta, or by current city boundaries, but lived clan head: Bebejan’s mob, ’s by complex cultural and traditional mob, and Jack Jacky’s mob. Billibellary’s movements which were intimately mob was associated with the understood by each clan. Maribyrnong River across to the and north to Mount William (Clark These early inhabitants of the region & Heydon, 1998). were known as the Woi wurrung and formed part of the East of These people enjoyed a traditional way Aboriginal people who lived in part of of life, moving according to the seasons what we now call and included and the availability of food, or the need five language groups. The Woi wurrung to visit ceremonial sites. They did not people inhabited a large area which is accumulate unnecessary possessions, drained by the Yarra and Maribyrnong and built their homes from available Rivers, from Healesville, Kilmore and materials. They had a deep spiritual life Kyneton down past Dandenong, and that was passed down the generations over to the . and a strong understanding of land management to ensure their survival. The clan that lived within the current City of Moonee Valley boundaries and beyond were known as the Wurundjeri- willam (Clark, 1990). Wurundjeri-willam meaning “white gum tree dwellers” (Clark & Heydon, 1998).

2 Wurundjeri Aboriginal Person ornamented for a corroboree, standing, full face, whole-length 3 Reproduction rights owned by the State Library of Victoria. Library Record Number: 190902 Kinship Structure

From Clark (1998)

Woi wurrung Clan Name: Clan Organisation Gunang willam balug Marin balug Wurundjeri willam Mt Macedon Maribyrnong River Kurung jang balug Wurundjeri balug Bulug willam Mt Cottrell and Koo Wee Rup swamp Werribee River

4 East Kulin Group - Clan Structure

Languages Woi wurrung Watha wurrung Daung wurrung Djadja wurrung

Clans Wurundjeri balug Marin balug Kurung jang balug Gunung willam balug

Patrilines Wurundjeri willam Bulug willam Tallin willam

Mobs Billibellary’s mob Jacky Jacky’s mob Bebejan’s mob

Kinship structure showing the relationship of the inhabitants of the Moonee Valley region. (derived from Clark, 1990)

5 Way of Life Pre-contact

Aboriginal People & bark Canoe. Kruger, Fred 1831-1888,photographer. Reproduction rights owned by the State Library of Victoria. Library Record Number: 793472

The Wurundjeri-willam belonged to the person was either the bunjil (eaglehawk) Yarra River from its northern sources at or waa (crow) moiety, and each moiety Mount Baw Baw to its junction with the had special totems, customs, hair styles Maribyrnong River in . Within and body ornamentation. Because clan the clan structure were various family members shared the same moiety, groups consisting of 30 to 60 people marriage partners had to be found from who lived, hunted and travelled together. other Kulin clans. This arrangement Numbers would vary depending on would mean that the clans had the family visitors to the group at any one right to visit each other’s territory, an time. The clan travelled within precise advantage during times of drought or areas or territories, across land that was when there was an abundance of a food regarded as their own. They would only source in that area. travel out of that area for ceremonial reasons, to join with other clans, to trade Aboriginal people built shelters known or if conditions necessitated, moving as willams by using available materials into another clan’s area for survival. such as branches and sheets of bark placed over a sapling hung between These boundaries were not recorded forked posts. In warmer weather in any formal sense, but were social windbreaks were made using branches in nature and understood by all the of trees. The type of shelter that was people. Clans were permitted to move made depended on the weather and the into each other’s areas where there planned length of stay in that particular were established family connections. area. This again would be dependent on The people of the Kulin nation married the availability of food. There were strict outside their clan and moiety. Each Kulin rules governing the arrangement of huts

6 Group of Aboriginal People, sitting and standing, whole-length, full face, wearing animal skins, some holding weapons. Reproduction rights owned by the State Library of Victoria. Library Record Number: 190895

and shelters according to age, sex of River. Crescent, Moonee Ponds the member of the family and the tribal is testament to the fact that this plant was affiliations of any visitors. found in abundance in the area.

