Indigenous

Australians after
European
Colonisation

James Cook
European

settlement of the Australian

continent began with Captain James Cooks
visit and claim of possession in 1770. This
was followed by the establishment of a
penal settlement when what is now known
as the First Fleet arrived at Sydney Cove on
26 January 1788.
(There were some visitors earlier than this
Dutch vessels on their way to Indonesia
were wrecked on the WA coastline (1629).
It is thought that some survivors may have
assimilated into Indigenous society of the
time.)

Terra Nulius
At

the time of the arrival of the First

Fleet in NSW in 1788, the British
considered Australia to be Terra Nullius
This simply meant - the land belonged
to no one!

 Non-Indigenous

Settlement

people from around

the world have since migrated to
the continent to create a
predominantly English-speaking
country considered as a leader in
almost all spheres of modern life.
But these developments have not
come without a price for Indigenous
people their population, culture,
spirituality and homelands have
been under threat ever since.
European settlement was
established through first conquering
andkilling Indigenous people.It is
believed that in the first 100 years
of European settlement, 20,000
Indigenous people were killed by
the colonial forces.

First contact in the Grampians

is

likely the Djab wurrung were well aware of Europeans from their
communications with coastal tribes. Their first explicit contact was
with Major Thomas Mitchell exploring western Victoria in
September 1836 when he surprised two women and their children
near Mount Cole. Two years later, in 1838, the squatters with their
sheep started settling in Djab wurrung country.

European

Settlement from 1836 was marked by resistance to the

invasion often by driving off or stealing sheep which then resulted
in conflict and sometimes a massacre of aboriginal people. From
1840 to 1859 there were reports of 35 massacres and killings of
Djab wurrung people, most occurring before the end of 1842. Very
few of these reports were acted upon to bring the settlers to court.

Treated as pests

Unfortunately in many
parts of the country,
aboriginal people where
treated worse than feral
animals. Farmers and
landowners would ride
into camps shooting
men, women, children
and babies for the sport
of it. While this was still
considered murder, it
mostly went unreported.

Mounted police engaging Indigenous

Australians during the Slaughterhouse
Creek Massacre of 1838

Gippsland squatter Henry Meyrick wrote in a letter home to his relatives in

England in 1846:

The blacks are very quiet here now, poor wretches. No wild beast
of the forest was ever hunted down with such unsparing
perseverance as they are. Men, women and children are shot
whenever they can be met with I have protested against it at
every station I have been in Gippsland, in the strongest language,
but these things are kept very secret as the penalty would certainly
be hanging For myself, if I caught a black actually killing my
sheep, I would shoot him with as little remorse as I would a wild
dog, but no consideration on earth would induce me to ride into a
camp and fire on them indiscriminately, as is the custom whenever
the smoke is seen. They [the Aborigines] will very shortly be
extinct. It is impossible to say how many have been shot, but I am
convinced that not less than 450 have been murdered altogether.

Resistance
This

at times took the form of

maintaining connections to country and
culture through whatever means were
available. On the Campbell brothers
Mount Cole run, settled in 1840, clans
were allowed to stay on the run and
were actively supplied with food and
clothing establishing a relationship of
care and protection.

Stolen generations

Aboriginal people were

often forcibly moved from
their land if it was of value
to settlers. Children who
had mixed blood, were
routinely taken from their
parents and moved to
orphanages and missions
across the country (the
stolen generations)

Assimilation
The

indigenous people of the Grampians

area were restricted in their lifestyles,
being forced to reflect the actions and
beliefs of European settlers by the
church and government (forced to
assimilate).

Removal from land

Those

who werent forced to assimilate

were forced from their land.
Burrumbeep was gazetted as an
Aboriginal reserve in 1841, although it
was never truly occupied.

Further exploitation
With

the commencement of the gold rush during

the 1850s, the settlers attitude towards the
local Aboriginal people changed, and a new age
of exploitation began.
Many Aboriginal people were used as station
hands in the wake of the labour shortage and
paid a fraction of their non-Indigenous
counterparts. At the same time, alcohol became
a serious problem as more and more Aboriginal
people camped on the outskirts of mining
settlements.

