'Here Is My Country' - Creation and Country

Larry Walsh, Taunwurrung

Fire and the Seven Sisters

At one time, all Kulin ate their food raw and were always sick during winter. There were seven women who never complained about the cold and beautiful smells came from their camp. Waa the white Crow watched these women carefully and noticed that the tops of their digging sticks were glowing red.

The women loved honey ants but were afraid of snakes. Waa put some baby snakes inside a hollow log and sealed it up. He told the women that there were honey ants inside and that they should use their digging sticks to break it open. All the snakes shot out and the women started hitting the ground so hard to keep the snakes away that the tops of their digging sticks broke off. Waa took off with them.

The women called out, abusing the Crow and calling him thief. All this noise attracted the attention of Bunjil and the women told Bunjil that Waa had stolen the secret of fire. Bunjil asked his two nephews, Jert Jert and Thara, to chase after Waa and get the sticks back. Waa flew so fast that one of the sticks caught fire and he dropped it at a place called Mooneo in the Dandenongs, the first hill burnt by fire. Thara told Jert Jert to keep going because he was a lot quicker.

Waa then flew so fast that this time all the sticks caught fire, burning Waa and turning him black, and he landed at a place called Narnarthum in the Cathedral Ranges in Taunwurrung Country.

Roy Patterson, Daungurung, Born 1940

'Black Crow', 2002

Charcoal, ochre, leather, 59 x 47 cm

'Here Is My Country' - Creation and Country

Kelly Koumalatsos Wergaia/Wamba Wamba

When the rains came, Lake Tyrell reflected the stars from the sky on the surface of the water. Traditionally, Aboriginal people told stories about the stars here and passed them on to the next generation. Lake Tyrell is an inspirational place and very important culturally. Being there provides me with the opportunity to connect with my ancestors.

The first paintings in this series were painted as abstract style paintings where the landscape was painted without the diamonds. From there I progressed to use symbolism by including diamonds as representations of spirits in the land. The diamond designs are traditional to South-east Australia.

Kelly Koumalatsos, Wergaia/Wamba Wamba, Born 1961

'Lake Tyrell', c. 2000

Paint, paper, 38 x 28 cm

'Here Is My Country' - Creation and Country

Carolyn Briggs, Boonwurrung

The Time of Chaos

Many years ago this land that we now call Melbourne extended right out to the ocean. Port Phillip Bay was then a large flat plain where Boonwurrung hunted kangaroos and cultivated their yam daisy.

But one day there came a time of chaos and crises. The Boonwurrung and the other Kulin nations were in conflict. They argued and fought. They neglected their children. They neglected their land. The native yam was neglected. The animals were killed but not always eaten. The fish were caught during their spawning season. As this chaos grew the sea became angry and began to rise until it covered their plain and threatened to flood the whole of their country.

The people went to Bunjil, their creator and spiritual leader. They asked Bunjil to stop the sea from rising. Bunjil told his people that they would have to change their ways if they wanted to save their land. The people thought about what they had been doing and made a promise to follow Bunjil. Bunjil walked out to the sea, raised his spear and directed the sea to stop rising. Bunjil then made the Boonwurrung promise that they would respect the laws.

The place the Kulin then chose to meet is where the Parliament of Victoria is now located. They debated issues of great importance to the nation; they celebrated, they danced.

This land will always be protected by the creator, Bunjil, who travels as an eagle.

Mandy Nicholson, Wurundjeri, Born 1975

'Bunjil', 1999

Paper, ink, 21 x 22 cm

'Here Is My Country' - Creation and Country

Irene Thomas, Bangerang

How the Murray River was Made

Are you listening? I’m going to tell you a Bangerang story about how the Murray River was made.

One day an old woman was walking with her three dingoes. She was looking for grubs and berries. She walked a long way over hills and mountains, through forests and bushland and across a flat and waterless plain.

Do you know what she did? As she walked she dragged her digging stick behind her. The stick dragged and scratched, dragged and scratched, making a track along the ground.

Nearby there was Toonatpan, a big snake of many colours sleeping in the hills. The sound of the digging stick woke Toonatpan up and he came down the hills slithering and sliding. He was very angry!

