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https://www.abc.net.au/news/2024-11-02/batman-treaty-melbourne-aboriginal-victoria-history-colonisation/104199610>
"In 1835, a group of men led by a grazier from Tasmania, John Batman, met with
Kulin leaders in an apparent attempt to lease – or purchase — an extraordinary
area of land stretching from modern-day Melbourne to Geelong.
The intentions of Batman – and the Kulin leaders who met with him, including
Wurundjeri Woiwurrung ngurungaeta or clan head man Billibellary, have been
subject to the enduring scrutiny of historians and First Nations people.
Batman's exchange – understood to include blankets, tools and food in return
for 600,000 acres of land, was quickly struck down by the colonial government.
His recognition as a pioneer of the area now known as Melbourne has soured,
with many modern historians critical of the highly unequal terms on which
Batman and his associates took the land and the devastation that followed for
First Peoples.
A federal electorate bearing his name was retitled in 2018, following a
community campaign noting his involvement in massacres of Aboriginal people in
Tasmania.
But what remains unique about the failed treaty was its recognition of Kulin
ownership of the land, at a time when the colonial government stubbornly
refused to acknowledge the rights of First Nations people to the country they
had lived on for thousands of years.
Here's what happened."
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
