City of Darebin Heritage Study Volume 1 Draft Thematic

VOLUME 2: THEMATIC ENVIRONMENTAL HISTORYBatman’s Treaty and led his clan with strength and vision through the 1830s and early 1840s.Assistant Protector William Thomas drew frequently on Billibellary’s knowledge andleadership throughout this time (Clark & Heydon, 2004:38-9).Making contactWhen John Batman arrived in the Melbourne area in June 1835, he came with a treaty topurchase land, and a number of Aboriginal men from Sydney to act as mediators in thisproposed purchase. The treaty claimed to purchase around 600,000 acres of land for an initialpayment of blankets, tomahawks, knives, scissors, looking glasses, handkerchiefs, shirts andflour, and a similar yearly tribute to the Kulin.The treaty was the only one ever offered to Aboriginal people in the colonization of Australia,and thus represents the only serious attempt made to negotiate with Aboriginal people prior tosettlement. In its wording and in the signing ceremony, which included the handing over of ahandful of soil as ‘livery of seisin’, the treaty recognizes the ownership of the land by the Kulinpeople. However there is no doubt that the idea of presenting a treaty to the Aboriginal peoplewas at least partly motivated by a desire to win favour in London, as Batman and the PortPhillip Association knew they were attempting the illegal settlement of the Port Phillip area(see also section 2.4 in Chapter 2).In any case, whilst Batman thought that he was purchasing the land, a purchase of this typehad no meaning to the Kulin signatories. In the understanding of these people, clan land - andparticularly the religious, social and economic rights that it contained - could not be sold.However, the Kulin had a ceremony of welcome, known as a Tanderrum or ‘freedom of thebush’ ceremony. In this ceremony, the visiting clan are not allowed to do anything forthemselves but are instead seated and attended to by the home clan, who bring the visitors giftsin the form of water and as great a variety of food from the home country as can be gathered(Thomas, in Bride ,1898:97-8). Certainly the treaty signing did not only involve payment ofblankets and other goods by Batman to the Kulin people, but the Kulin also gave gifts ofcloaks, stone axes and boomerangs to Batman’s party (Campbell, 1987:102).Importantly, while Batman was seeking out Aboriginal people to negotiate a land purchase, itwas a group of Kulin people who made the ultimate approach. This group included several clanheads, including Billibellary. These Ngurungaeta would have been certain about theirinviolable connection to their land and thus would not have been a knowing party to its sale,but their presence indicates that a decision had been reached among clanspeople to meet anddeal with Batman on their own terms.It is likely therefore that the deal was done with Batman by the Kulin as a traditional strategyof their own, one which offered a necessary hospitality to Batman’s party and granted themtemporary usage of the resources of the land (Broome, 2005a:10-1).Figure 3Burtt, John Wesley,‘Batman's treaty with theaborigines at Merri Creek,6th June 1835’[State Library of Victoria,AN H92.196 INb28769]19