Campsites were usually close to water, Other foods included the roots of to take advantage of the rich alluvial bracken fern, the rhizomes beaten into soil which supported fine grasslands, a paste and roasted in the hot ashes. attracting kangaroos and wallabies The fruit of the wild cherry, the gum for food. Hunting and gathering was of the wattle and eucalypt, and honey confined to a 5 to 10 kilometre radius were foods collected by women. Native of the campsite with men and women bees were stingless, and in order to find responsible for different activities. the hive one bee would be caught and Everyone would leave the camp in the marked with a tiny feather-like seed mornings, the women and children to make the bee easier to see, then it gathering plants and fishing, while the would be followed until it led the people men and teenage boys would hunt back to the hive. kangaroos, wallabies, emus, possums and wombats as well as trapping birds. In the early part of the afternoon the women would return to camp or set up Plant foods were the main diet. In the the new camp, lighting or rekindling the Moonee Valley area, the murrnong, or fires to cook the main meal of the day. yam daisy, was a staple food eaten raw Buckets made from gnarled tree trunks or roasted. A potato-like root vegetable would be used to gather water. If they that needed soft soil in which to flourish, were moving location, much of the food it grew prolifically along the Maribyrnong would have been collected along the way.

7 Aboriginal People & Mia Mia. Kruger, Fred 1831-1888, photographer. Reproduction rights owned by the State Library of Victoria. Library Record Number: 793482

8 At the campsite tools and weapons clay or tieing them up with reeds that had were made and repaired; these included been chewed to make rope. The removal various implements for hunting and of the bark did not kill the tree but left a gathering such as axe-heads attached to scar that today is an indicator of where wooden handles, digging sticks, spears, traditional campsites were situated. and boomerangs. There were also stone cutting and grinding implements that were A mound or midden of the shells of used to make these tools and weapons. freshwater animals shows us today that certain areas were significant campsites Mount William was one of the best over a long period. Such an area has quarries for silicate, a hard stone ideal for been identified at Steele’s Creek in making axes. This material was traded Essendon. with the Murray River tribes for strong reeds that made excellent spear handles. The riverside campsites meant ready Quarries within the Moonee Valley area access to river reeds and rushes that include the hillside above the junction of could be split into fibres, soaked and the Maribyrnong River and Steele’s Creek pounded to make rope, nets, fish traps near the Lily Street lookout area and and baskets. Aboriginal men carried reed parts of Essendon. spears and a spear thrower, a boomerang and a hafted stone axe, which was often Generally, Aboriginal people were not worn on a string belt around the waist. accumulators of possessions because Sharp stone knives and ceremonial all their goods needed to be able to be objects were carried in grass string bags. carried to the next campsite, although Women carried food in reed baskets and they did value the tools that they had string bags, and their favourite sharpened made. Stone was a valuable resource for hardwood digging stick. tool making and clans that had access to areas where stone quarries had been Aboriginal people in the and established were in an excellent position Moonee Valley area produced decorative to trade with other groups. clothing in the form of possum skin cloaks. Possum skins were pegged out In some areas canoes were built and on sheets of bark using fire-hardened used for fishing or transportation. They pegs of wood. The stretched skins were were especially useful along parts of the left to dry then decorated using red and Maribyrnong where the cliffs are close to yellow ochre on the skin side. They were the banks of the river, restricting access then sewn together using the sinews by foot. Canoes were made by removing from kangaroo tails as thread to make the bark from a large tree with a stone warm weatherproof cloaks which were axe, heating the bark over the fire to worn with the fur in or out depending make it pliable and sealing the ends with on the weather.

