I'm back with Lord Wiki...trying to learn more about Melbourne's history.
Now we get to the Aboriginal folks, although they came before the white folks from Van Diemen's land.
Lord Wiki says there were three tribes: Wurundjeri, Boonwurrong, and Wathaurong.
Well, I got that far before I was interrupted by a lake house drama. The lake house's full of drama. Why? Because it's my family that's here.
Anyway, I think I remember the Wurundjeri. Aren't they the ones who hung out with that convict guy? What was his name again?
William Buckley. Thanks, Lord Wiki.
And I was wrong. He lived with the Wathaurong people. I think I'm remembering Wurundjeri from the Rachel Perkin's First Australians documentary.
Let's see. What else?
The three Aboriginal tribes, and a few others had a collective term for themselves; kulin. It makes me think of the lovely Cullen vampires. I wonder if it's pronounced the same way. Probably not.
In my last post, I said that Victoria was first settled by white folks in 1835. Well, that's not quite true. Another group came in 1803. I guess they weren't pleased with what they saw. They left.
Earlier, Jack and his cousin were fighting over toys. Sharing...such a difficult concept for humans. Although it seems the Aboriginal folks were fairly good at it before the white people invaded.
Anyway though.... in 1835, some white people DID manage to share. A Tassie dude named John Batman found the Kulin land, and decided to settle it. He just had to return to the little Diemen island first. But when he got back, another Tasmanian (John Fawkner) wanted the land as well. Oh no!
But they decided to share.
Is that sweet, or what?
What's also sweet is that Mr. Batman actually made a treaty with the Aboriginal people. He didn't try to play the Terra nullius game.
Lord Wiki says that Batman's Treaty was the only time white people showed formal acknowledgment that the land, they were taking, belonged to someone else.
Batman basically bought the land with various trinkets. I'm sure it wasn't exactly a fair deal. And was it really a choice for the Aboriginal people? What if they said no thank you? Would Batman and his friends have gone back to Van Diemen's land?
Maybe.
I think it IS nice that they tried to be halfway decent about the whole thing. I give kudos to Batman for that.
Then New South Wales came along and nullified the whole deal. Yeah. That's lovely. New South Wales folks wanted to pretend the black folks didn't exist. Or were they trying to pretend the black folks WERE there, but they weren't human enough to count? Either way is a bit nasty.
This Melbourne settlement of white folks began in 1835, but Melbourne didn't officially become a city until 25 June 1847. The anniversary of that's coming up soon! Actually, now that I think of it....I had planned to post this on the 24th, even though I already have a post for that day. I'm kind of getting ahead of myself these days (with posts) so I I've been planning to start posting two posts day....sometimes.
Anyway, so I guess I'll be posting this on 25 June...Australia time.
That's kind of cool. And honestly, I had planned to post this on 24 June BEFORE I read about the date of Melbourne being officially designated as a city.
It does seem a bit far-fetched, but a lot of my truths seem that way. What can I say?
Well, it's not too big of a deal anyway.
One more thing. I'm not a fan of using Lord Wiki as my only source. And I'm not going to. It's just for now, I'm going to read his post. Then later, I'll seek out other more specialized websites.
I'm going to learn, learn, and then relearn. I'm going to make myself an expert on Melbourne.
Now we get to the Aboriginal folks, although they came before the white folks from Van Diemen's land.
Lord Wiki says there were three tribes: Wurundjeri, Boonwurrong, and Wathaurong.
Well, I got that far before I was interrupted by a lake house drama. The lake house's full of drama. Why? Because it's my family that's here.
Anyway, I think I remember the Wurundjeri. Aren't they the ones who hung out with that convict guy? What was his name again?
William Buckley. Thanks, Lord Wiki.
And I was wrong. He lived with the Wathaurong people. I think I'm remembering Wurundjeri from the Rachel Perkin's First Australians documentary.
Let's see. What else?
The three Aboriginal tribes, and a few others had a collective term for themselves; kulin. It makes me think of the lovely Cullen vampires. I wonder if it's pronounced the same way. Probably not.
In my last post, I said that Victoria was first settled by white folks in 1835. Well, that's not quite true. Another group came in 1803. I guess they weren't pleased with what they saw. They left.
Earlier, Jack and his cousin were fighting over toys. Sharing...such a difficult concept for humans. Although it seems the Aboriginal folks were fairly good at it before the white people invaded.
Anyway though.... in 1835, some white people DID manage to share. A Tassie dude named John Batman found the Kulin land, and decided to settle it. He just had to return to the little Diemen island first. But when he got back, another Tasmanian (John Fawkner) wanted the land as well. Oh no!
But they decided to share.
Is that sweet, or what?
What's also sweet is that Mr. Batman actually made a treaty with the Aboriginal people. He didn't try to play the Terra nullius game.
Lord Wiki says that Batman's Treaty was the only time white people showed formal acknowledgment that the land, they were taking, belonged to someone else.
Batman basically bought the land with various trinkets. I'm sure it wasn't exactly a fair deal. And was it really a choice for the Aboriginal people? What if they said no thank you? Would Batman and his friends have gone back to Van Diemen's land?
Maybe.
I think it IS nice that they tried to be halfway decent about the whole thing. I give kudos to Batman for that.
Then New South Wales came along and nullified the whole deal. Yeah. That's lovely. New South Wales folks wanted to pretend the black folks didn't exist. Or were they trying to pretend the black folks WERE there, but they weren't human enough to count? Either way is a bit nasty.
This Melbourne settlement of white folks began in 1835, but Melbourne didn't officially become a city until 25 June 1847. The anniversary of that's coming up soon! Actually, now that I think of it....I had planned to post this on the 24th, even though I already have a post for that day. I'm kind of getting ahead of myself these days (with posts) so I I've been planning to start posting two posts day....sometimes.
Anyway, so I guess I'll be posting this on 25 June...Australia time.
That's kind of cool. And honestly, I had planned to post this on 24 June BEFORE I read about the date of Melbourne being officially designated as a city.
It does seem a bit far-fetched, but a lot of my truths seem that way. What can I say?
Well, it's not too big of a deal anyway.
One more thing. I'm not a fan of using Lord Wiki as my only source. And I'm not going to. It's just for now, I'm going to read his post. Then later, I'll seek out other more specialized websites.
I'm going to learn, learn, and then relearn. I'm going to make myself an expert on Melbourne.
