A report filed as part of a defamation case by a farmer in western Victoria argues the stone arrangement he disturbed on his land is not a sacred site.
Jason M. Gibson and Russell Mullett
A Gunaikurnai Jeraeil re-enactment c.1883 with men, women, and children. Left to right: (standing) Big Joe, Billy the Bull, Wild Harry, Billy McDougall, Snowy River Charlie, unidentified man, Bobby Brown, Billy McLeod (Toolabar), Larry Johnson. Woman, second from right: Emma McDougall. State Library of Victoria
After 140 years, researchers have rediscovered an Aboriginal ceremonial ground in Victoria’s East Gippsland. The site was host to the last young men’s initiation ceremony of the Gunaikurnai back in 1884, witnessed by the anthropologist A.W. Howitt.
Howitt’s field notes, combined with contemporary Gunaikurnai knowledge of their country, has led to the rediscovery. The site is located on public land, on the edge of the small fishing village of Seacombe. Its precise location had been lost following decades of colonial suppression of Gunaikurnai ritual and religious practices.
After 140 years, researchers have rediscovered an Aboriginal ceremonial ground in Victoria’s East Gippsland. The site was host to the last young men’s initiation ceremony of the Gunaikurnai back in 1884, witnessed by the anthropologist A.W. Howitt.
Howitt’s field notes, combined with contemporary Gunaikurnai knowledge of their country, has led to the rediscovery. The site is located on public land, on the edge of the small fishing village of Seacombe. Its precise location had been lost following decades of colonial suppression of Gunaikurnai ritual and religious practices.
Researchers from the Howitt and Fison Archive project and the Gunaikurnai Land and Waters Aboriginal Corporation began searching for the site in 2018. While it lacks archaeological traces, such as middens, rock art, stone arrangements or artefact scatters, the importance of such ceremonial grounds is under-recognised. They are a central feature of Australian Indigenous conceptions of landscape and have c
“Accidental” Destruction of Aboriginal Stone Arrangement in Australia
A private landowner has damaged a 1,500-year-old stone eel arrangement near Lake Bolac, Australia. The Kuyang stone monument was shaped into an eel and created before the Europeans arrived in Australia. Kuyang means eel in South West Aboriginal language. The eel stone arrangement has been on private land and owned by one family for 150 years. The site was protected under the Aboriginal Heritage Act which includes considerable penalties for damage to Aboriginal cultural heritage, but Aboriginal representatives demand the government do more to protect their cultural heritage.
Part of the Kuyang stone arrangement site (Neil Murray)
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Aboriginal land managers are hopeful that they can reconstruct an ancient ceremonial stone arrangement in western Victoria that was damaged by a farmer.
Traditional owners reacted with shock and sadness after Adrian McMaster removed about 60 metres of stone from the site at Lake Bolac on Good Friday.
The scar on the landscape left after the stones were removed.
Credit:Joe Armao
Mr McMaster inherited the property after his fatherâs death three years ago and says family knowledge of the exact details of the stones had since been lost.
Aboriginal Victoria began investigating the damage on Tuesday. Mr McMaster apologised for the removal, offering to work with Aboriginal people to replace the stones.