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Sir Douglas Ralph Nicholls (1906-1988), footballer, pastor, activist and governor, was born on 9 December 1906 at Cummeragunja Aboriginal mission, New South Wales, fifth child of Herbert Nicholls, seasonal worker, and his wife Florence, née Atkinson. Doug grew up at Cummeragunja, on the Murray River near Barmah, in its golden years of Aboriginal autonomy. Thomas Shadrach James gave him and other Yorta Yorta children a sound primary education, reinforcing the pride and self-assurance gained from their parents. As Doug grew, so too did the powers of the State’s Aboriginal Protection Board. Doug’s elder sister Hilda was removed about 1915. When Doug reached 14, he was moved off under the Aborigines Protection Act (1909) to find work. He took a job with dredging teams constructing levees on the Murray.
Like other youths in the region Nicholls played Australian rules football, emulating kinsmen who had won local premierships since the 1890s. Doug and his brother Herbert (‘Dowie’) played with Tongala in the mid-1920s. Melbourne football beckoned, Doug trying out unsuccessfully for Carlton in 1927. He signed with the Northcote Victorian Football Association team, despite his nervousness about his Aboriginality, and was given a job with Northcote City Council. ‘Dowie’ joined him for a season.
Doug was short at 5 ft 2 ins (158 cm), but muscular and lightning fast. He competed regularly during a boom in professional running, winning many heat and place prizes. In 1929 he won the Nyah and Warracknabeal gifts, earning a sash and £100 in each, together with a case of cutlery in the latter. Using his speed on the wing for Northcote, he produced great spring and agility from his compact body. The Sporting Globe reported in 1929 that ‘he flashes through packs of big men, whisks around small men . . . and attempts marks at the back of any six-footer’. In front-on clashes he was flattened only to rise again. The sole Aborigine in the VFA, he was known affectionately as the ‘flying Abo’ but called worse by his opponents’ barrackers. He competed for five seasons, being named ‘best and fairest’ twice, appearing in three association grand finals and winning in 1929.
William Cooper was a mobilising force in the early fight for Indigenous rights. His measured political lobbying in the 1930s was an important precursor to the more radical rights movement that followed. Cooper believed that Aboriginal people should be represented in Parliament, an outcome he continued to pursue despite disheartening results in his lifetime.
Born in 1861, Cooper spent most of his life near the junction of the Murray and Goulburn rivers, in the Yorta Yorta nation of his mother. He lived on missions and state-funded reserves in New South Wales and Victoria, including the Maloga Mission, where he met his first wife, and the Cummeragunja Mission, where he moved shortly after its establishment in 1886.
The son of Billibellary (c.1799-1846), Simon Wonga became Ngurungaeta (leader) of the Woi wurrung clans following the death of his father in 1846, at the age of 22. He was born near Arthur’s Seat (“Wonga” being the Aboriginal place name for this area). In 1863, Wonga and his (maternal) cousin William Barak, who ultimately succeeded him as Ngurungaeta, led their remaining people across the Black’s Spur Songline to the Upper Yarra and established Coranderrk Mission Station. Access to the land was granted, though importantly not as freehold.
The Melbourne suburb of Wonga Park and Wonga Road are named after him.
TANDERRUM – PERFORMING TOGETHER AS ONE KULIN NATION
Uncle Jack Charles’ voice booms over the speaker system above us as he describes the importance and role of Tanderrum. How it is a gathering of the five Kulin Nation language groups – Wurundjeri/ Woiwurrung, Boon Wurrung, Taungurung, Wadawurrung and Dja Dja Wurrung, where they get to perform traditional dances and sing in their own languages, to keep the songlines of Bunjil (the creator, wedge-tailed eagle) alive.
The Elders from each group enter the circle and invites their mob to perform the first of three dances. Each dance is accompanied by singing and clapsticks or didgeridoo. With the smoke from the firepit billowing around everyone, the sand crunching under the dancing feet and the low-level lighting, the mood is truly powerful.
The first year Taungurung dances were entry, Taungurung nulla, the creation story of the black swan (ganawarra) followed by the final dance being the lyrebird. The next year dances were Taungurung nulla entry, Ancestors Dreaming and William Barak song for the final dance. This year, 2018, we had the Kulin family entry, Ancestors Dreaming and finished with a William Barak song, which has not been sung for over 100 years. Every year has changed for me as different people dance, there’s change in the environment and the crowd gets bigger. – – – Cassie Leatham
The daughter of Bebejan and Tooterie, Annie Borate (a.k.a. Boorat or Boorrort or Barat), the younger sister of William Barak, was born on the Plenty River at the beginning of Victoria’s European settlement. She bore several children, with only her eldest son, Robert Wandin (Wandoon) surviving to adulthood.
