Aboriginal History.
- The Taungurung People -
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For tens of thousands of years, the valleys now flooded by the waters of Lake Eildon were the ancestral home of the Taungurung people. The Taungurung people are one of five adjoining tribes which make up the Kulin Nation, their territory spanning large tracts of central and Eastern Victoria. The five tribes of the Kulin Nation are:
· The Wurundjeri People
· The Bunurong People
· The Wathaurong People
· The Taungurung People
· The Dja Dja Wurrung People
All five of the tribes of the Kulin Nation spoke a very similar language and this necessitated good relations and trade between them. The Howqua River valley proved extremely important in this trade as it was the site of a green stone mine, green stone being an extremely hard type of stone which made excellent tools and was integral to the Aboriginal life.
· The Wurundjeri People
· The Bunurong People
· The Wathaurong People
· The Taungurung People
· The Dja Dja Wurrung People
All five of the tribes of the Kulin Nation spoke a very similar language and this necessitated good relations and trade between them. The Howqua River valley proved extremely important in this trade as it was the site of a green stone mine, green stone being an extremely hard type of stone which made excellent tools and was integral to the Aboriginal life.
A Scar Tree visible on the bed of Lake Eildon
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The Taungurung peoples' western most border stretched to the banks of the Campaspe River and North to Nagambie and Euroa. In the South, they ranged as far as Marysville and extended East into the Southern Australian Alps. It is to the river valleys of the Delatite, Jamieson, Goulburn, Big and Howqua that the Taungurung owed much of their prosperity, with estimates of their population in those regions reaching hundreds. Evidence of their occupation of the area is apparent in the numerous Scar Trees which were uncovered by falling Lake Eildon water levels during the drought of the mid 2000s. Similarly, there is anecdotal evidence to suggest a sophisticated and large system of fish traps and weirs existed along many of the waterways flowing through the Goulburn River Valley.
The Taungurung people were broken into nine clans that occupied different areas of the overall lands they inhabited. The Waring-Illum-Balluk, or river dwelling people, were the primary custodians of what we would now describe as the Yea/Alexandra area. This area encompassed the upper Goulburn River Valley and its associated tributaries and their watersheds. Traditionally, the nine clans migrated throughout this massive territory; however, each was responsible for their own area and derived the majority of their living from it. Of the nine clans only five are recognised as surviving today, those being:
· The Waring-Illum-Balluk (River dwelling people) from Yea and Alexandra · The Nira-Illum-Balluk (Creek dwelling people) from Kilmore and Broadford · The Yowung-Illum-Balluk (Stone dwelling people) from the Mansfield area · The Yeerun-Illum-Balluk who lived along the Broken Creek around Benalla The Look-Willam who lived along the Campaspe River |
The Lands of the Taungurung
-The Taungurung Post European Settlement-
The Fate of the Taungurung after European settlement began in April 1838 where an incident occurred on the Broken Creek, the site of modern day Benalla. Seven members of an expedition run by the Faithful Brothers, an overland droving company, were massacred at the Broken Creek crossing, an area known as Winding Swamp. It is generally accepted that members of the Yeerun-Illum-Balluk clan were responsible for the killings; however, no information as to how the event transpired remains. Captain William Lonsdale, a colonist responsible for the settlement of Port Phillip Bay and eventually the creation of Melbourne, dispatched a party of soldiers to investigate the incident and carry out any punishments. What resulted was by all accounts a shocking retaliatory massacre and sparked the beginning of a long decline for the Taungurung people. The quote below was taken from the Mansfield Courier and describes the severity of the European actions:
“The severity of the punishment inflicted on the offending natives may best be judged by the hideous trophy of a string of dried ears exhibited by the party on their return. How many actually fell I do not suppose any record will show, but the number must have been considerable. This however is a page in our history best turned over quickly”
“The severity of the punishment inflicted on the offending natives may best be judged by the hideous trophy of a string of dried ears exhibited by the party on their return. How many actually fell I do not suppose any record will show, but the number must have been considerable. This however is a page in our history best turned over quickly”
Benalla Rose Gardens, the site of the Winding Swamp Massacre
The surviving members of the Yeerun-Illum-Balluk were scattered amongst the other clans of the Taungurung. Many retreated to the relative sanctuary of Wappan station owned by Jon Bon, a European settler who was sympathetic to Aboriginal people. Over the course of the next twenty years, systematic ‘dispersion’ of Aboriginal people across settled Australia became the norm. In the case of the Taungurung people shooting, poisoning and depletion of natural resources by the settlers and the government led to more than a halving in their population. Disease also began to have a marked effect with Taungurung population, dropping further still and a widespread exodus across the dividing range and into the south with the neighbouring Wurundjeri people.
Finally, the remnants of the Taungurung were settled on Coranderrk Station at Badgerys Creek, the site of present day Healesville. Today, members of the Taungurung clans still reside in Healesville with increased awareness of native title and land management. The five remaining clans have largely moved back into their respective country and in the Lake Eildon area are now re-discovering artefacts and significant sites. An fish trap building program runs annually, teaching younger members of the traditions and ways of the Taungurung people.
Finally, the remnants of the Taungurung were settled on Coranderrk Station at Badgerys Creek, the site of present day Healesville. Today, members of the Taungurung clans still reside in Healesville with increased awareness of native title and land management. The five remaining clans have largely moved back into their respective country and in the Lake Eildon area are now re-discovering artefacts and significant sites. An fish trap building program runs annually, teaching younger members of the traditions and ways of the Taungurung people.
Example of a traditional fish trap