Almost wiped out

By

the 1850s, the Djab Wurrung

population had dropped from a
conservative pre-contact estimate of
2050 to 615. Three quarters are
estimated to have been killed by
introduced diseases, poisoned flour,
alcohol abuse, malnutrition, diseased
blankets and starvation due to shortage
of traditional foods, and a quarter killed
by rifle attack.

Rectifying the wrongs

Aboriginal history is unfortunately a

very sad one, however in 1967 they
were allowed to vote (previous to this they
could not vote as they were officially recognised
at Fauna native animals).

Rectifying the wrongs

In 1989 there was a government proposal to rename many
geographical place names associated with aboriginal heritage in the
Gariwerd - Grampians National Park area. There was much
community opposition to this proposal. The Brambuk centre,
representing five aboriginal communities with historical links to the
area, advocated a dual name for the main area: Gariwerd/Grampians.
Some of the changes included:
Grampians to Gariwerd (mountain range)
Mount Zero to Mura Mura (little hill)
Halls Gap to Budja Budja
The Brambuk National Park and Cultural Centre in Halls Gap is owned
and managed by Jardwadjali and Djab Wurrung people from five
Aboriginal communities with historic links to the Gariwerd-Grampians
ranges and the surrounding plains

Mabo
In 1992 the landmark
Mabo case recognized
native title of the first
time. This case disputed
the legal principal of
Terra Nullius, by which
the British legally
occupied Australia. The
British Government
successfully argued that
the aborigines did not
have a civilised society,
until it was overturned in
1992.

Mabo changing attitudes

Some

land has since been returned to

the traditional owners.
Increasingly Indigenous Australians are
being acknowledged as the traditional
owners of the land and as having great
knowledge of the environment.

Reconciliation

In 1999, then Prime Minister John Howard

passed a seven-point Motion of Reconciliation
a nationally significant step forward despite
the controversial expression of deep and
sincere regret for past injustices, hurt and
trauma imposed on Indigenous people. The
expression was publicly debated because of a
call to the Prime Minister from many for a
straight sorry.

Reconciliation - Sorry Day

The National Sorry Day followed this step for reconciliation.
On 13 February 2008, the Commonwealth parliament
passed a motion that formallyapologised to the Stolen
Generations. The then Prime Minister Kevin Rudd tabled
the motion, apologising to Indigenous Australians for "for
the laws and policies of successive Parliaments and
governments that have inflicted profound grief, suffering
and loss".
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aKWfiFp24rA

Summary for the tribes of the

Grampians since European settlement
Perceptions

Interactions

Impacts

Still a strong
spiritual
connection with
the land
Some have lost
connection with
the land due to
removal from
traditional
communities.

Semi nomadic
movement limited
due to roads and
fences and land
ownership
Fire-stick farming
was seen as
dangerous to
livestock and
homes so ceased
Some forced to
assimilate into
European society
Given aboriginal
reserves
Cooperative land
management with
government

Inability to live a
semi-nomadic
lifestyle has
resulted in many of
their impacts being
in line with those
of the Europeans.
Positive impacts
derived from roles
in education and
cultural awareness
programs

Brambuk cultural center is run

by members of the Jarwadajli
and Djab Wurrung tribes, with
the aim of promoting their
culture and educating visitors
about the indigenous history in
Gariwerd/Grampians
Aboriginal Traditional Owners
and Parks Victoria acknowledge
the Aboriginal Traditional
Owners of Victoria - including
its parks and reserves. Through
their cultural traditions,
Aboriginal people maintain
their connection to their
ancestral lands and waters.

Today

Today
Indigenous

Australians are politicians,

teachers, technicians, painters, singers,
musicians, athletes, scientists,
environmentalists etc..
Increasing opportunities enable all
aboriginals to enter the spot light in all
walks of life, becoming the valuable
members in society that they are.

Task

the history we have just explored

draw a flow chart showing your
understanding of Indigenous Australians
since European settlement

From

European
settlement

Today