9 Initial White Contact

The first recorded white man to explore On the second day they camped the area was Charles Grimes, the NSW at Gumm’s Corner, now known as Surveyor General, and his party who Horseshoe Bend at Keilor. From here travelled up the Saltwater (Maribyrnong) Batman reached a hill he called Mount River in 1803, as far as they could, to Iramoo, an “isolated volcanic hill”. what is now known as Solomon’s Ford at Duncan suggests that Batman crossed Avondale Heights, noting that there was Jackson’s Creek, lately renamed a fish trap across this narrow and shallow Macedon River, east of the Organ section of the river. His diary notes that Pipes and then recrossed it twice to five miles downstream from the fish trap reach Redstone Hill. Batman notes in the country was undulating and lightly his journal that from the summit they timbered, and at the horseshoe bend observed the smoke of Aboriginal fires where the river cut its course through away to the east and set off towards high cliffs the lower banks were covered them. The next day they met an in a thick belt of tea trees. They saw for Aboriginal family and later a larger group the first time to the northwest the grassy of 45 people. Keilor Plains stretching out towards Mount Macedon. Duncan notes, “In return for an assortment of goods the Aboriginal The next visitor to the region was to people ‘signed’ the treaty, ceding to have the greatest impact, changing Batman 500,000 acres of land.” Batman the course of history for the Aboriginal described the site as being, “alongside people forever. Batman and his party a beautiful stream of water”, which he had come across from in named Batman’s Creek, “after my good 1835 to discover for themselves what self”. Many scholars now dispute there they believed to be good pasture for was ever a treaty signing. There was no sheep They proceeded to travel up the one in the party who could speak the Saltwater River, exploring the region. Aboriginal dialect, and the document that Batman subsequently produced was JS Duncan (1986) has described signed with quill pens and ink, a very Batman’s journey, with evidence taken difficult task to complete neatly if one from his journal, and made a careful had never used a quill pen before! study of his sketch map and of modern topographical and geological maps of The next morning the party headed the area and site visits. He references south-west, crossing Batman’s Creek Billot’s (1979) biography of and two others before reaching the who describes that fateful journey: Maribyrnong. Travelling down the left “Batman landed in Footscray, following bank, they discovered the Yarra flowing the west bank of the Maribyrnong River down from the east. Here they joined up all the way upriver to beyond Keilor. with their boat the ‘Rebecca’. His diary notes good grass on the west bank and ‘several rich flats about a mile wide … covered in kangaroo grass above my knees’. Fairburn Park, Ascot Vale and Maribyrnong and Aberfeldie Parks, Moonee Ponds now occupy sites that fit Batman’s description.”

10 11 Settler Impact

Initially the Aboriginal people gum woodland, but remnants can be accepted the visitors. They found in Napier Park in Essendon. Along the eastern side of the Maribyrnong had come bearing gifts and River grew yellow and grey box gums as were a fascination, until the full well as river red gums, but lower down impact of their arrival began the river the area became swampy and tea trees flourished. to threaten their very survival, then the conflicts began. The early settlers regarded the Aboriginal people as “an unchanging people in an unchanging land”, and the attitude that Colonisation they were poor environmental managers of the land still prevails in the minds of Colonisation now came very fast to some today. Nothing could be further the region. In 1836 a total of 40,000 from the truth. Chrissy Dennis in her sheep were unloaded at Port Phillip 1996 book, Landscapes Recycled, states Bay from Tasmania. Within five years that the environment the new settlers their numbers had swelled to 100,000. found was a direct result of the practices Graziers took up the grassy plains to the of these people over centuries. The west of the Maribyrnong River and north ways in which the Aboriginal people had to Mount Macedon. affected the environment were very slow The area now known as the City of and subtle, as opposed to the dramatic Moonee Valley was described in these changes made by the white settlers. times as “suitable for gentlemen’s homes!” (Gross, 1947) and development came quickly, forcing the original Aboriginal Land inhabitants away from the settled areas. Management The European history of this area began When the first white explorers arrived, in 1840, with settlers like Fawkner, Evans the area was covered in native grasses and Jackson establishing themselves which reminded them of the southern along the Upper Maribyrnong. In 1843 downs of England, perfect for raising an Englishman known as Raleigh arrived sheep. What they did not realise was that and set up home at Moonee Ponds, the environment was to a large degree where he established his boiling down a creation of the original inhabitants. works. For thousands of years the Aboriginal people had been using fire to control The land that these settlers came to was the vegetation. By setting fire to the natural grasslands including kangaroo, vegetation at regular intervals they had wallaby, spear and red-leg grasses, controlled the growth patterns of the associated herbs and lilies. Some of flora while driving out small game for this vegetation can still be seen in the food. The resulting surface covering of rail reserve at East and West Esplanade, ash promoted new growth that attracted St Albans and the western side of larger animals such as kangaroos, Steele’s Creek in Essendon. The area wallabies and emus. The planned between and the burning also assisted the growth and Maribyrnong River would have been red reproduction of much native flora and 12 View on the Saltwater River (Maribyrnong River). Kruger, Fred 1831-1888, photographer. Reproduction rights owned by the State Library of Victoria. Library Record Number: 795440

