Aboriginal Victorians facts for kids

Map of Victorian Aboriginal language territories

The Aboriginal Victorians are the original people of Victoria, Australia. They have lived on this land for many thousands of years, long before Europeans arrived. For at least 40,000 years, Aboriginal people in Victoria lived a life of fishing, hunting, gathering food, and even farming eels.

These Aboriginal groups had a rich and complex way of life. They spoke many different languages and formed alliances with other tribes. They also had trading routes, unique beliefs, and social customs. These customs included special ceremonies, burial rites, and systems that helped regulate relationships and marriages.

A Long History in Victoria

Ancient Times: How Long Have People Lived Here?

Scientists have found signs that people lived in the Maribyrnong River valley, near a place called Keilor, about 40,000 years ago. This shows how old human life is in this area.

At an important archaeological site in Keilor, a human fireplace was found in 1971. It was dated to about 31,000 years ago, making Keilor one of the oldest places where people lived in Australia. A human skull found there is also very old, between 12,000 and 14,700 years old.

Other ancient sites in Tasmania and on the Bass Strait Islands are between 20,000 and 35,000 years old. Back then, the sea level was much lower. This allowed Aboriginal people to walk across a land bridge, called the Bassian plain, to Tasmania at least 35,000 years ago.

There is also proof that people lived in Gariwerd (now Grampians) many thousands of years before the last Ice Age. This area belonged to the Jardwadjali people. One site in the Victoria Range has been dated to 22,000 years ago.

The Changing Landscape: Ice Age and Rising Seas

About 20,000 years ago, during the Ice Age, the area that is now Port Phillip Bay was dry land. The Yarra and Werribee rivers joined together and flowed south-west through the Bassian plain to the ocean.

Between 16,000 and 14,000 years ago, the sea level rose very quickly, about 50 feet (15 meters) in just 300 years! Tasmania and the Bass Strait islands became separated from mainland Australia around 12,000 years ago. Port Phillip Bay was flooded by the rising seas between 8,000 and 6,000 years ago.

Old stories and creation myths from the Wada wurrung, Woiwurrung, and Bun wurrung languages describe how the bay was flooded. For example, Hobsons Bay was once a place where kangaroos were hunted. Some stories say that Bunjil, a creator spirit, formed the bay, or that it was flooded when the Yarra River was created.

Life Before Europeans Arrived

The Wurundjeri people had a very important quarry at Mount William. Here, they mined a special green stone called diorite. This stone was used to make valuable hatchet heads, which were traded far and wide, even into New South Wales and Adelaide. This quarry was a central part of a complex trading network that connected different Aboriginal groups in Victoria. It had been used for over 1,500 years and covered a large area, with pits several meters deep. In 2008, this site was added to the National Heritage List because of its cultural and historical importance.

In some areas, Aboriginal people built semi-permanent huts. They also created clever systems of water channels to farm eels. During winter, the Djab wurrung people stayed in more permanent camps. Major Thomas Mitchell, an explorer, saw these strong huts near Mount Napier in 1836. He noted how comfortable they were, especially with a good fire inside.

During early autumn, large gatherings of up to 1,000 people would happen for one to two months. These events were held at the Mount William swamp or Lake Bolac for the yearly eel migration. Several tribes, including the Girai wurrung, Djargurd wurrung, Dhauwurd wurrung, and Wada wurrung, attended these gatherings.

Near Mount William, an amazing network of channels, weirs, and eel traps was built. There were also stone shelters. This shows that people lived a settled lifestyle, where eels were a very important food source and item for trade, especially the Short-finned eel. Near Lake Bolac, a semi-permanent village stretched for about 35 kilometers along the river bank during autumn. In 1841, George Augustus Robinson described these impressive structures near Mount William, noting that they covered at least 15 acres and required a huge amount of work to build.

The Aboriginal people of Western Victoria, including the Gunditjmara, had some unique ways of life. Because of the colder climate, they made and wore rugs from possum and kangaroo skins, also using them as blankets. They built huts from wood and local basalt (known as bluestone), with roofs made of turf and branches.

The Budj Bim heritage areas in Western Victoria show clear evidence of advanced fish-farming and traps for short-finned eels around the Lake Condah area.

Victorian Aboriginal Languages

When Europeans first arrived, 39 different Aboriginal languages were spoken in Victoria. Five of these languages were mainly spoken near the borders with New South Wales and South Australia. There were also 19 sub-dialects within seven of these languages.

The Victorian Aboriginal Corporation For Languages (VACL) is the main group working to protect and revive Aboriginal languages in Victoria. They help coordinate language programs across the state. VACL focuses on finding, recording, and researching Aboriginal languages. They also provide resources and educational tools to teach both Indigenous and non-Indigenous people about these languages.

Recently, there has been a lot of new interest in the Aboriginal languages of south-eastern Australia. The areas where one language ends and another begins are not always clear. Often, different languages share words and grammar in those border regions. Many Australian Indigenous languages are in danger of being lost forever. More than three-quarters of the original Australian languages have already disappeared, and almost all the remaining ones are seriously threatened.

Communities across Victoria, with support from VACL, are working hard to bring their languages back to life. They do this through language camps, workshops, school programs, and educational materials for children. They also use networking events, publications, music, digital resources, and dictionaries. VACL is now using interactive digital tools and apps to help people learn languages. They have several apps that use traditional and modern stories to revive Victorian Aboriginal languages. VACL also supports language education in schools and communities throughout Victoria.

Some language groups found near Victoria's borders with South Australia and New South Wales include Bindjali, Buandig, Jabulajabula, Ngargad, and Thawa.

There is some discussion about the exact details and locations of certain languages in North-eastern Victoria, such as Mogullumbidj, Dhudhuroa, and Yaithmathang.

The First Peoples' Assembly: Working Towards Treaties

In November 2019, the First Peoples' Assembly was chosen. This group has 21 members elected from five different areas in Victoria. It also has 10 members who represent each of the state's officially recognized traditional owner corporations. The Yorta Yorta Nation Aboriginal Corporation chose not to be part of this election process.

The main goal of the Assembly is to create the rules for how individual treaties will be negotiated. These treaties will be agreements between the Victorian Government and different Aboriginal peoples. The Assembly will also set up an independent "umpire" group to make sure the negotiations are fair.

The Assembly first met on December 10, 2019, and again in February 2020. They hope to agree on a plan, an umpire, and a process before November 2022, which is when the next state election will happen.

See Also

• Indigenous Australians