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The Tara-Waragal and the Governors levee in Melbourne, 1863-A reinterpretation of Woiwurrung local group organisation

  • Authors: Clark, Ian
  • Date: 2014
  • Type: Text , Journal article
  • Relation: Australian Aboriginal Studies Vol. , no. 1 (December 2014 2014), p. 33-54
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  • Description: This paper concerns the question of why there are so few named groups in the Woiwurrung language area compared with other language groups to its west and north-west. It does this by analysing the 1863 Governors levee in which representatives from three Aboriginal groups-the Boonwurrung, Woiwurrung and Tara-Waragal-presented gifts to royalty. In seeking to understand who this third group-the Tara-Waragal-was, Stephens (2003) has suggested that they were a Woiwurrung patriline. Wesson (2001) has suggested that the name was a pejorative label applied to a Gippsland group by the Kulin. This study finds that both interpretations are wrong. First, it finds that the name applies to a Brataualung clan, the Yowung, whose country centred on the Tarra and Warrigal creeks-hence the name. Second, it finds that the attempt by Stephens to identify the Tara-Waragal with a possible Woiwurrung patriline identified in a series of sketches by William Thomas found in the RB Smyth Papers was also a failure. Nevertheless, the implication that the sketch maps may reveal up to 53 patrilines is a possibility worth exploring, as it may address the issue of the apparent under-representation of Woiwurrung named groups with which I began. Analysis reveals the possibility of an additional 27 Woiwurrung patrilines. Although the exact number of additional patrilines will never be known, at least we have addressed the issue that within the ethno-historical record it is possible to find additional named groups in Woiwurrung. Thus there was in all likelihood greater internal division in the Woiwurrung than has been reconstructed by Barwick (1984) and Clark (1990).
  • Description: C1

The convincing ground, Portland Bay, Victoria, Australia: An exploration of the controversy surrounding its onomastic history

  • Authors: Clark, Ian
  • Date: 2014
  • Type: Text , Journal article
  • Relation: Names Vol. 62, no. 1 (2014), p. 3-12
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  • Description: This paper presents the results of a case study into the historiography of the Convincing Ground toponym at Portland Bay, Victoria, Australia. This study shows that research by Connor (2005a) into the usage of the phrase "convincing ground" in nineteenth-century Australia is superficial, and his preference for one explanation of the origin of the Convincing Ground toponym that relates to intra-whaler conflict resolution is superficial and inadequate. This analysis supports the alternative narrative that the toponym has its origin in a dispute between whalers and Aborigines over possession of a beached whale. Furthermore, Connor failed to consider the possibility that the phrase "convincing ground" is polysemous, which means that we should not expect to find a singular homogenous explanation or application in the literature. He also failed to discuss the real possibility that the Convincing Ground may also be a onomastic palimpsest and that both the Aboriginal-whaler dispute narrative and the intra-whaler dispute narrative may be legitimate explanations relevant at particular moments in the place's history. © American Name Society 2014.

The last matron of Coranderrk : Natalie Robarts's diary of the final years of Coranderrk Aboriginal Station, 1909-1924

  • Authors: Clark, Ian
  • Date: 2014
  • Type: Text , Book
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  • Description: "Natalie Robarts was the last matron of the Coranderrk Aboriginal Station at Healesville, from 1909 until 1924. Her husband Charles Robarts served as the station manager. This publication brings together Natalie Robarts's diary and other works, along with reminiscences from her son Maurice, and publications from her journalist son Oswald. It publishes in full, for the first time, the fourth part of her diary that spans the years 1917-1923. A Robarts family genealogy and family histories are also presented" -- from back cover.