He thrashed to and fro deepening the track made by the old woman. His movements carved out a wide riverbed. Soon after it rained and rained creating a river that was long, deep and wide.

And that’s how the Murray River was made, stretching all the way to the sea. Listen to the sound of the sea and you may hear the voice of the old woman as she sings in her sleep.

Ralph Nicholls, Yorta Yorta, 1952-1996

'Snake and Water-lilies', 1990s

Paint, ochre, sand, canvas, 104 x 74 cm

'Here Is My Country' - Creation and Country

Ronald Edwards Gunnai/Kurnai

Borun and Tuck

The first Gunnai/Kurnai came from the mountains in the north-west, carrying his canoe. He was Borun, the pelican. He walked to Tarra Warackel (Port Albert) in the west. As he walked he heard constant tapping sounds, but couldn’t identify them.

When he reached the water inlets, Borun put down his canoe and much to his surprise there was a woman in it. She was Tuck, a musk duck. He was very happy to see her and she became his wife and Mother of the Gunnai/Kurnai people.

Richard Mullet, Gunnai, 1962-2006

'Boorun the Pelican', 1990s

Paint, canvas, 38 x 45 cm

'Here Is My Country' - Creation and Country

Vicki Couzens, Keerray Woorroong Gunditjmara

In Gunditjmara culture we have two totemic moieties, the Red-tailed Black Cockatoo and the white Sulphur-crested Cockatoo. Each family and individual belongs to either the black or white cockatoo moiety. Within each moiety each person also belongs to one of seven or eight other totems, including emu, boa snake, pelican, crow and bat. There are also five different marriage totems with laws guiding marriage and bloodlines within the tribe. You could only marry from the white cockatoo in to the black cockatoo moiety and vice versa.

The designs in this work are details from the feathers of the Red-tailed Black Cockatoo. The large red triangular shapes are the markings on the male cockatoo’s tail feathers and the smaller markings in red and yellow are from the tail and breast feathers of both the male and female cockatoo. This represents the families, women and men of the Gunditjmara.

The Red-tailed Black Cockatoo is rare and endangered (‘unseen’) as its habitat has been destroyed from colonisation and clearing of land for farms.

Vicki Couzens, Keerray Woorroong Gunditjmara, Born 1960

'Ponponpoorramook' (Red-tailed Black Cockatoo), 2007

Hand-coloured copperplate etching, 38 x 28 cm

'Laws For Living' - Culture and Kin

Kevin Williams, Waradjuri, and Albert Mullett, Gunnai

Bageeyn (clever man) is telling the young buuraays (children) the importance of their culture. Bageeyn is telling them about their totems - Wilay the possum and Dinawan the emu. They must protect these sacred animals and care for them and share our Land with them.

I’m very proud of the knowledge that has been passed on. When I was a little boy a lot of old full-blood people were still alive and I was very fortunate to see some of the last corroborees performed in this area by my uncles and great-uncles. I can remember one old bloke, Uncle Garney, he’d say “Come and sit here. But you listen, don’t talk.” So we’d sit there maybe for an hour and he’d just do all this talking and doing diagrams in the dirt with a stick or with his waddy and tell us what they mean. And so I was very privileged to be able to experience that. He was a very clever old fella.

Kevin Williams, Waradjuri, Born 1959

'Winanggual (to listen)', 2001

Paint, canvas, 49 x 68.5 cm

'Laws For Living' - Culture and Kin

John (Sandy) Atkinson, Bangerang

Artists were the guardians of the stories and that was a powerful position in the tribe.

Esther Kirby, Wiradjuri/Yorta Yorta, Born 1950

'Emu Egg (rock painting)', 1995

Emu egg shell, 13.5 x 9 cm

'Laws For Living' - Culture and Kin

Eileen Harrison, Kurnai

Coming down towards the river, as you watch, spirits watch over you. The protectors of the boulders represent beauty of the forest. The black trees are blackened through fire.

Eileen Harrison, Kurnai, Born 1948

'Den of Nargun', 2005

Paint, canvas, 54.5 x 74.5 cm

'Remember Those Ceremonies' - Ceremony and Dance

Zeta Thomson, Yorta Yorta/Wurundjeri

The Spirit Ancestors still visit their traditional lands. This is my belief and the belief in passing on our stories, our culture.