Annie and Barak’s brother Parrpun, negotiated a ‘sister exchange’ in which Annie was married to Andrew Pondy-yaweet of the Kurnai Brataualung tribe of Gippsland in exchange for Lizzie, Barak’s first wife. This was a marked departure for our people as it was usual practice to marry within the Kulin confederacy. The formation of new alliances signalled the extreme threat European settlement posed to our collective survival.
Annie and Andrew’s union was an unhappy one. Our sophisticated lore made provision for what would be described as a “no fault divorce” for the unhappy couple in 1864. Approximately 110 years later, the Australian Family Law Act (1975), which allows for no-fault divorce, was enacted by the Australian government.
Robert ‘Bobby’ Wandin was born at Steele’s Flat. The oldest and only surviving child of Annie Borate, the identity of Robert’s father remains unknown.
At age 21 Robert married Jemima Burns, a woman from the Murray River district, at Coranderrk Aboriginal Mission on 29th January, 1875. They had 10 children, who all but one, grew up to have families of their own. Both Barak and his nephew Robert were key witnesses at the 1881 Parliamentary Coranderrk Inquiry along with other residents of Coranderrk
Barak told ethnographer Alfred Howitt: ‘When I go, I shall leave the word that my sister’s son [Robert] shall be Ngurungaeta…”. Robert died in 1908 and was buried in Coranderrk cemetery. Jemima, commonly referred to as “Granny Jemima” by contemporary Wurundjeri people, was Coranderrk’s last resident passing into the Dreaming in 1944.
This interactive map reveals something of Aboriginal peoples’ deep connection to this Country, the City of Melbourne, and significant events and experiences since colonisation. It only scratches the surface.
The City of Melbourne is located on the sovereign lands of the Wurundjeri Woi Wurrung and Bunurong Boon Wurrung Peoples of the Eastern Kulin. It has since time immemorial been imbued with spiritual and cultural importance.
The settlement that became the City of Melbourne was an epicentre of early colonial impact and dispossession. From the 1860s Aboriginal peoples’ culture language and history were actively suppressed by the colonial government here. Despite this Wurundjeri Woi Wurrung and Bunurong Boon Wurrung peoples survived, and continue to enjoy their connection to Country, practice their culture, and transmit it to younger generations.
Increasingly from 1861 Aboriginal missions and reserves were established across Victoria under a series of protectionist government policies including the Victorian Aboriginal Protection Act 1869. In this environment Wurundjeri Woi Wurrung, Bunurong Boon Wurrung and other Eastern Kulin leaders were fundamental in securing Coranderrk Aboriginal Station and Mordialloc Reserve for their people.
Colonial authorities had very different ideas from Aboriginal peoples on how missions and reserves should run. They became at once locations of Aboriginal industry and resistance as well as often places of extreme control and cultural denial. Mordialloc was closed in 1863 and successes at Coranderrk were undermined by government action.
Missions and reserves increasingly became impractical from a government perspective. Many, including Coranderrk, after years of political agitation, have been handed back to Traditional Owners and are centres of Community resilience.
After the closure of Coranderrk Aboriginal Station in 1924 and other stations during the 1920s, Aboriginal people began to return to Melbourne. By the 1960s Melbourne was home to one fifth of Victoria’s Aboriginal population.
Fitzroy, on our municipal border became established as a social and political hub of Aboriginal Melbourne. Many Aboriginal community-controlled organizations are based there today. The City of Melbourne was again a place of residence, work, activism and of Aboriginal civic engagement. As Victoria’s political heart, with its major cultural institutions and important civic spaces it continues as an important place for celebrating Aboriginal Victoria.
Many themes in the map run across time. They feature the actions of extraordinary individuals, connection to Country, and political, social and cultural conflict but also cultural influence, participation and meeting.
Sharing these stories helps everyone who lives, visits and works in the City of Melbourne to understand and appreciate its unique and continuing Aboriginal heritage and culture, and the multiple and complex ways in which place, and Country, can be understood.
One of six children born to Bebejan (unknown – 1835 ) and Tooterie (Tooterrie – c.1855), a Ngurai-illam-wurrung woman. Barak, pronounced “Beruk” was born at Brushy Creek in the Yarra Valley in present day Wonga Park. He is the last broadly recognised Ngurungaeta (leader) of the Wurundjeri people.
As a young boy he experienced the occupation of his father’s traditional lands and was present at the meeting between his Elders and Tasmanian pastoralist John Batman ( the infamous “Batman Treaty”).