The Buchan Caves Reserve

  • Authors: Clark, Ian
  • Date: 2014
  • Type: Text , Book chapter
  • Relation: An Historical Geography of Tourism in Victoria, Australia Chapter 3 p. 36-63
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  • Description: The Buchan Caves Reserve is some 360km east of Melbourne, near the township of Buchan. The Reserve is jointly managed by Parks Victoria and the Gunaikurnai Land and Water Aboriginal Corporation. It contains a visitor centre and facilities for overnight camping and day visitors. Within the reserve lies a honeycomb of caves with limestone formations – but there are only two show caves, Royal Cave (see Fig.3.1) and Fairy Cave (see Fig.3.2), and guided tours are conducted year round. The Buchan Caves Reserve falls within the Krauatungalung language area (Clark, 1998a: 189-190). This language or dialect, is one of five normally referred to as the ‘Ganai nation’ or ‘Kurnai nation’, a cluster of dialects sharing linguistic, social, cultural, political, and family associations.

Mount Buninyong Scenic Reserve

  • Authors: Watson, Jaimie , Clark, Ian
  • Date: 2014
  • Type: Text , Book chapter
  • Relation: An Historical Geography of Tourism in Victoria, Australia Chapter 7 p. 135-154
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  • Description: This chapter provides a historical examination of Mount Buninyong, tracing its evolution from an Aboriginal cultural site into a recreational tourist attraction. It follows the example set by Clark’s (2002) study of the evolution of Lal Lal Falls as a tourism attraction and documents the development of Mount Buninyong as a tourism attraction with significant consideration of key moments such as the first accounts of European visitation in 1837, its declaration as a public reserve in 1866, and the year 1926 when a road was built to the summit. To understand the history and evolution of tourism visitation to the Mount, this chapter will explain this transition by showing the significance of the works provided by MacCannell (1976; 1999), Butler (1980) and Gunn (1994). It will demonstrate that when these theoretical models are combined they contain explanatory materials capable of comprehending the history and evolution of a natural and cultural tourism attraction. MacCannell’s studies into the development of secular attractions suggest they go through five stages including sight sacralization and/or naming, framing and elevation, enshrinement and duplication or mechanical reproduction, and finally social reproduction. Butler’s tourism area life cycle model may explain the succeeding stagnation and rejuvenation of the Mount. Gunn’s spatial model of three zones of visitor interaction should provide an understanding of the evolution and history of planning at Mount Buninyong

Multiple Aboriginal placenames in western and central Victoria

  • Authors: Clark, Ian
  • Date: 2014
  • Type: Text , Book chapter
  • Relation: Indigenous and minority placenames : Australian and international perspectives (Aboriginal history series) Chapter 13 p. 239-250
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  • Description: In a recent paper on transparency versus opacity in Australian Aboriginal placenames, Michael Walsh (2002: 47) noted that in 'Aboriginal Australia it is relatively common for a given place to have multiple names'. In providing an overview of multiple naming practices Walsh (2002: 47) stated the 'simplest case is one place having two names. Such doublets can be intralectal or crosslectal. For intralectal doublets where there are two names for the one place in the same lect, both placenames may be opaque, both transparent, or one opaque and one transparent. ... The same applies to crosslectal doublets where two names for the one place come from different lects'. Walsh (2002) observed that he was unclear on how multiple naming works and what its function is. Other than some case studies (Schebeck 2002 re Flinders Ranges, Sutton 2002 re the Wik region, Cape York, and Tamisari 2002) we are yet to gain a comprehensive pricture for Aboriginal Australia. This paper adds to this discussion through a consideration of multiple naming in western and central Victoria using the results of research conducted by Clark and Heydon (2002) into Victorian Aboriginal placenames. The paper refers to examples from three languages in central and western Victoria Kulin, Wathawurrung, and Maar.