Zeta Thomson, Yorta Yorta/Wurundjeri, Born 1946

'Woongi: Corroboree at Barmah Forest', 1985

Paint, canvas, 33 x 44.5cm

'Remember Those Ceremonies' - Ceremony and Dance

Lyn Briggs, Wiradjuri/Yorta Yorta

There is a culture here. It’s not dead, it’s not gone, it’s very, very active. And we’re active - people are still here, you know, no matter what we’ve gone through. I reckon it’s spiritual - there’s a spiritual connection and it’s coming out through all artists.

Alex Mongta, Monaro, Born 1944

Peter Mongta, Monaro, Born 1937

'Music sticks', 1990s

Wood, pokerwork, 46.5 x 4.5, 45.5 x 4.5 cm

'Remember Those Ceremonies' - Ceremony and Dance

Lyn Thorpe, Yorta Yorta

Nanyak means to dream in Yorta Yorta language. To dream as a child is mesmerised by the dance, he has the vision to see. The dance has life that gives him the eyes to dream, and feel the spirits strengthen his will. They will keep him free.

Lyn Thorpe, Yorta Yorta, Born 1957

'Nanyak - To Dream', 2004

Digital image, ink on textile, 267 x 153 cm

'Wrap Culture Around You' - Cloaks, Clothing and Jewellery

Jenny Murray-Jones, Yorta Yorta

The inspiration for this painting came from an old postcard of Lake Tyers which my mother had in her collection. I have painted a different picture - the grey mission blanket has been replaced by a traditional possum skin. Mission took away and sometimes prohibited traditional customs and, in doing so, stripped people of their identities and well-being.

Mission blankets became wet and sodden, not protecting people from the elements. The result was suffering and illness. Traditional possum skins related to moiety, clan and nation identity, and this was also taken away. The fabric of society, economically, culturally and spiritually, was taken from people. I have given this back and presented the woman and child with their identity again.

Jenny Murray-Jones, Yorta Yorta, Born 1956

'Possum Skin Cloak', 2003

Paint, canvas, 89.5 x 120 cm

'Wrap Culture Around You' - Cloaks, Clothing and Jewellery

Vicki Couzens, Keerray Woorroong Gunditjmara

The safety and the warmth of a cloak is a real thing, you wrap it around you and carry your children, it's used in everyday life. In most instances it's used in death as well. You're wrapped in your cloak and buried. I read a quote once about a blanket of love. For me the possum skin cloak is symbolic of wrapping that love and that culture around you, it's symbolic of the warmth and the safety of belonging and of knowing who you are.

Wally Cooper, Yorta Yorta/Moidaban, Born 1949

'Possum Skin Cloak', 2000

Possum skin, paint, 113.5 x 115 cm

'Wrap Culture Around You' - Cloaks, Clothing and Jewellery

Vicki Couzens, Keerray Woorroong Gunditjmara

Making artworks and artefacts is a means of continuing culture and transmitting knowledge and stories. Learning to make traditional crafts and using traditional designs keeps knowledge strong, transmits that knowledge and reinforces identity. Making art can also be a healing process. Using designs and markings from your cultural group in your art, making a cloak and trying it on, making a basket the way your grandmother taught you, all these things can heal you and make you stronger.

Maree Clarke, Mutti Mutti/Yorta Yorta, Born 1961

'Necklace', 2008

Kangaroo teeth, leather, sinew, red ochre, 43 x 40 cm

'Wrap Culture Around You' - Cloaks, Clothing and Jewellery

Marlene Young Scerri, Gunnai

This belt is a copy of the traditional emu feathered skirt that women wore for ceremonial events. I made this belt as close to being authentic as possible. There are 285 bunches of emu feathers stuck together with beeswax and wrapped in twine to form a loop from which they hang.

I hand-painted the tops with red ochre from the area in New South Wales where I live. It took three months to complete, in four different stages. Making this belt was very time consuming but very interesting as well. To my knowledge this belt is only the second contemporary one in Victoria and maybe the whole of Australia.

