First People

The Eastern Kulin of Melbourne, Port Phillip & Central Victoria

In 1844 William Thomas noted that the Woi wurrung camped on the site of the Melbourne and Richmond cricket grounds and the Boon wurrung on a spot near where the Governor’s residence now stands.

The Eastern Kulin, like Indigenous people all over Australia, believed that they were an integral part of the land; for them nature and culture had been created as one by ancestral beings.

Gary Presland presents a unique picture of the Eastern Kulin way of life.

An extraordinary journey into the ancient origins of Melbourne, which has transformed and expanded my vision of the place I call home. Arnold Zable

About the author

Gary Presland was winner of the 2009 Victorian Community History Awards for his book The Place for a Village: How nature has shaped the city of Melbourne. He studied history at La Trobe University and archaeology at University of London. For the past 40 years his major research interests have been in the Aboriginal history and natural history of the Melbourne area.

Gary is a Fellow of the Royal Historical Society of Victoria, an Honorary Fellow of The University of Melbourne and Honorary Associate of Museum Victoria, where he was the 2001 Thomas Ramsay Science and Humanities Fellow.

His previous books include The Place for a Village and For God’s sake send the trackers.

Details

Paperback, colour and black & white illustrations, 184pp

Price

RRP $24.95 Information on buying our books