fauna. It also encouraged the growth of to turn to hunting what was available, manna, a sweet substance exuded on sheep. This of course brought about the leaves of the eucalypts by insects. an instant reaction and the Aboriginal people were hunted as poachers on This land that was so ideal for sheep their own land! and cattle could no longer maintain, under the hooves of these grazing After the new settlers arrived blankets animals, the native flora that sustained were distributed and substituted for the the Aboriginal diet. The small murrnong waterproof possum skins, and as the was decimated, while the livestock ate settlement developed Aboriginal people the native grasses down to the ground, were forced to wear clothing. They had rather than nibbling the tops as the no concept or understanding of the need native fauna had done. This set the to change out of wet blankets and clothes, scene for erosion, while river banks and and possibly did not possess another set waterways became quagmires, trampled of clothes to change into. Consequently underfoot by these introduced species. many died of bronchial illnesses caused by wearing wet garments. Kangaroos and wallabies were hunted for sport by the new settlers, directly With wool production booming competing with the original inhabitants associated industries flourished, bringing for food. Domestic cats and dogs pollution to the Maribyrnong River and preyed on the smaller mammals local creeks, including Moonee Ponds reducing further the food sources of Creek. Wool was washed in the river with the Aboriginal people. There was no soap, prior to shipping to the Yorkshire alternative but for a starving people mills for processing. This pollution

13 affected the ecology of the river and Billibellary. Initially Billibellary encouraged creeks and made the water undrinkable. the men of his mob to volunteer, but The waterways became drainage systems later when he realised the influence of and the establishment of boiling down the Europeans and the dilemma the works along the banks added to the men faced when having to arrest their problem. These works produced tallow own and bring them in for punishment from sheep carcasses to be exported for he withdrew his support. The Corps was the production of soap. In the early 1870s disbanded in the early 1850s. over 2000 tonnes (nearly 2.5 million litres) of blood flowed into the Maribyrnong In 1839, the Government established from these works. an Aboriginal Protectorate, following the failure of Langhorn’s mission. The So within a few decades of settlement Chief Protector, George A Robinson, the land had been severely altered and, was a man of experience in dealing along with the effects of land clearing with Aboriginal people, having been and overstocking, the combination was instrumental in moving the Tasmanian disastrous for the new colony when Aboriginal people to Flinders Island drought struck in the 1880s. between 1829 and 1835. He had four Assistant Protectors, sent from England Not only did the new population change in 1838, with no previous experience in the land, but they were intent on forcing the colony or with Aboriginal people. change on the original inhabitants. William Thomas, who was to deal with With this objective and the need, as the Melbourne area, recorded much of time went on, to protect the Aboriginal the written information about the Woi people from the new settlers as well wurrung and the changes to their way as retaliation from some of the more of life. The Protectorate failed after ten aggressive clans, mission stations were years, mainly due to the inexperience set up. of the Protectors and their inability to prevent clashes between the settlers and Trespassers On Their the Aboriginal people. Following the abandonment of the Own Land Protectorate systems government policy Aboriginal people came into conflict was to keep all the Aboriginal people with the settlers as their traditional together on mission stations, which country was invaded and they were meant that many were taken away from treated as trespassers on their own their traditional places and sacred sites land. Langhorn formed a mission at and even families were broken up. In the present site of the Royal Botanic 1886 the Aboriginal Act was passed that Gardens in 1837. In the same year De barred anyone other than full blood Villies was appointed to form a Native Aboriginal people and “half-castes” over Police Corps, a band of Aboriginal 35 years of age from all reserves. This troopers to be used as a police force broke up in Healesville that in the new settlement. In 1842, in an had been a haven for orphans of mixed attempt to revive the force, Captain parentage and so those least able to Dana requested the assistance of the support themselves became fringe ngurungaeta of the Wurundjeri-willam, dwellers on the edge of society.