Marlene Young Scerri, Gunnai, Born 1950

'Emu feather skirt', 2001

Emu feathers, string, beeswax, ochre, 135 x 32 x 7.5 cm

'Wrap Culture Around You' - Cloaks, Clothing and Jewellery

Glenda Andrew, Wati Wati/Wamba Wamba

I learnt feather-craft at an early age by watching my mother make feather flowers and bouquets. It wasn’t until later in my life that I attempted to make feather flowers and was surprised that I was able to pick up the craft so quickly.

This craft is important to me because it was handed down from generation to generation and the craft modernized over the years, which shows the diversity of a traditional craft and Aboriginal cultural change through time.

Glenda Andrew, Wati Wati/Wamba Wamba, Born 1954

'Feather flowers', 1994

Feathers (galah), wire, tape, 25 x 13 cm

'Wrap Culture Around You' - Cloaks, Clothing and Jewellery

Lee Darroch, Yorta Yorta/Mutti Mutti/Trawlwoolway

This headdress is my interpretation of a traditional Victorian headdress. I made the Crimson Rosella feather flowers after doing a workshop with Aunty Letty Nicholls. The feathers were collected on Raymond Island, the possum skin is from New Zealand and the small abalone shell is from Cape Conran.

I researched old historical records about corroboree headdresses and discovered there were no surviving examples today.

This headdress is my tribute to the Old People.

Lee Darroch, Yorta Yorta/Mutti Mutti/Trawlwoolway, Born 1961

'Headdress', 2008

Possum skin, abalone shell, Crimson Rosella feathers, string,foil, tape, wire, 29 x 59 x 14 cm

'The Earth Is Kind' - Foods, Fishing and Hunting

Doris Paton, Gunnai/Ngarigo

This artwork represents food cycles – food which is gathered and caught from the land and sea. I wanted to produce a symbolic work which focused on food and food gathering. There are fish represented and bush tucker, both of which are significant to our Koorie culture.

Our spiritual ancestors

Have guided us since

Before time.

Our mother, earth

Provides us with

Sustenance and shares

Freely her bounty of

Resources.

Our physical life is

Maintained by a

Modern world.

But

Our spirit is the

Ways of our ancestors.

In this way l gather

The fish, the plant foods

Small game, tubers

Fruit and berries.

Doris Paton, Gunnai/Ngarigoi, Born 1956

'Eel pot', 1993

Clay, paint, 66.5 x 31 cm

'The Earth Is Kind' - Foods, Fishing and Hunting

Grace Sailor, Yorta Yorta

Weaving has to be in the blood because it comes from the Aboriginal tradition. You get a feel for it. You can’t weave any time. You have to do it when you have the call for it.

Maker unrecorded

'Basket', Framlingham, c. 1910

Plant fibre, 38 x 32 x 27.3 cm

'The Earth Is Kind' - Foods, Fishing and Hunting

Connie Hart, Gunditjmara

No-one taught me to make my baskets. I used to watch my mother do it and when she put her basket down and went outside, I’d pick it up and do some stitches. When I heard her coming back, I would shove it away real quick and run away. I was a great one for sitting amongst the old people because I knew I was learning something just by watching them.

My mum told me we were coming into the white people's way of living. So she wouldn't teach us. That is why we lost a lot of culture. But I tricked her and I watched those old people and I sneaked a stitch or two.

Connie Hart, Gunditjmara, 1917-1993

'Basket', 1992

Puung'ort (Spear grass), 35 x 21 x 5 cm

'The Earth Is Kind' - Foods, Fishing and Hunting

Iris Lovett-Gardiner, Gunditjmara

Good old feed, eel. You'd clean it, cut it into rings and fry it. It's got a very fine bone so you've got to be careful. We used to pick the bones out with our fingers for the babies to have a feed of eel. They loved it.

Edith Terrick, Gunnai/Kurnai/Bidawal, Born 1936

Patrick Bellamy

'Eel trap', 1994

Plant fibre, 146.8 x 47.2 cm

'The Earth Is Kind' - Foods, Fishing and Hunting

Wally Cooper, Yorta Yorta/Moidaban

The secret was given to me to make a bark canoe in 1973. It was a part of my life that I will never ever forget. Now the gentleman that showed me how to do it and told me when to do it, it was Uncle Les Briggs. One day he said to me, “How would you like to make a bark canoe?” and I said, “Uncle, that would be my ultimate dream.” I said, “I would love to.” I said, “That is me, because that is my culture, that is what I want to know.”

