32-895: The Leigh River (or Waywatcurtan in the Wathaurong Aboriginal language) is a perennial river of the Corangamite catchment, located in the Central Highlands region of the Australian state of Victoria . The Leigh River is a major tributary and catchment of the Barwon River . Fed by the Yarrowee River that rises near Ballarat , the Yarrowee reaches its confluence to form the Leigh in
64-594: A camp , or in older usage, a horde , is the simplest form of human society . A band generally consists of a small kin group , no larger than an extended family or clan . The general consensus of modern anthropology sees the average number of members of a social band at the simplest level of foraging societies with generally a maximum size of 30 to 50 people. 'Band' was one of a set of three terms employed by early modern ethnography to analyse aspects of hunter-gatherer foraging societies. The three were respectively 'horde,' 'band', and 'tribe'. The term 'horde', formed on
96-406: A fixed tribal-territorial entity which compromised the actual field data, the field data allowing for a far more fluid concept of the group. In 1936, Julian Steward reformulated Radcliffe Brown's highly restrictive definition, by proposing the idea of a band society at the hunter-gatherer level which could be patrilineal, matrilineal or a composite of both. Over time, 'band' has tended to replace
128-404: A model for all Australian indigenous societies, the horde being defined as a group of parental families whose married males all belonged to the one patrilineal clan. 'Horde' from the outset bore stereotypical connotations of Australian Aboriginal societies as primitive, closed, rigid and simple, and came to be discarded not only for its implication of 'swarming savages' but also because it suggested
160-458: A rapid arrival of squatters around the Geelong area and westwards. This European settlement was marked by Aboriginal resistance to the invasion, often by driving off or stealing sheep, which then resulted in conflict and sometimes a massacre of Aboriginal people. Very few of the reports of the killing of Aboriginal people were acted upon. On the few occasions the matter did reach court, such as
192-633: A role in managing Wadawurrung cultural heritage, for example through its ownership of the Wurdi Youang Aboriginal stone arrangement at Mount Rothwell . William Buckley , a convict who had escaped from the abortive Sullivan Bay settlement in December 1803, lived with a Victorian Aboriginal group, commonly identified with the Wadawurrung. In his reminiscences, Buckley tells of his first meeting with native women. Buckley had taken
224-412: A spear used to mark a grave for use as a walking stick. The women befriended him after recognising the spear as belonging to a relative who had recently died and invited him back to their camp. The tribe thought he was the resurrected Murrangurk , an important former leader. He was adopted into the band and lived among them for 32 years, being treated with great affection and respect. Buckley states he
256-575: A squatter in western Victoria, describes the prevailing attitude of many settlers: The best way [to procure a run] is to go outside and take up a new run, provided the conscience of the party is sufficiently seared to enable him without remorse to slaughter natives right and left. It is universally and distinctly understood that the chances are very small indeed of a person taking up a new run being able to maintain possession of his place and property without having recourse to such means – sometimes by wholesale.... In 1841, Wadawurrung man Bonjon (or "Bon Jon")
288-438: A standing army . Bands are distinguished from tribes in that tribes are generally larger, consisting of many families. Tribes have more social institutions, such as a chief , big man , or elders . Tribes are also more permanent than bands; a band can cease to exist if only a small group splits off or dies. Many tribes are subdivided into bands. On occasion hordes or bands with common backgrounds and interests could unite as
320-721: A tribal aggregate in order to wage war, as with the San , or they might convene for collective religious ceremonies, such as initiation rites or to feast together seasonally on an abundant resource as was common in Australian aboriginal societies. Among the Native Americans of the United States and the First Nations of Canada , some tribes are made up of official bands that live in specific locations, such as
352-568: The Ballarat goldfields. The area they inhabit has been occupied for at least the last 25,000 years, with 140 archaeological sites having been found in the region, indicating significant activity over that period. The Wadawurrung Aboriginal Corporation, a Registered Aboriginal Party since 21 May 2009, represents the traditional owners for the Geelong and Ballarat areas. The Wathaurong Aboriginal Co-operative , based in Geelong, also has
