Indigenous Cultural Heritage and History within the Metropolitan ...

Indigenous Cultural Heritage and History within the Metropolitan Melbourne Investigation Area
2.2.9 Sharing Place
Figure 2‐6: ‘Melbourne. Zoological Gardens. Specimens of Aboriginal Amenities’,
photograph, 1889, Pictures Collection. State Library of Victoria. H32938.
Since the 1830s European settlers have dominated the landscape pushing the majority of Aboriginal people out
of the greater metropolitan Melbourne area. A sense of Melbourne’s Aboriginal past was almost completely lost.
In recent years, however, this has begun to change and the need for greater recognition of the importance of
Melbourne to Aboriginal people is starting to be understood. New developments have used the Woi Wurrung
language to designate spaces such as the central arterial road Wurundjeri Way; the new East link Mullum
Mullum Tunnel and the first major public park in Melbourne for 100 years ‐ Birrarung Marr. The Aboriginal
dreamtime stories have been a source of inspiration for sculptural instillations like Bunjil in the Docklands, while
Aboriginal elder William Barak is the namesake of a new bridge connecting Birrung Marr to Yarra Park. Today
Aboriginal community groups emphasise the continuity of Aboriginal culture in south‐eastern Australia, the need
for the acknowledgement of the past and the advantages of sharing their culture with the wider non‐Indigenous
community.
2.3 Historic Places
There are numerous examples within the Melbourne region of sites or places with strong links to contemporary
Aboriginal people. Some of those, corresponding broadly to the themes discussed above, are discussed below.
2.3.1 Contact
Batman Treaty, Merri Creek – In 1835 John Batman signed two treaties with traditional owners that he believed
gave him ownership over 500,000 acres of land around Melbourne and Corio Bay and 100,000 acres around
Geelong and Indented Hill. The signing of the Batman treaties probably took place on the Merri Creek, although
the exact location is a matter of debate among commentators (Clark & Heydon, 2004:27). Some historians have
also suggested the locations of Edgars Creek and Darebin Creek (Shaw, 2003:46).
2.3.2 Protection and ‘Civilisation’
Langhorne’s Government Mission, Melbourne – In 1837 the New South Wales Governor Bourke approved the
allocation of 895 acres south of the Yarra River for the first government sponsored Aboriginal mission in Victoria.
Bourke appointed George Langhorne to run the mission or ‘village’. Langhorne, the nephew of the Police
Magistrate for Port Phillip, William Lonsdale, had some experience with Aboriginal people around Sydney and
was an Anglican catechist (Clark & Heydon, 2004:14; Cannon, ed., 1982:153). The site of Langhorne’s mission is
now part of the Botanical Gardens near the ornamental lake, or 'Tromgin' as it was known to Aboriginal people,
near Anderson Street. In 1837 the site included a large building that functioned as a schoolroom and dormitory
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