Ian D. Clark (historian) facts for kids

Ian D. Clark (born 1958) is an Australian historian and expert on place names. He is known for his research on the history of Aboriginal people in Victoria, Australia. He also studies the names of places and the early conflicts between Indigenous people and European settlers in Victoria.

Ian D. Clark's Journey

Ian D. Clark studied at the Melbourne College of Divinity and Monash University. He earned a PhD in 1992. His studies focused on the history and geography of Aboriginal people in western Victoria.

He has held many important roles. He taught geography and tourism at Monash University. He also worked as a research fellow at the Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies. Since 2000, he has been a Professor in Tourism at the University of Ballarat.

Clark has also worked a lot in the tourism industry in Victoria. He helped create tourism materials and places related to Indigenous culture. He was even the manager of the Brambuk Aboriginal Cultural Centre in Halls Gap, Gariwerd. He also worked for the Koori Tourism Unit.

In 2005, he led the Victorian State Committee of the Australian National Placenames Survey. This group studies and records place names.

Exploring History: Ian D. Clark's Research

Ian D. Clark has written many books and articles about Victorian Aboriginal history. He helped edit the journals of George Augustus Robinson, an important historical figure.

He worked with the Victorian Aboriginal Corporation for Languages. In 2002, they published the Dictionary of Aboriginal Placenames of Victoria. This book lists and explains the original Aboriginal names for places in Victoria. He also helped organize a conference about place names in 2007.

Understanding Past Conflicts

Clark's research also looks at difficult parts of history. He wrote about sites where massacres happened in Western Victoria. This was published in his 1995 book, Scars in the landscape. It covers events from 1803 to 1859.

He also co-authored a book called A bend in the Yarra in 2004. This book tells the story of the Wurundjeri people and the early settlement of Melbourne. It focuses on the Merri Creek Protectorate Station and Aboriginal School from 1841 to 1851.

Aboriginal People and the Goldfields

Clark has also written about the presence of Aboriginal people on the Ballarat goldfields in the 1850s. He noted that there is no direct proof of Aboriginal people being involved in the Eureka Rebellion in 1854. However, the event happened on Wathaurong Aboriginal land.

He also pointed out that the early police on the goldfields were the Native Police Corps. This group included Aboriginal people. There are also oral stories that Aboriginal people cared for some children of the Eureka miners after the conflict.

Key Publications by Ian D. Clark

• Scars in the landscape : a register of massacre sites in Western Victoria 1803–1859 (1995), AIATSIS, ISBN: 0-85575-281-5
• A bend in the Yarra : a history of the Merri Creek Protectorate Station and Merri Creek Aboriginal School 1841–1851 / Ian D. Clark and Toby Heydon. Aboriginal Studies Press, 2004. ISBN: 0-85575-469-9
• The Port Phillip journals of George Augustus Robinson : 8 March – 7 April 1842 and 18 March – 29 April 1843 / edited and with an introduction by Ian D. Clark. Robinson, George Augustus, 1791–1866. Published Melbourne: Department of Geography, Monash University, 1988. ISBN: 0-909685-38-X
• Sharing history : a sense for all Australians of a shared ownership of their history, Council for Aboriginal Reconciliation. Published: Canberra : Australian Government Publishing Service, c1994. ISBN: 0-644-32846-0 Online version
• Dictionary of Aboriginal placenames of Victoria / Ian D. Clark, Toby Heydon. Published: Melbourne : Victorian Aboriginal Corporation for Languages, 2002. ISBN: 0-9579360-2-8
• The journals of George Augustus Robinson, chief protector, Port Phillip Aboriginal Protectorate / Ian D. Clark, editor 2nd edition Published: Melbourne, Vic. : Heritage Matters, 2000. ISBN: 1-876404-15-9
• The Yalukit-willam : the first people of the City of Hobsons Bay, Published: Hobsons Bay City Council, 2001. ISBN: 0-646-41669-3
• Aboriginal languages and clans : an historical atlas of western and central Victoria, 1800–1900, Published: Melbourne, Vic. : Dept. of Geography and Environmental Science, Monash University, c1990. ISBN: 0-909685-41-X
• Place names and land tenure : windows into Aboriginal landscapes : essays in Victorian Aboriginal history / Ian D. Clark. Published: Ballarat, Vic., Ballarat Heritage Services, c2003. ISBN: 978-1876404079