Introduction : Indigenous and minority placenames - Australian and international perspectives

  • Authors: Clark, Ian , Hercus, Luise , Kostanski, Laura
  • Date: 2014
  • Type: Text , Book chapter
  • Relation: Indigenous and minority placenames : Australian and international perspectives (Aboriginal history series) Chapter 1 p. 1-10
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  • Description: This book is the third volume in a series dedicated to Australian placenames. The earlier volumes are Koch and Hercus (eds) 2009, 'Aboriginal Placenames : Naming and re-naming the Australian landscape' (The Australian National University EPress and Aboriginal History), and Hercus, Hodges and Simpson (eds) 2002, 'The land is a map : Placenames of Indigenous Origin in Australia' (Pandanus Books and Pacific Linguistics, Canberra). As in the earlier volumes, many of the papers in this volume originated as papers at a placenames conference, in this cas one hosted by the University of Ballarat in 2007 that featured Australian and international speakers who spoke on aspects of Indigenous and minority toponyms. Added to these papers are three papers that are recipients of the Murray Chapman Award: Nash (Chapter 2) and Wafer (Chapter 4) won the award in 2011, and Nash (Chapter 3) in 2012. This award is sponsored by the Geographical Names Board of NSW. The papers have been arranged geographically, starting with New South Wales and ending with four international papers presented at the Ballarat conference.

Indigenous and minority placenames : Australian and international perspectives

  • Authors: Clark, Ian , Hercus, Luise , Kostanski, Laura
  • Date: 2014
  • Type: Text , Book
  • Relation: Aboriginal history
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  • Description: This book showcases current research into Indigenous and minority placenames in Australia and internationally. Many of the chapters in this volume originated as papers at a Trends in Toponymy conference hosted by the University of Ballarat in 2007 that featured Australian and international speakers. The chapters in this volume provide insight into the quality of toponymic research that is being undertaken in Australia and in countries such as Canada, Finland, South Africa, New Zealand, and Norway. The research presented here draws on the disciplines of linguistics, geography, history, and anthropology. This book includes meticulous studies of placenames in central NSW and the Upper Hunter region; Gundungurra cave names; western Arnhem Land; Northern Cape York Peninsula and Mount Wheeler in Queensland; saltwater placenames around Mer in the Torres Strait; and the Kaurna in South Australia.

Hanging Rock Recreation Reserve

  • Authors: Skidmore, Stephanie , Clark, Ian
  • Date: 2014
  • Type: Text , Book chapter
  • Relation: An historical geography of tourism in Victoria, Australia Case studies Chapter 6 p. 111-134
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  • Description: This chapter presents an historical analysis of the evolution of tourism at Hanging Rock Recreation Reserve. It shows how Hanging Rock evolved from being a ‘special’ place of local Aboriginal clans at the time of European settlement into a significant natural/cultural tourism attraction. Hanging Rock Recreation Reserve is some 80 kilometres N.N.W. of Melbourne and lies immediately north of Mount Macedon. It is managed by the Macedon Ranges Shire Council. In terms of its physical extent, the acquisition of 22 hectares in 1993 increased the size of the reserve to 88 hectares, although the rock itself only covers approximately 9 hectares, the remaining area is comprised of the racecourse, picnic areas, and car park. Five Mile Creek, a tributary of the Campaspe River, flows through the southern portion of the reserve. With its distinctive geological formation the rock rises some 100 metres above the surrounding plain.

The You Yangs Regional Parks

Tourist visitation to Ebenezer Aboriginal mission station, Victoria, Australia, 1859-1904: A case study

  • Authors: Clark, Ian , McRae-Williams, Eva
  • Date: 2014
  • Type: Text , Journal article
  • Relation: Tourism, Culture and Communication Vol. 13, no. 2 (2014), p. 113-123
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  • Description: This article investigates the phenomenon of tourist visitation to an Aboriginal Mission Station in the Wimmera region of Victoria, Australia, during its operation from 1859 to 1904. It provides an overview of the history of tourism to Aboriginal missions in Victoria and presents the first detailed study of tourism to the Ebenezer Mission site. It shows that in contrast with other mission stations in Victoria, where tourism was encouraged, the Moravian missionaries discouraged visitation and deliberately selected a remote location in northwest Victoria to ensure their isolation. Nevertheless, a limited number of visitors were welcomed on to the station and their accounts are presented in this case study. Copyright Cognizant Communication Corporation (CCC)

