Aboriginal Country Map

Aboriginal Country

History

Nature

Rich in wildlife, they are home to several of our totem species as well as a number of rare and endangered species. The Lakes is a hotspot of cultural sites. There are shell middens all along the sand dunes, Aboriginal human remains (where people were...
Aboriginal people would travel for days to join great meetings where they would feast, share information, trade goods and practice corroborees and other cultural ceremonies. Evidence of these gatherings can be seen in the rich range of artefacts found in...
The area connects to the high country and was a place of refuge during the seasonal migrations to and from the mountains, where our mob would go to chase the Bogong Moth and other food sources. Although Gunaikurnai people did not traditionally venture...
The old people used to go camping and fishing here. It was a plentiful food source for the mob and a place of connection – connecting the ocean to the rivers, connecting along the coastline to Lake Tyers. And it was an important meeting place for...
Raymond Island is not a densely populated area, but it does get busy during peak tourist seasons. Gunaikurnai lived and camped on this Island, which they called Gragin, for thousands of years. It was particularly important for collecting swan eggs, and...
It is rocky country that has rugged gorges and 100 metre sheer drops. Some of these, such as The Bluff, provide 360 degree views that were good lookout points for our ancestors, used for safety and defence. Mitchell River is Victoria’s largest...
Its resource abundance and diversity encouraged our ancestors to spend a lot of time in this area - fishing, camping, hunting and collecting natural resources. Our people have a deep, longstanding connection with this area. The towns of Lakes Entrance,...
It is one of the last refuges of natural forest in the area and home to mountain ash trees, lyrebirds and wallabies, as well as a number of species that have now largely disappeared from the rest of the region. The significant remnants of old growth...
The Spiritual Healing Trail is a gift from the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander community as a gesture of reconciliation. Less than 4km from the Eastern Freeway, the trail aims to promote good health through improving our emotional and spiritual...
An ancestral ceremonial site. Google Link: Camp Jungai
Wurdi Youang is an aboriginal stone arrangement located near Little River, Victoria. The stone arrangement takes the form of an irregular egg-shape or ovoid about 50m in diameter and is composed of about 100 basalt stones, ranging from small rocks to...
The river was called Birrarung by the Wurundjeri people who occupied the Yarra Valley and much of Central Victoria prior to European colonisation. It is thought that 'Birrarung' is derived from Wurundjeri words meaning "ever flowing"....
For perhaps thousands of years, Aboriginal people quarried the superb greenstone (volcanic diorite) from stone outcrops on what is now called Mount William to make their axes. The quarry was the centre of an extraordinary trading network that extended 700...
The tree scars tell us a great deal about the Wurundjeri clan, the traditional owners of the lands in and around Melbourne. Keelbundoora is named after a Wurundjeri clan ancestor. As a child in 1835 he was present at the signing of the Batman Treaty,...
Located on the hills of Jackson creek, it is believed the Wurundjeri people assembled here as a gathering place for ceremonial activity. These areas are full of spiritual energy and Aboriginal people believe that they can never be destroyed. Locations of...
Scarred trees and surface stone tool scatters are evidence of the Woiworung Aboriginal people, who lived in the area before Europeans arrived. The descendants of the Woiworung still retain a close identity with the land around Melbourne. Link: Google Map...
The late Taungurung Elder Aunty Judy Monk was interviewed as part of a project on Mt Buller in late 2008 on behalf of Taungurung people. Aunty Judy Monk has stated that: The ‘low ground’ was for food and the ‘higher ground’ was for...
It was a meeting place for boys who would then embark on initiation journey and a sacred place for women who would also meet there before heading to special places on the coast to learn birthing secrets. To this very day, it remains very sacred to the...

