Snapshots of Aboriginal Fitzroy

Wurundjeri stories

The area that is now known as Fitzroy and Collingwood was part of the territory of the country of the Woiworung people of the Kulin nation. The Kulin nation comprised five distinct language groups. There is some dispute as to the exact boundaries between the various clans and groups. However it is clear that the area around central Melbourne was a significant meeting place for the Kulin clans. Writing in 1840, only five years after the establishment of Melbourne, William Thomas observed that "the spot where Melbourne now stands.was the regular rendezvous for the tribes known as Waworongs, Boonurongs, Barrabools, Nilunguons, Gouldburns twice a year or so" (Presland, 1994, 35). The area that is now known as Richmond, Collingwood and Fitzroy was the land of the Wurundjeri people.

Kulin nation
Source: Wiencke, S., When the Wattles Bloom Again, Impact Press, Woori Yallock, 1984: 5

Wurundjeri man ornamented for corroboree
Photo: Antoine Fauchery circa 1858
COPYRIGHT: STATE LIBRARY OF VICTORIA
Accession Number: H84.167/52

Wurundjeri camp up the Yarra
Source: Antoine Fauchery, circa 1859
COPYRIGHT: STATE LIBRARY OF VICTORIA
Accession Number: H2476

The landscape of the area that was to become Fitzroy and Richmond is described by Presland in the following way:

Further up the river the vegetation begins to change and there are tall and mature eucalypts on both sides. Around the Richmond area we see that some trees bear scars that show where bark has been removed by Aboriginal people. At the point where the course of the river starts to bend around to the north, you can see on your right a small stream, emptying its water into the Yarra from the south.There are tall red gums growing in the valley of this tributary but they will not endure.
G. Presland, Aboriginal Melbourne, McPhee Gribble, 1994: 24-5

Presland, G. Aboriginal Melbourne, McPhee Gribble. 1994, p.24-5.

The suburbs of Collingwood and Fitzroy have been established on part of the traditional lands of the Wurundjeri people. These lands were once free of buildings and concrete and only occupied by Aboriginal people. A migration of people changed this existence. Social unrest occurred. Some Aboriginal leaders established a base in the Collingwood and Fitzroy areas in an attempt to address these issues. Others became empowered by their presence, joined them and continued the struggle for human rights and social justice. The Wurundjeri people are proud to have shared and provided a place for the fight for equality.

Statement by Joy Murphy-Wandin, Wurundjeri elder:

The Wurundjeri-Willum consisted of three main groups at the time of the white invasion, with each group having control
over an area of land either to the north or south of the Yarra River. Ellender and Christiansen note that the family
of Billibellary, who lived on the north bank of the Yarra and whose territory extended as far as the Merri Merri Creek,
occupied the area that is now Richmond and Fitzroy. The southern bank of the Yarra, upstream to Gardiner’s Creek
was occupied by the family of Burrenupton, the brother of Billibellary. (Ellender & Christiansen, 2001:35)

The creeks and rivers around the area that is now Mel bourne provided a plentiful source of food for the
Wurundjeri. Eels were hunted using a spear which was barbed with emu claws and kangaroo teeth. One of the
main sites frequented by the Wurundjeri for eeling was Bolin Swamp, which is now known as Bulleen (Ellender and
Christiansen, 2001: 41). The Wurundjeri also hunted for waterbirds, possums and kan ga roos. The food col lect ed
by the women included the yam daisy or murrnong. The tuber of this plant was consumed by Aboriginal people
throughout Victoria and was prepared for con sump tion by roasting in the ashes of a fi re.

Wurundjeri creation story

Once the water of the Yarra was locked in the mountains. This great expanse of water was called Moorool, or Great Water. It was so large that the Woiwurong had little hunting ground. This was in contrast with the Wothowurungs and the Bunurongs, whose hunting ground was the lovely flat which is now Port Phillip Bay.

Mo-yarra, slow-and-fast-running, was the headman of the Woiwurong. He decided to free the country of the water. So he cut a channel through the hills, in a southerly direction, and reached Western Port. However only a little water followed him and the path cut for it gradually closed up and the water again covered the land of the Woiwurrung.

At a later time the headman of the tribe was Bar-wool. He remembered Mo-yarra's attempt to free the land. He knew that Mo-yarra still lived on the swamps beside Western Port (Koo-wee-rup). Each winter he saw the hill tops covered with the feather down which Mo-yarra plucked from the water birds sheltering on the swamps.

Bar-wool resolved to free the land. He cut a channel up the valley with his stone axe. But he was stopped by Baw-baw, the Mountain. He decided to go northwards, but was stopped by Donna Buang and his brothers. Then he went westwards and cut through the hills to Warr-an-dyte. There he met Yan-yan, another Woiwurong, who was busily engaged in cutting a channel for the Plenty River in order to drain Morang, the place where he lived. They joined forces, and the waters of Moorool and Morang became Moo-rool-bark, the Place-where-the-wide-waters-were. They continued their work and reached the Heidelberg-Templestowe Flats, or Warringal, Dingo-jump-up, and there they rested while the waters formed another Moorool.

Bar-wool and Yan-yan again set to work, but this time they had to go much slower because the ground was much harder. They were also using up too many stone axes. Between the Darebin and the Merri Creeks they cut a narrow, twisting track, looking for softer ground. At last they reached Port Phillip and the waters of Moorool and Morang rushed out. The country of the Woiwurrong was freed from water but Port Phillip was inundated.

Massola, A. Bunjil’s Cave: Myths, Legends and Superstitions of the Aborines of South-East Australia , Lansdowne Press, Melbourne, 1968, p. 58.

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Further information

Community Advocacy
c/o Richmond Town Hall,
333 Bridge Rd, Richmond
Telephone 9205 5160
Email info@yarracity.vic.gov.au

Links

Within this site
Snapshots of Aboriginal Fitzroy home
Snapshots of Aboriginal Fitzroy

External sites (Yarra City Council accepts no responsibility for the information or opinions contained within external sites)
Dictionary of Aboriginal place names of Victoria
Gary Foley's Koori History Website
Aboriginal Housing Board of Victoria
Aboriginal Health Service

Information supplied by: Electronic communications & design officer - 9205 5214

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