Lal Lal Falls Scenic Reserve

  • Authors: Clark, Ian
  • Date: 2014
  • Type: Text , Book chapter
  • Relation: An Historical Geography of Tourism in Victoria, Australia Chapter 2 p. 15-35
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  • Description: Lal Lal Falls near Ballarat in Western Victoria evolved over 162 years from an Aboriginal cultural site into a recreational and tourism attraction. Key moments in this history were the visit by two European Port Phillip Aboriginal Protectorate officials in 1840, the reservation of the site as a public park in 1865, and the tragic death of two school children from a landslip at the site in 1990. To understand the history of Lal Lal Falls visitation, this study uses perspectives developed by MacCannell (1976), Butler (1980), and Gunn (1994). MacCannell’s (1976) research into the development of secular attractions through five stages – sight sacralization or naming, framing and elevation, enshrinement, duplication, and social reproduction – will be tested to see if it satisfactorily accounts for the development of the Lal Lal Falls attraction. Butler’s (1980) tourism area life-cycle model may explain the subsequent stagnation and decline of the attraction, particularly since the 1990 catastrophe. Gunn’s (1994) spatial model of attractions should be able to add a spatial dimension to understanding the history of recreation planning at Lal Lal Falls in terms of three zones (nucleus, inviolate belt, and zone of closure) of visitor interaction outlined by the model. This chapter extends earlier research by Clark (2002) into the history of the waterfall.

The Importance of the koala in Aboriginal society in nineteenth-century Queensland (Australia) : a reconsideration of the archival record

  • Authors: Cahir, David (Fred) , Schlagloth, Rolf , Clark, Ian
  • Date: 2022
  • Type: Text , Journal article
  • Relation: Anthrozoos Vol. 35, no. 1 (2022), p. 75-89
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  • Description: The principal purpose of this study was to gain a greater understanding of the utilitarian and symbolic significance of koalas for Aboriginal communities in Queensland, Australia as recorded by colonists during the early period of colonization and the early twentieth century. It does this primarily through a close examination of the nineteenth-century and early twentieth-century archival records and contemporary publications that relate to Queensland Aboriginal peoples’ associations with koalas. This paper is the third in a series investigating the historic and cultural importance of the koala according to the location in Australia. It likewise employs the historical method approach, which relies on identifying historical sources, evaluating their relative authority, and combining their testimony appropriately in order to construct an accurate and reliable picture of past events and environments. Through a critique of the published historical sources, the distribution of and the etymology of “koala” are briefly discussed before an examination is made of the animal’s spiritual importance, associated cultural traditions, and simultaneous utilitarian role. Mirroring previous studies published by the authors on Victoria and New South Wales, we confirm that the predominately non-Aboriginal historical records reveal that koalas were hunted for food and their skin in some Queensland regions. It shall be seen that the ethno-historical records are inconclusive about the koala’s distribution in Queensland, whether they were hunted across all of the state at the point of colonization and whether they were considered an integral food source in some regions. Furthermore, this study demonstrates that the extent to which they were used varied across regions and between language groups and was subject to certain rules, and that their spiritual significance can be traced directly to epic creation stories. The implications of this paper are consistent with the earlier New South Wales and Victorian studies: regional variations exist in Queensland in relation to the (pre-colonial, colonial and post-colonial) historic relationship between Aboriginal communities and koalas and that close consultation with Aboriginal communities needs to be taken into consideration when planning conservation measures relating to koalas. © 2021 International Society for Anthrozoology (ISAZ).