Barak had three marriages and fathered several children none of whom survived past the age of 14. Barak succeeded his cousin Simon Wonga as Ngurungaeta of the Wurundjeri people in 1874 aged 50 years. Both Wonga and Barak believed strongly in the rights of their people, and possessed exceptional leadership and political skills. Barak spent the last forty years of his life leading the Coranderrk Aboriginal Reserve community where he became an influential Aboriginal spokesman. He was instrumental in petitioning the Victorian government to retain Coranderrk.
Barak was also an important translator of Wurundjeri culture through his visual cultural documents. Seven of his original works are housed at the National Gallery of Victoria. Other important collections are also held by museums in Neuchatel, Switzerland; and Berlin and Dresden, Germany. Barak made significant contributions to Anthropologist Alfred Howitt’s tome, The Native Tribes of South-East Australia, published in 1904.
Like his father before him, Barak passed into the Dreaming when the wattles were in full bloom on the 15th August, 1903. His family line continues through his nephew Wandoon (Robert Wandin), the only surviving son of his sister Annie a.k.a Borate.
From our emergence in 1973 to present day, the Fitzroy Stars have always been more than just a place to play sport. We provide a platform for our community to come together, improve their health and be exposed to opportunities, jobs, support and assistance.
Improving Health
We see our club as a valuable preventative health program. By providing a platform for Men and Women to participate in competitive sport, we hope to see them become the fittest and strongest version they can be. Though our partnerships we also offer Physiotherapy, Myotherapy and Chiropractic services to help our community address some of their niggles.
Creating Futures
We strive to be a platform for change. Through sport we hope to give our men and women structure, discipline and support to assist them in their lives. Our community is a strong support network and through the season we provide a weekly social outlet where our people can connect with each other and cheer on the men and women on the field or court.
Connection
A club lead by the local Koorie community, cultural connection is a part of our DNA. We provide a safe place for the Koorie community to come together and participate in a healthy culturally safe environment. We welcome all cultures to participate in our club and use our platform to educate opposition clubs and the wider community.
Coranderrk is located at the confluence of Coranderrk (Badger) Creek and the Yarra River, on Woiwurrung country near the Victorian town of Healesville. In 1863, the Victorian colonial government gazetted 2300 acres for the Station as an Aboriginal reserve (extended to 4850 acres by 1866.) The reservation followed years of Kulin lobbying for land on which they might live and work, unmolested by settler claims, threats and competitors. Ngurungaeta Simon Wonga led members of the Taungerung and Woiwurrung language groups in early negotiations with the government to access and secure acreage on Kulin country. Scottish Presbyterian lay preacher John Green and his wife Mary supported the clans, and in 1863 the station at Coranderrk opened.
Despite colonial expansion and damage to Kulin ways of life, Coranderrk was a strong, positive community. Within fifteen years, the station was thriving; Coranderrk grew hops, vegetable crops, and fruit trees, and ran cattle, dairy cows and other livestock. By the 1870s the community had established a dormitory school, and small business and industry in the Coranderrk village. 'Disputes on Coranderrk were resolved in an informal, consensus-based court. John Green filled the roles of Coranderrk manager and Inspector; to an extent, he was able to stand between the community and the protectionist policies of the colonial governments. Coranderrk Station became a productive and valuable piece of land.
The Aboriginal Protection Act 1869 disrupted Coranderrk’s autonomy, as interference by the Aborigines Protection Board increased. Between 1874 and 1875, despite Kulin campaigns for his reinstatement, John Green was removed from management of the Station. There was a series of managers appointed and a series of resignations and dismissals; Green’s replacements damaged the community and its morale. Between 1880 and 1883 there were strikes at Coranderrk and an extended government Inquiry into its management. Following the Inquiry, Barak leveraged his relationship with Chief Secretary Berry for the permanent reservation of Coranderrk in 1884. Despite this commitment, very shortly after the diplomatic deputation pictured, in December 1886 the explicitly assimilationist Aboriginal Protection Law Amendment Act 1886 passed through the Victorian Parliament. Aboriginal people of mixed descent under the age of 35 were no longer to be considered ‘Aboriginal’ and were therefore deprived of the right to live on Aboriginal reserves. The amendment Act split families, broke communities and decimated Coranderrk.
Coranderrk Aboriginal reserve was officially closed in 1924. In 1948 the remaining reserved land was revoked for soldier resettlement. The resettlement scheme was not open to Aboriginal ex-servicemen, who were considered ineligible. In 1998 descendants of the Coranderrk community were able to buy back part of the Coranderrk land for farming and rejuvenation, with support from the Wurundjeri Tribe Land and Compensation Cultural Heritage Council. Today gatherings and the Coranderrk festival are held at the site, and the Coranderrk Bushland Reserve accommodates the Healesville Wildlife Sanctuary. The area remains an important place, a site of connection to community and one of significant histories of political contest and diplomatic engagement between the Kulin nation and the early Victorian colony.
