Indigenous Wadawurrung and settler heritage of the Anakie, Balliang, Lara and Little River districts will be on show during a tour of the You Yangs region on Saturday.
The Rural Districts Heritage Tour, titled “BEFORE 1850”, is part of the National Trust Australian Heritage Festival 2018.
The self-drive tour will include some fixed-time events, sites and displays at various locations during the day.
Some pre-1850 sites, such as fords, river reserves and building remnants, can be seen from roadways and public places.
The day will start at 9.30am in the You Yangs Regional Park with registration at the information centre carpark.
At 10am, a traditional Welcome and Smoke Cleansing ceremonywill be conducted by Wadawurrung traditional owner and cultural education co-ordinator from Wadawurrung Corporation Office, Corrina Eccles.
Another Wadawurrung traditional owner, Nikki McKenzie, will conduct a welcoming ceremony at a preview tour for school children on Friday, supported by her partner Norm Stanley.
Ms Eccles’ great-great-great-grandmother Queen Mary Robinson was an elder of the Wadawurrung people, and the Wadawurrung Corporation Office is made up of seven families who are directly descended from Queen Mary Robinson’s son, John.
“Spirituality and wellbeing is a very big part of life for Aboriginal people,” Ms Eccles said.
The tour will include stories of the Wadawurrung people and settler families, and visits to the Lara Heritage and Historical Museum and the Little River Mechanics Institute Hall.
Deakin University anthropologist and historian Heather Threadgold will give a presentation titled “Wadawurrung and Settler Living Places in the You Yangs Region” at Little River Hall from 3.30-4.30pm.
Ms Eccles said that although the You Yangs was a beautiful area, it was also significant for the massacres and losses which indigenous people had suffered after Britain invaded Australia.
“It’s really important that any events which are held on country are about culture and heritage, and that we start with the first people of the land,” she said.
“Standing on the land and hearing these stories, and the story of creation, is something you can’t Google.”
Ms Eccles said that in some parts of the You Yangs, there was still indigenous artifacts and bush tucker to be found.
The Big Rock site in the You Yangs includes a water well, which historically supplied the Wadawurrung tribe with fresh water.
“If you stand on Big Rock, there is an absolutely beautiful view of 360 degrees,” Ms Eccles said.
The BEFORE 1850 tour has been planned and supported by the Little River Mechanics Institute Library and the You Yangs Region Tourism Group, in consultation with Ms Eccles, the Wathaurong Aboriginal Cooperative, historical societies, Balliang Memorial Hall, Parks Victoria, the National Trust, Greater Geelong and Wyndham councils and the State Library of Victoria.
The Australian Heritage Festival is supported through funding from the federal government’s National Trusts Partnership Program.
Tickets to the tour will cost $20 for adults, $15 concession, $18 for National Trust Members and children will be admitted free (all children must be accompanied by an adult).
See www.youyangsregion.