So we did a bark canoe and it was the most amazing thing you have ever seen in your life. He did it in about one hour, he chopped it and we just popped it off the tree with an ease you couldn't believe. Then we went and finished it and it probably took us a day and a half to cure it with the fire and then he just turned it up and it was magic. And then he said to me “Did you learn anything?” And I told him exactly what I had seen and he said “Well, does it mean anything to you?” and I said “Not really, but I have learnt how to do it.” He said to me “Take the time to look at your environment, take your time to look and learn of where you are.” I was meant to be the next canoe-maker.

Wally Cooper, Yorta Yorta/Moidaban, Born 1949

'Canoe', 1990s

Bark (red gum), 235 x 80 cm

'A Strong Arm and a Good Eye' - Weapons and Tools

Wally Cooper, Yorta Yorta/Moidaban

My dad made beautiful big boomerangs. You could hear them whistling in the sky when they were thrown. Once you get them whistling, you know you are a boomerang maker. The whistling effect is important to hunters. The swans or the ducks won’t lift off the lagoon because the boomerangs look like hawks, whistling and circling overhead. Say we are hunting swans and ducks at a small lagoon, I throw my boomerang and it whistles over the birds.

Mine would be almost ready to return and you throw yours and then, shortly after, a third hunter throws. Mine is now back so I throw it again and we keep going like that. They make a flapping noise, like a bird flapping its wings or, when they whistle, it is like a hawk diving. Have you ever seen a hawk diving on its prey? It really makes a beautiful sight. It is awesome. If a bird lifts off the water the hawk picks them up, so our boomerangs keep them on the water.

While we are throwing our boomerangs, another hunter carefully enters the water, dives under the water - before white men came the waters were crystal clear - through the reeds, grabs the birds by the legs, pulls them under, breaks their necks and puts them in a little string belt he wears around his waist. And there’s your evening meal.

Maker unrecorded

'Boomerang', Victoria mid 19th century

Wood, 60.5 x 6 cm

'A Strong Arm and a Good Eye' - Weapons and Tools

Albert Mullet, Gunnai

My family is Gunnai/Gunditjmara bloodline. Our family has skills with wood. We’re craftsmen/artists, passed down over generations, very strong on the Mullett side. Uncles and great-uncles passed down the knowledge and skills.

The artwork identifies the markings, symbols and lines of our family. The vertical and horizontal markings relate to the Gunnai people, markings of our area and a lot of the animals are totems of our family on three sides: Monero, Gunditjmara and Gunnai.

In Gunnai Country, not a lot of ochre colours were used, mainly charcoal, white ochre and yellow ochre with a very small portion of red ochre. We use technology relating to wood-burning for our designs, very precise images are achieved. Originally we used irons in the fire years ago where you would have to bend and shape wire in the fire to do markings. The new process using small machines speeds things up. It was a different technology in the old days which required different skills and knowledge of the concentration of heat and smoke.

We don’t disturb the trees but only take a small part of them to make our artefacts. The woods we select in our area are blackwood, wattle, hickory (acacia family), ironbark, red box, banksia and sheoak.

Albert Mullet, Gunnai, Born 1933

Richard Mullet, Gunnai, 1962-2006

'Boomerang', 1992

Wood, pokerwork, paint, 84 x 9.3 cm

'A Strong Arm and a Good Eye' - Weapons and Tools

Theo Saunders, Gunditjmara

Before we had guns and traps and that, we used to make bundies, hunt with sticks, bundies. The only thing you needed with them was a strong arm and a good eye - if you didn't have those you went hungry. That goes right back. The art of making that throwing stick so that you got enough weight in it to get the distance and you got enough power to stun the rabbit while he was on the run.