14 The Personalities

Thomas Bungeelene

Bungeelene was born at the end of 1846 in Gippsland at a time when his people lived in fear of their lives. It had been reported that a white woman was being held by the Kurnai tribe of which his father was chief. Hunting parties, official and Thomas Bungeelene; portraits; ; unofficial, were slaughtering the people in Victoria; Newsletter of Australasia. an attempt to have the woman returned. Reproduction rights owned by State Library of Victoria. Library Record Number: 1788042 The ngurungaeta was captured and held as hostage, taken to Narre Warren and chained to a tree. He was eventually “Believing that the Aboriginal people released, but his wife and two boys had of the country had a right to be been taken off and he died of a broken represented I had a large white silk heart aged 56. His wife Parley suffered banner made with the figures of the at the hands of the Native Police and kangaroo and emu, and the words she and her two sons were taken to the ‘Advance Australia’ painted on it, fixed on Aboriginal School at Merri Creek. two poles and fitted into the two lamp irons of my gig, myself sitting driving Wurrabool was aged five and Tommy with my two black boys standing one on was two when their father died. Their each side of me holding the banner and names were changed to Harry and waving their straw hats.” Thomas when they were relocated. In 1850 Parley remarried and left her John died in January 1855 aged 12, and boys with the Headmaster Mr Edgar. Thomas’ behaviour then deteriorated They were treated as racially inferior, further, although he studied hard and an attitude that would haunt Tommy learnt to read, sing hymns and recite throughout his life. poetry. He had a deep complex of racial inferiority and was white in all but his skin. In 1851 the school was closed and the He was known to have asked his father boys were handed over to John Hinkins if after constant washing of his hands he and his family. It was noted that Tommy was getting any whiter. After the death of aged four was morose and sulky! The his brother there were no other Aboriginal boys were baptised: Harry now John, people in his world that he could relate after Mr Hinkins, and Tommy now to. Tommy became enamoured with the Thomas, after William Thomas, then theatre after he was taken to a Christmas Assistant Protector of Aboriginal people, pantomime and he would often run away and now his godfather. and be found there.

