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A talk by Professor Barry Golding about the First Nations history of Mount Tarrengower attracted a large and engaged audience at Maldon Community Centre on Sunday 8 December. The event was one of a number of talks about the hills featured in his new book: Six Peaks Speak: Unsettling legacies in southern Dja Dja Wurrung Country.

After describing the genesis of the book, and the fact that its writing was supported and informed by Djaara people, community members and various government agencies, Barry explained that he had chosen six mountains including peaks in Smeaton and Talbot as well as Mount Franklin (Lalgambuk) and Mount Tarrengower (Dharrang Gauwa).

Barry went on to describe the relationship between the Indigenous people of this area and the terrain, explaining that they had named themselves after the formation of hornfels stone that surrounds, like a girdle, the plains underpinned by granite (from the extinct volcano of Mt Tarrengower). Their home was amongst the extensive forests on the granite, which was all cleared to support colonial arrivals and then the gold mining industry from the 1850s; “Every single stick was removed from Mt Tarrengower,” Barry said.

The topography of the area was changed dramatically by clearing and mining, which caused the movement of sand and sludge; “Many of the gullies are gone,” Barry said. “It completely changed the nature of the landscape.” This led to the formation of the ‘Sludge Abatement Board’, one of the earliest versions of environmental protection.

Barry talked at length about the efforts of Edward Parker, the assistant ‘Protector’ of Aboriginal people in the 1830s and 1840s, who chose a location for a ‘Protectorate’ to the west of Mount Tarrengower, near Hamiltons Crossing. The Loddon River provided access to abundant fish and Parker brought wheelbarrows, seeds and spades for agriculture. The idea was to ‘civilise’ the Aboriginal people by making them grow gardens, but the soil was sandy and it was an El Niño period, so after dust storms and drought, almost everyone died. Sheep brought by white settlers ate the murnong yam daisy, a staple of the local diet, which contributed to malnutrition in Aboriginal people. It was also a time when it was common for Indigenous children to be removed from their families. “It’s time to tell the truth: what happened in this landscape was genocide,” Barry said.

Professor Barry concluded by saying that there were few records of the sites he had discussed and that the landscape around Mount Tarrengower was “intensely in need of survey, interpretation and protection.” His list of priorities for the area includes a need to move towards joint management and include more First Nations perspectives in Maldon area local histories. “It’s convenient to assume our history started with the discovery of gold,” he said.

Cr Hastwell described Barry’s book as: “An incredible accomplishment and a really significant piece of work.” She and Barry reiterated that the event was a sharing of knowledge, not just an opportunity to sell the book. Most attendees in the room were keen to read it after hearing about the stories held by Mount Tarrengower and the surrounding areas.

Tarrangower Times 13 December 2024

This article appeared in the Tarrangower Times, 13 December 2024.

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