“… they want a block of land in their country where they may sit down, plant corn, potatoes etc, and work like white man.”

Simon Wonga, Wurundjeri woiwurrung ngurungaeta, 1859

The story of Coranderrk reflects the history of Aboriginal activism in the face of forced dispossession and displacement in colonial Victoria, and the site of Coranderrk in the Yarra Valley is considered highly significant by most Aboriginal people in Victoria and beyond. In 1860, a group of Kulin people led by Wurundjeri woiwurrung ngurungaeta (headman) Simon Wonga petitioned the government for a grant of farming land. Coranderrk Aboriginal Reserve was established in 1863 in the area now known as Healesville, where birrarung (the Yarra River) and Badger Creek meet, which was a traditional camping/living place for Kulin people.

By the early 1870s, the success achieved by the residents at Coranderrk through clever land management was the envy of the surrounding community. The government was under pressure to reclaim Coranderrk’s prime farming land and began to consider relocating residents.

Wurundjeri woiwurrung ngurungaeta and Coranderrk resident Barak petitioned the government to save Coranderrk and to investigate the treatment of the Aboriginal people living there, asking “Why are we being treated like criminals when we have done nothing wrong?” His campaigning – including leading a deputation of First Nations people to the Victorian Parliament 60 kilometres on foot from Coranderrk – led to a Parliamentary Inquiry in 1881. Following the inquiry, Coranderrk was made a permanent reserve. 

woiwurrung translations by Wurundjeri woman Brooke Wandin.

IMAGE:

Fred Kruger

Aboriginal people in the Hop Gardens at Coranderrk, c, 1882

albumen silver photograph

14.3 x 20.6 cm

(Source: State Library of Victoria)

IMAGE BELOW:

Mandy Nicholson

Wurundjeri, Dja Dja wurrung and Ngurai illum wurrung,

Coranderrk Reserve, 2004

synthetic polymer paint on cardboard

82.1 x 99.5 x 4 cm

(Source: Koorie Heritage Trust)