In an article written in 1884, John After a time he became so Hinkins talks of his two boys, John and unmanageable that the government Thomas Bungeelene, and the family’s arranged for him to work in the office move to Moonee Ponds in 1853. He of the Commissioner of Lands. He describes an incident in June 1854 when took up with bad company, causing Sir Charles Hotham arrived in the colony both his ‘parents’ and the government and Hinkins took his two boys to greet grave concern. Finally he was placed on the new Governor: board the steamer ‘Victoria’ under the supervision of Captain Norman. 15 Tommy did not enjoy ship life but when Billibellary subsequently withdrew his his father suggested that he obtain his support when he realised the influence discharge he replied, “Father I will not that the close contact with Europeans accept my discharge, for I have sworn was having on his people. The crisis to serve on board the ‘Victoria’ for three came to a head when the Native years and I will not break my oath.” After Police Corps were called on to arrest the crew was disbanded, he returned to and bring other Aboriginal people to Melbourne to office life in the Ministry of punishment, even to shoot those who Mines office. resisted. Instincts were too strong for the principles of abstract justice; justice of In 1864 he became a member of the the overlords (Gross, 1956). Loyal Albert Lodge, Manchester Unity Independent Order of Oddfellows. He There are many recorded examples of died just one month later in January Billibellary’s ability to work with the new 1865 of a gastric fever. authorities where he believed he could help his own people in their struggle for survival. His educational achievements showed There was an attitude of trust between that he was an intelligent young man Billibellary and Assistant Aboriginal Protector and despite his traumatic childhood William Thomas. In 1844 he assisted in he overcame prejudice and achieved moving a camp from Heidelberg Road, success in his life. His ‘father’ always alleviating the need to involve the police thought of him as “a poor little black and the conflict that would have resulted boy” and he never overcame his own (Clark & Heydon, 1998). feelings of inadequacy, a product of attitudes that surrounded him as a child. When Thomas had interfered in an Aboriginal matter and had some cause to fear for his life, Billibellary offered him Billibellary his hut to hide in. Later when Thomas Billibellary, the clan head or ngurungaeta was away travelling with the Aboriginal of the Wurundjeri-willam whose Protector George Robinson, Thomas country covered the current Moonee left the keys to his office and stores with Valley area, was used by the authorities Billibellary. to communicate with the Aboriginal Towards his death Billibellary rejected people. Billibellary is recorded as the European ways, Thomas regretted having used his influence in 1842 to what he felt was a change in heart in assist Captain Dana to recruit a group Billibellary, from exhibiting a conciliatory of Aboriginal men to form the Native nature towards Europeans to being Police Corps. Billibellary, having been overtly oppositional. Billibellary died asked to help, needed seven days to in August of 1846 at the Merri Creek consider the request and spent every Government Reserve. His death evening addressing the people. On the caused great distress to the people seventh day he and 21 men ‘enlisted’. and they moved away from the Merri As ngurungaeta, he declined to ride a Creek area as they feared the place horse or go out of his ‘country’ on police would be affected by the death of this business (Bridges, 1971). most prominent ngurungaeta (Clark & Heydon, 1998).

16 Historical Sites Within the City

Lily Street Lookout Solomon’s Ford The Lily Street Lookout is situated on the hillside above a junction of the Fish Trap Maribyrnong River and Steele’s Creek in Charles Grimes first discovered this Essendon West. Below the lookout is a working Aboriginal fish trap in 1803 quarry site which was used as a source when he travelled up the Maribyrnong of silcrete to make flaked stone tools by River. This ford was an important the Woi wurrung clans. Aboriginal Affairs crossing place for the Aboriginal people Victoria class this area as a significant site. as well as a source of food. Eels were a staple part of the diet of Aboriginal people and would be caught in this Steele’s Creek ingenious trap. Eels spend most of the year inland, migrating back to the Aboriginal Affairs Victoria note on their sea to breed. In early spring young map of significant sites that in the area eels would return upstream where the of Steele’s Creek there is a quarry site as fishermen would be waiting. A scarred well as a site where artefacts have been tree and quarry site have been recorded found. This indicates also that the area in this area, an indicator that this was a was used as a campsite. significant Aboriginal campsite.

17 Campsites After Brimbank Park Upstream adjacent to the City of Moonee White Settlement Valley boundary in Keilor is Brimbank Following the influx of white settlers Park. As the Maribyrnong River has to the Moonee Valley area, clans of coursed its way to the sea over the Aboriginal people would travel back centuries, it has created a 55-metre ‘brim’ into the region to meet with other clans of cliffs beside the banks of the river. for ceremonial purposes. Many older residents recall as children watching Archaeologists have uncovered these gatherings and witnessing 40,000-year-old human and animal corroborees being held in Lincoln Park remains within close proximity of this and Buckley Park, where the groups park. The area was actively used by would camp. Windy Hill and the property Aboriginal people as a hunting ground Ailsa were other areas where groups and camping site and there is evidence would camp for short periods. of scarred trees, stone quarries, axe- heads and stone tools. In an unpublished paper written in 1908 George Bishop recalls Lincoln Park: Nearby grasslands attracted game for hunting and the grasses and bark “… a rough post and rail fence defined fibres provided a ready resource for the its boundaries. It was full of large red making of baskets and nets, while the gum trees a few feet apart; full of river furnished fish, freshwater mussels, undergrowth and bracken ferns, and water birds and edible plants. like every other part of the district, very sandy. I have gathered many a tin of The park is a living reminder of the manna on that reserve, also what is peace and tranquillity that pervaded the known as yams with the yellow flower area before settlement. and they were very abundant and nice to eat. It was a favourite camping ground for the Aboriginal people. I have seen them take a possum out of their bag and throw in on the embers.”