Aboriginal fire-management practices in colonial Victoria

  • Authors: Cahir, David (Fred) , Clark, Ian , Tout, Dan , Wilkie, Benjamin , Clark, Jidah
  • Date: 2021
  • Type: Text , Journal article
  • Relation: Aboriginal History Journal Vol. 45, no. (2021), p. 109-130
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  • Description: Through a close reading of particular episodes and a focus on the minutiae of action and context, this article adds to the literature on the customary use of fire by Aboriginal people in south-eastern Australia by highlighting the historically significant role Aboriginal people played in toiling alongside colonists and fighting fires during the colonial period. By scrutinising the written colonial records it is possible to reveal some of the measures that Aboriginal people used to help the colonists avoid cataclysmic fire. Lacking many direct Indigenous sources due to the devastation caused by rapid colonisation, we do this for the most part through a detailed examination of sheep and cattle graziers' journals, newspapers and government records. The article commences with an overview of colonists' observations of and attitudes regarding Aboriginal practices in relation to fire with specific reference to the region now referred to as Victoria and New South Wales. It concludes with an examination of the few recorded instances in which Aboriginal people tutored colonists in fighting fires, educating them how to use fire as a management tool, and the significant value they placed in Aboriginal knowledge relating to fire. © 2022 Astra Salvensis. All rights reserved.

Kurrburra the Boonwurrung 'wirrirrap' and bard (1797-1849)-a man of high degree

  • Authors: Clark, Ian , Schlagloth, Rolf , Cahir, David (Fred) , McGinnis, Gabrielle
  • Date: 2020
  • Type: Text , Journal article
  • Relation: Australian Journal of Biography and History Vol. , no. 4 (2020), p. 73-91
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  • Description: Kurrburra (aka Mr Ruffy) (1797-1849), Aboriginal wirrirrap (doctor, healer, bard), sage counsellor of his people, consultant with koalas, and heroic slayer of a feared orangutan-like cryptid that lived in the ranges north of Western Port, is believed to have been born in 1797, and was a member of the Yawen djirra clan, the eastern-most group of the Boonwurrung People whose Country stretched from Wirribi-yaluk (Werribee River) to Wammun (Wilsons Promontory) in Victoria. His moiety was Bunjil and in the early 1840s he had 2 wives: Kurundum (1819-?) and Bowyeup (1823-?), and 2 children, whose names are not known. Kurrburra's traditional Aboriginal name is the Boonwurrung word for the iconic marsupial Phascolarctos cinereus, more commonly known as the koala.

The historic importance of the koala in Aboriginal Society in New South Wales, Australia : an exploration of the archival record

  • Authors: Cahir, David (Fred) , Schlagloth, Rolf , Clark, Ian
  • Date: 2020
  • Type: Text , Journal article
  • Relation: Ab-original Vol. 3, no. 2 (2020), p. 172-191
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  • Description: Abstract The principal aim of this study is to provide a detailed examination of nineteenth- and early twentieth-century archival records that relate to New South Wales Aboriginal peoples' associations with koalas and gain a greater understanding of the utilitarian and symbolic significance of koalas for Aboriginal communities as recorded by colonists during the early period of colonization. Anthropological discussions about the role and significance of koalas in Australian Aboriginal society have been limited, some sources are unreliable and interpretation is at times divisive. Many scholars have previously highlighted how using only historical sources as its reference point it is difficult to discern with great specificity that Aboriginal peoples in other regions of New South Wales commonly ate the koala and used its skin. Through a critique of historical sources, we demonstrate that the ethno-historical evidence is inconclusive as to whether they were an integral food source for much of the time period covered by this paper in the area now called the state of New South Wales. Furthermore, this study demonstrates that the extent of their use varied across regions and between tribal groups and was likely to have been traditionally associated with lore specific to certain cultural groups, and may have involved dreaming stories, and gendered roles in hunting and resource use, and other aspects of spiritual belief systems.