Maker unrecorded

'Stone Axe', Lake Tyers early 20th century

Stone, wood, resin, stringy bark, 42.5 x 12.6 x 4.2 cm

Maker unrecorded

'Club', Victoria mid 19th century

Wood, 60.5 x 15 x 4.5 cm

Maker unrecorded

'Club', Victoria mid 19th century

Wood, 61 x 10.5 x 4.5 cm

Maker unrecorded

'Club', South-eastern Australia mid 19th century

Wood, 69.5 x 10.8 x 2 cm

Maker unrecorded

'Club', Victoria mid 19th century

Wood, 74 x 29 x 10.5 cm

Maker unrecorded

'Club', Lake Condah late 19th century

Wood, pokerwork, 62.5 x 4.3 x 3.8 cm

Maker unrecorded

'Club', Gippsland mid 19th century

Wood, 74.5 x 6 x 3 cm

Maker unrecorded

'Spearthrower', Victoria mid-late 19th century

Wood, resin, bone, 67 x 5.5 x 2 cm

Maker unrecorded

'Spearthrower', Warrnambool mid-late 19th century

Wood, 70 x 4 x 3 cm

Thung-ung Coorang (Kangaroo Teeth)

Maree Clarke, Mutti Mutti/Yorta Yorta

I’d wanted to make a necklace like this for 15 years, after seeing an historic photograph of a Koorie woman wearing a kangaroo tooth necklace and a kangaroo tooth headband.

I also went to see two 19th century kangaroo tooth necklaces held in the collections at Museum Victoria.

My family helped me collect enough teeth from kangaroos found dead along the roads around Mildura and Broken Hill. Only two teeth from each kangaroo can be used. Finally, in 2008, I had enough teeth to make two large necklaces, like this one, one small necklace and two headbands.

Creating the necklace was both men’s and women’s business with Len Tregonning and Rocky Tregonning helping me by preparing the kangaroo leather and the kangaroo tail sinew. The sinew had to be moistened by mouth to make it supple and elastic before it could be used to fasten the teeth to the leather strips. As it dries, it shrinks, and the wrapping becomes tight and secure. The leather and sinew were also soaked in ochre.

'A Strong Arm and a Good Eye' - Weapons and Tools

Arthur Pepper Dawes, Gunnai/Kurnai

I called this painting Gunnai/Kurnai Tribal Shields. The background is painted in the colours of the Aboriginal Flag [red, black and yellow] and the oval shapes represent shields. They contain designs of the Gunnai/Kurnai tribes.

Arthur Pepper Dawes, Gunnai/Kurnai, 1982-2008

'Gunnai/Kurnai Tribal Shields', 2008

Paint, canvas, 74.5 x 49.5 cm

'A Strong Arm and a Good Eye' - Weapons and Tools

Rodney Carter, Dja Dja Wurrung/Yorta Yorta

For me, the shields or the symbols upon the shields represent identity. You can liken them to what we use now as titles for our houses. The lines, the colours, the carvings - they tell people who you are and, more importantly, they tell people where you come from.

Maker unrecorded

'Parrying shield', Victoria mid 19th century

Wood, 79 x 11.8 x 4.5 cm

'A Strong Arm and a Good Eye' - Weapons and Tools

Connie Hart, Gunditjmara

All the Old People would have a bone of a kangaroo and they would have a hole in the end and have it hanging round their neck so they could find it anytime.

Len Tregonning, Gunnai, Born 1954

'Awl', 2009

Bone, kangaroo sinew, 15 x 1.8 x 1 cm

'Our Hearts Are Breaking' - Invasion, Conflict and Resilience

Wally Lowe, Peek Whuurong

My work is basically politically motivated. As an Aboriginal person I can't see justification in the Government's ignorance that there were no stolen generations for one, and deny the fact there were any massacres of our ancestors. For these reasons and others including the setting up of missions, destroying our independence and culture. And also trying to breed us out, lowering our self-esteem and keeping us down where they think we belong.

So saying that, seeing this cross on the side of the highway, it tore my guts out to read George Watmore speared by BLACKS 1842, and to think that this man was so honoured enough to have this marker and yet for the hundreds of Koories killed or massacred there's nothing to mark their graves or even acknowledge that it even took place.

Wally Lowe, Peek Whuurong, Born 1964

'George Watmore Speared by Blacks', 2001

Paint, canvas, 58.4 x 88.6 cm

'Our Hearts Are Breaking' - Invasion, Conflict and Resilience

Rachel Mullett, Gunai/Monero

As I sit on the wall by the lake’s edge,

and gaze across the water,

I do not see the speeding boats

and other foreign matter.