18 Solomon’s Ford, end of Canning St, Avondale Heights Collins, John T. 1907-, photographer. Reproduction rights owned by the State Library of Victoria. Library Record Number: 986417

19 Bibliography

Bishop, G. C., 1908, Essendon from a Duncan, J. S., 1986, John Batman’s village to a city. Sam Merrifield Library. Walkabout. Royal Historical Society of Victoria, Vol 57(2), pp1-12. Bridges, B., 1971, The Native Police Corps, Port Philip District and Victoria, Hinkins, J. T., 1884, Life amongst the 1837-1853, Journal of the Royal native race: with extracts from a diary. Australian Historical Society, Vol 57(2), pp113-142. Barwick, D. E., 1984, Mapping the past: an Atlas of Victorian Clans 1835-1904. Clark, I. D. & Heydon, T. G., 1998, Aboriginal History, Vol 8(2), pp100-131. The Confluence of the Merri Creek and Yarra River: a history of the Western Cannon, M. (ed.), The Aboriginal People Port Aboriginal Protectorate and the of Port Phillip, 1835-1839. State Library of Merri Creek Aboriginal School. . Services Branch, Aboriginal Affairs Eidelson, M., 1997, The Melbourne Victoria. dreaming. Aboriginal Studies Press.

Clark, I. D., 1990, Place names and Frauenfelder, P. & Sellwood, C., 1997, land tenure – Windows into Aboriginal Aboriginal communities: the colonial landscapes: Essays in Victorian experience, Port Phillip District. State Aboriginal history. Heritage Matters, Library of Victoria. Melbourne. Gardiner, D. S., 1947, A brief history of Clark, I. D., 1998, Aboriginal Languages Thomas Bungelene. Victorian Historical and Clans: An Historical Atlas of Western Magazine, Vol 22. and Central Victoria, 1800-1900. Monash Publications in Geography, Clayton. Presland, G., 1985, The land of the Kulin: discovering the lost landscape Clark, I. D., 1998, The journals of and the first people of Port Phillip. State George Augustus Robinson, chief Library of Victoria. protector, Port Phillip Aboriginal Protectorate, 1839-1845. Heritage Walsh, L., 1996, Still Here Exhibition Matters, Melbourne. Catalogue. Living Museum of the West. Dennis, C., 1990, Landscapes recycled: the changing environment of Melbourne’s West. Melbourne’s Living Museum of the West.

20 Acknowledgements

First edition: Peter Haffenden – Director Kerrie Paton – Senior Curator Living Museum of the West Heritage Trust

Larry Walsh – Aboriginal Liaison Ian Clark Officer Historical Geographer Living Museum of the West Sandra Smith – Project Officer Karen Milward – Koorie Officer Bunjilaka Aboriginal Centre Municipal Association of Victoria Melbourne Museum Bill Nicholson – Cultural Development Officer Lorenzo Iozzi Galena Beck Royal Historical Society of Victoria

Margaret Gardiner Produced by – Moonee Valley City Mirimbiack Nations Aboriginal Council Corporation Author – Janet Schultz, Victorian Centre Annette Xiberras for Conservation of Cultural Material Aboriginal Affairs Victoria Editing assistance – Tracy Green

Steven Avery Design – d-lin E8 Design Pty. Ltd. Aboriginal Affairs Victoria Researcher – Lenore Frost Esmai Manahan Arts Victoria

This publication was reproduced by Moonee Valley City Council, 2012.

Editor – Peter McQuinlan

Design – Johanna Villani Design

Cover image – Marlene Young-Scerri, Brabralung Dreaming

21