Parish plans as a source of evidence of Aboriginal land use in the Mallee back country

  • Authors: Burch, John , Clark, Ian , Cahir, David (Fred)
  • Date: 2020
  • Type: Text , Journal article
  • Relation: Provenance (North Melbourne, Vic.) Vol. , no. 18 (2020), p. 9-21
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  • Description: The nature of Aboriginal people's use, indeed occupation, of the Victorian Mallee 'back country' warrants detailed investigation. Probably arising out of the paucity of observations of Aboriginal people on the land before it was pastorally occupied, an historical analysis from the 1870s suggesting Aboriginal people were not occupiers but mere 'seasonal visitors' to the 'back country' was unquestionably accepted for the next century. Growing understanding of the fundamentally sophisticated ways in which Aboriginal people managed their land has led to some recent historical works with a revised understanding of land use in the 'back country', but there is no agreement to move away from the orthodox historical paradigm. Parish plans from the Mallee, part of PROV's 'Parish and township plans' collection, were investigated to determine whether they contain evidence of former Aboriginal land use that could inform this question. It was found that these plans can potentially reveal the presence of pre-colonial Aboriginal water management, pathways, quarries, land management, cemeteries and placenames. Thus, parish plans were shown to be a potentially valuable resource that might have the capacity to support a reinvestigation of Aboriginal land use in the 'back country'. Approaches for a more detailed investigation of the value of these plans are suggested.

The tourism spectacle of fire making at Coranderrk Aboriginal Station, Victoria, Australia–a case study

  • Authors: Clark, Ian , McMaster, Sarah , Roberts, Phillip , Cahir, David (Fred) , Wright, Wendy
  • Date: 2020
  • Type: Text , Journal article
  • Relation: Journal of Heritage Tourism Vol. 15, no. 3 (2020), p. 249-266
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  • Description: This paper explores the emergence of traditional Aboriginal fire making practices as a tourism spectacle at the Coranderrk Aboriginal Station near Healesville, Victoria, Australia, in the late nineteenth century. Coranderrk was an important site where domestic and international tourism intersected with efforts of the state to Europeanise and Christianise its Aboriginal residents. It highlights the agency of Aboriginal people in this emergence. Through a survey of the myriad uses of fire in Aboriginal society, it contrasts Aboriginal methods of making fire with European methods as a way of contextualising the tourist interest in fire making demonstrations. Fire making was the perfect foil for tourism – it easily incorporated aspects of performance – such as the build, the show, the closer, and the hat. The skill of fire making was a demonstration of ‘Aboriginality’, and its appropriation by tourism was a means by which a traditional craft was maintained and sustained. © 2019, © 2019 Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group.

Reviving old Indigenous names for new purposes

Multiple Aboriginal place names in Western Victoria, Australia

  • Authors: Clark, Ian
  • Date: 2008
  • Type: Text , Conference paper
  • Relation: Paper presented at Twenty-third International Congress of Onomastic Sciences, Toronto, Canada : 17th-22nd August 2008
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  • Description: In a recent paper on transparency versus opacity in Australian Aboriginal place names, linguist Michael Walsh (2002: 47) noted that in ‘Aboriginal Australia it is relatively common for a given place to have multiple names’. In providing an overview of multiple naming practices Walsh (2002: 47) stated the ‘simplest case is one place having two names. Such doublets can be intralectal or crosslectal. For intralectal doublets where there are two names for the one place in the same lect, both placenames may be opaque, both transparent, or one opaque and one transparent. … The same applies to crosslectal doublets where two names for the one place come from different lects’. Walsh (2002) observed that he was unclear on how multiple naming works and what its function is. Other than some case studies (Schebeck 2002 re Flinders Ranges, Sutton 2002 re the Wik region, Cape York, and Tamisari 2002), we are yet to gain a comprehensive picture for Aboriginal Australia. This paper adds to this discussion through a consideration of multiple naming in western Victoria using the results of research conducted by Clark and Heydon (2002) into Victorian Aboriginal place names. The paper also considers the policy implications of multiple indigenous naming for place name administration in Victoria. Victoria has adopted a dual naming policy that recognises a non-indigenous and an indigenous toponym for the one place but is yet to accept multiple indigenous naming.
  • Description: 2003007363