People

Early Years Uncle Albert Mullett, born in Melbourne 1933, one of seven boys, raised by his mother Rita Maude Mullett and extended family. In his infant years, Uncle Albert’s family was moved from the Lake Tyers Mission; they consequently moved...
The Wurundjeri marker at the Preston Customer Service Centre acknowledges the Wurundjeri people as the traditional custodians of the land and pays respect to Elders, past and present. Further Reading Darebin unveils monument honouring traditional owners...
Article Source: Walda Blow, Aboriginal Victoria Born in Echuca in 1941, Aunty Walda grew up on the Cummeragunja Mission. Her mother Hilda (née Day) passed away when Aunty Walda was only a few months old. Aunty Walda and her 3 brothers were cared...
Aunty Marion Leane Smith was a Dharug woman from New South Wales. She was born in Liverpool in 1891. Her grandmother was Lucy Leane, a proud Aboriginal woman who in 1893 petitioned the New South Wales Protection Board requesting a boat in order to sell...
*Aunty Oodgeroo Noonuccal previously known and is often referred to as Kath Walker. In 1988 she adopted the name Oodgeroo (meaning 'paperbark tree') Noonuccal. Aunty Oodgeroo Noonuccal was born in Minjerribah (North Stradbroke Island) in...
The Lovett family belong to the ‘fighting Gunditjmara.’ Gunditjmara people from South West Victoria earned this title in the 1800s because of their strong resistance to invasion of their Country. The Lovett family have continued this legacy...
Uncle Reg was a Gunditjmara man, born in 1920 at Framlingham Aboriginal reserve, near Purnim, Victoria. He was the son of Walter Christopher George Saunders, who served in the Australian Imperial Force in World War I, and Mabel Saunders, née Arden....
Born 1932. A determined Elder and dedicated community leader. Aunty Gwen found this life with her late husband, Sandy, sharing a life journey of 63 years which sadly ended on 13 April 2016. Not one to be deterred by obstacles, Aunty Gwen has been a quiet...
Colin, who was born in the bush at Lake Tyers in 1964 was taught wood burning, spear making, boomerang making and throwing by his father and his Pop Bryant (Keith). In the 1970s, Colin’s maternal grandfather made spears and boomerangs for a museum...
She is a proud Kurnai woman, strong in her culture, as is evident in her art, and was a participant in the Koorie Business Networks 2006 Tribal Expressions project. This project was organised to showcase Aboriginal art and cultural businesses for...
1947-2013. A leader who always led by example. Affectionately known as Uncle Jumbo, he was a big man with a big heart and a role model who embodied persistence and hard work. Uncle Jumbo was born in Balranald, New South Wales, in 1947. His parents were...
1954-2011. A leader both humble and determined Born in Orbost in 1954, Aunty Linda grew up in the East Gippsland town of Buchan. She was one of seven children born to Sid and Joyce King. Her father, a Gunditjmara man, worked at a local timber mill for...
1929-1995. A crusader against disadvantage Aunty Nessie was born in 1929. Her mother was a Pitjatjantjara woman from Central Australia, with connections to the Yuin people of south east New South Wales. Her father was non-Indigenous. She grew up around...
*Article Source: William Cooper, Aboriginal Victoria Uncle William believed that Aboriginal people should be represented in Parliament Born in 1861, Uncle William spent most of his life near the junction of the Murray and Goulburn rivers, in the Yorta...
"It's never to late to go after your dreams" - Brad Boon He was born in a place called Texel and came out to Australia with his two brothers and parents in 1952. I am one of eight kids – three boys and five girls, and I have a very...
Article source: Aboriginal Victoria Aunty Rita Watkins did not seek accolades for her many years of dedicated work for her community. Throughout her life she overcame her natural shyness to speak out on behalf of others and reclaim community and family...
Life on the family farm Uncle Harry was born in 1886 at Lake Tyers Mission. He was the son of William and Lilian (née Wilson) Thorpe, both of the Gunaikurnai nation. His family lived on a 15-acre farm at Lakes Entrance. As a young man, Uncle Harry...
Aunty Alice was born on the Lake Tyers Mission Station in 1919, outside the church that her father and grandfather had helped to build. She was the only child of John 'Jack' Connolly and Alice (nee Thorpe). The policies of the Central Board for...
Article Source: Catherine 'Cath' Solomon, Aboriginal Victoria Honour Roll Early Years Born in Bundaberg, Queensland 1939, one of eight children, Aunty Cath belongs to the Tribelang Bunda clan of the Gureng Gureng people. She grew up a happy child,...