Instead I see camp fires,

and dark skin people on the other shore.

My people that have gone

a long time before.

I feel my heart swell with tears of sorrow,

for my people’s land was stolen.

And for them there was heartbreak,

and no more tomorrow.

I feel their spirits beside me,

like a soft breeze that suddenly entwine.

Their sad tears forever

will mingle with mine.

For thousands of years they roamed this land,

My people, creators of Dreamtime

and happy sound,

sharing a freedom no other race can define.

It took only a few years of white man’s invasion,

the land he claims he found,

to take away the dignity and sharing

of Aboriginal people, Black man,

My people, first born of this land.

Rachel Mullet, Gunai/Monero, Born 1935

'Metung', 1990s

Paint, canvas, 75.4 x 100.4 cm

'Our Hearts Are Breaking' - Invasion, Conflict and Resilience

Les Griggs, Gunditjmara

This is one of the first paintings Les did after his release from jail. The issue of his identity was at the forefront of his mind as he struggled to free himself from the impact of long years of institutionalisation that began with his being taken from his mother at the age of two. Les was an early advocate of the distress caused to children by being taken from their families and bought up in state institutions.

This painting was about the two sides of his life, the one shaped by institutional living and the one that could have been. On his release he saw the possibility of being free from his past. He said, “A lot of us are confused about where we want to be - this just highlights the choice of where we can be if we choose one or the other."

Les Griggs, Gunditjmara, 1958-1993

'Half-caste Dreaming', 1983

Paint, canvas, 100.7 x 100.7 cm

'Our Hearts Are Breaking' - Invasion, Conflict and Resilience

Megan Cadd, Yorta Yorta/Wiradjuri

This piece reflects the complexities of dealing with the multitude of issues that affect Aboriginal people today as a result of past policies and practices in Australia. Projected through this piece are my feelings of wishing these issues could be resolved in a simple way ... how much I wish it would be as simple as going to a medicine cabinet to fix these problems for my people.

Megan Cadd, Yorta Yorta/ Wiradjuri, Born 1975

'Post Colonisation Remedies', 2008

Wood, plastic, paper, liquid, 71 x 47 x 14 cm

'Our Past Is Our Strength' - Culture and Identity

Bindi Cole, Wathaurung

I’ve always been told that l was Aboriginal. I never questioned it because of the colour of my skin or where I lived. My Nan, one of the Stolen Generation, was staunchly proud and strong. She made me feel the same way. My traditional land takes in Ballarat, Geelong and Werribee and extends west past Cressy to Derrinallum.

I’m from Victoria and I’ve always known this. All the descendants of traditional Victorian Aboriginal people are now of mixed heritage. I'm not black. I'm not from a remote community. Does that mean I'm not really Aboriginal? Or do Aboriginal people come in all shapes, sizes and colours and live in all areas of Australia, remote and urban?

Bind Cole, Wathaurung, Born 1975

'Wathaurung Mob', 2008

Pigment print on cotton rag

'Our Past Is Our Strength' - Culture and Identity

Ian Hamm, Yorta Yorta (writing of the National Apology to the Stolen Generations, delivered by Kevin Rudd, Prime Minister of Australia, on 12th February 2008)

Today I woke up. Just like any other day.

Except that it wasn’t like any other day. Ever.

Today was the first day. The first day I woke up knowing my country accepts me for who I am. The first day I woke up secure in the knowledge that there is no longer a debate about my story, my life.

Where we go from here is an undiscovered country. When he said ‘Mr Speaker, I commend this motion to the House’, I cried. He confirmed that he got it, understood it and knew what had to be done.

Today is the first day of the next chapter in the story and path of my people and my country.

Today I woke up.

Darren Bell, Gunditjmara, Born 1967

'Reconciliation', 1999

Acyrilic paint, paper, 38.7 x 39 cm

'Our Past Is Our Strength' - Culture and Identity

Vera Cooper, Yorta Yorta

In most of my work I try to express cultural significance and the strength of Aboriginal people and our Yorta Yorta heritage, like our goanna’s ancient survival and it’s powerful stand on hind legs when fighting for place, land and existence.

