A remarkable project about bark canoes has brought to light a forgotten history of encounters between Aboriginal people and settlers on the waterways of colonial Victoria.
On the rivers of remote Victoria, the Aboriginal bark canoe was a technology in demand. In the 1800s European settlers depended on Aboriginal navigators and canoe builders to transport goods, stock and people.
Explorers and drovers, gold miners and settlers used Aboriginal ferrying services and boat building services to conduct trade and transport. Stories abound of trade, canoeing, and heroic rescues on rivers such as the Murray, Goulburn, Campaspe, Ovens and Loddon, shedding light on the generosity, resourcefulness and ingenuity of the Indigenous inhabitants and of the trading relationships formed between Aboriginal people and European colonists. Indeed it could be argued that the waterways skills of Aboriginal Australians were integral to the early economic viability of Victoria.
During this presentation an introduction and background to the project will be provided followed by a screening of the award-winning short documentary film ‘Seeing the Land from an Aboriginal Canoe’.
http://www.cv.vic.gov.au/stories/aboriginal-culture/seeing-the-land-from-an-aboriginal-canoe/