Vera Cooper, Yorta Yorta, Born 1959

'Goanna Survival', 2004

Paper-mache, acyrilic paint, glue, plastic, 99 x 70 x 60 cm

'Our Past Is Our Strength' - Culture and Identity

Reko Rennie, Kamilaroi/Gummaroi/Gamilaraay

Through my artwork I explore issues of identity, race, justice, health, education, land rights and Stolen Generations. I focus on what it means to be an urban Aboriginal man in contemporary society and use flora and fauna imagery to represent my community. Big Red stands confidently upright, defiantly staking his claim to space, power, land and culture.

Reko Rennie, Kamilaroi/Gummaroi/Gamilaraay, Born 1974

'Big Red', 2009

Spray paint, canvas, 92.2 x 91.5 cm (each of two parts)

'My Spirit Belongs Here' - Country and Kin

Herb Patten, Brabralung Gunai/Kurnai

Koori Shields pays respect to five of the Koori clans or tribes of Victoria through my own interpretation of shield designs.

My work represents the land itself.

GUNAI/KURNAI SHIELD

I am a descendant, through my Mother’s side, of the Brabralung tribe of the Gunai/Kurnai nation. The two white lines that run from the top to the bottom represent the flow of the Mitchell and Tambo Rivers. The designs are taken from my clan’s possum skin cloaks and from scarred tree markings.

YORTA YORTA SHIELD

Through my Father’s side, I am also a descendant of the Yorta Yorta clan. This shield is derived from a Yorta Yorta shield held at Museum Victoria. It symbolises my Father’s Country, with the browns and greys representing the colours of the Barmah forest and the scrubland along the Murray River.

KIRRAE WURRUNG/GUNDITJMARA SHIELD

This work pays respect to my wife, Lorraine Bunta Patten, a descendant of the Kirrae Wurrung clan of the Gunditjmara nation. The designs are mostly taken from the Lake Condah possum skin cloak and the diamond patterns from Gunditjmara shields. The circle design represents the volcano lakes and stone huts of the Western District.

WURUNDJERI SHIELD

This shield pays respect to the Wurundjeri clan and Wurundjeri Elder, Joy Wandin Murphy, honouring the traditional custodians of this land. The central zigzag patterns are from scarred trees along the Yarra River and Darebin Creek. The side patterns represent the freshwater mussel shell middens around Port Phillip Bay.

LATJI LATJI SHIELD

This work is a mark of respect for Trevor (Turbo) Brown, a descendant of the Latji Latji clan. The diamonds represent the brown clay pans along the Murray River that lead into the desert landscape. The other shapes represent the changing colours of the earth around the Mallee and Wimmera districts.

Herb Patten, Brabralung/Gunai/Kurnai, Born 1943

'Koori Shields series', 2005

Earth pigments, synthetic polymer paint and oil paint on plywood, Each 119.5 cm long

Purchased through the NGV Foundation with funds donated by Catherine Allen, Member, 2005

This map shows only the Victorian Aboriginal cultural groups most commonly mentioned in the book Meerreeng-an Here Is My Country, some of which are represented in this story.

It is not a complete map of Victorian cultural groups and is not suitable for use in Native Title or other land claims. The locations of cultural groups are based on information drawn from the map Aboriginal Languages of Victoria produced in 2006 by the Victorian Aboriginal Corporation for Languages (www.vaclang.org.au).

A national map of cultural groups Aboriginal Australia is available from the Koorie Heritage Trust or direct from the publisher, the Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies in Canberra (www.aiatsis.gov.au).

Alternate spellings and/or alternate names for some cultural groups have been used in this story.

The following groups mentioned in this story are not shown on the map:

Peek Wurrong: clan of the Gunditjmara

Kamilaroi: Moree/Narrabri/Gunnedah region, New South Wales

Kulin: regional grouping including Boonwurrung, Dja Dja Wurrung, Taungurung, Wathaurung & Wurundjeri

Mutti Mutti: Lachlan River/Murrumbidgee River region, New South Wales

Trawlwoolway: north-eastern Tasmania

Wiradjuri: Orange/Dubbo/Griffith/Wagga Wagga region, New South Wales

This map shows localities mentioned in the book Meerreeng-an Here Is My Country, some of which are represented in this story.