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#1732791353439384-494: The Inuit , depending on the season, or member families can disperse to join other bands. Their power structure is generally egalitarian . The best hunters would have their abilities recognized, but such recognition did not lead to the assumption of authority, as pretensions to control others would be met by disobedience. Judgments determined by collective discussion among the elders were formulated in terms of custom, as opposed to
416-619: The Pallidurgbarran , whose putative cannibalism is itself dubious. Buckley claimed enemies slain in combat were roasted and eaten. Before European settlement, 25 separate clans existed, each with a clan headman, who was called a n'arweet among the coastal Wadawurrung and a nourenit among the inland northern tribe. N'arweet held the same tribal standing as a ngurungaeta of the Wurundjeri people. Source: Tindale 1974 Band society A band society , sometimes called
448-656: The Wathaurong , Wathaurung , and Wadda Wurrung , are an Aboriginal Australian people living in the area near Melbourne , Geelong , and the Bellarine Peninsula in the state of Victoria . They are part of the Kulin alliance. The Wathaurong language was spoken by 25 clans south of the Werribee River and the Bellarine Peninsula to Streatham . The area they inhabit has been occupied for at least
480-730: The 1854 Eureka Rebellion took place on Wadawurrung land. Three Wadawurrung clans lived in the vicinity of the Eureka diggings: the Burrumbeet baluk at Lakes Burrumbeet and Learmonth , Keyeet baluk, a sub-group of the Burrumbeet baluk, at Mt Buninyong , and the Tooloora baluk, at Mt Warranheip and Lal Lal Creek. The early policing of the Ballarat Goldfields was done by the Native Police Corps , who enforced
512-571: The District of Port Phillip , R v Bonjon , later become notable for the legal question of whether the colonial courts had jurisdiction over offences committed by Aboriginal people inter se , that is, by one Aboriginal person against another, and the legal situation as to the British acquisition of sovereignty over Australia, and its consequences for the Aboriginal people. The events of
544-512: The Leigh River, including road, rail and pedestrian. Some additional roads allow passage through shallow sections of the river when the water levels are low. The Wathaurong Aboriginal people named the river Waywatcurtan . It is believed that the name Leigh River was given by the surveyor J.H. Wedge who arrived in 1835, probably naming the river after his Tasmanian farm Leighlands. Wathaurong The Wadawurrung nation, also called
576-449: The account has been deemed plausible by historian Ian D. Clark . Some further credence, although circumstantial, may be provided to the above information. George Yuille, older brother of William Cross Yuille , was not only liked and trusted by the local Aboriginal people, but had also formed a relationship with one of their women. Together they had at least one child, also named George Yuille. George Yuille senior died on 26 March 1854. He
608-424: The basis of a Turkish/Tatar word úrdú (meaning 'camp'), was inducted from its use in the works of J. F. McLennan by Alfred William Howitt and Lorimer Fison in the mid-1880s to describe a geographically or locally defined division within a larger tribal aggregation, the latter being defined in terms of social divisions categorized in terms of descent. Their idea was then developed by A. R. Radcliffe-Brown , as
640-683: The collection of the gold miners licence fee resulting in confrontations between diggers and the Gold Commissioner, considered by some historians, such as Michael Cannon and Weston Bate , as preludes to the Eureka Rebellion . There is oral history that local Aboriginal people may have looked after some of the children of the Eureka miners after the military storming of the Eureka Stockade and subsequent massacre of miners. Although not corroborated by any written sources,
672-415: The earlier word 'horde' as more extensive comparative work on hunter-gatherer societies shows they are not classifiable as simply closed patrilineal groups, and better approached in terms of a notion of a flexible, non-exclusive social band, having bilateral relations for marriage and other purposes with similar groups in a circumscribed territory. In 1962, Les Hiatt invalidated Radcliffe-Brown's theory of
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#1732791353439704-614: The horde, demonstrating that the empirical evidence from Aboriginal societies contradicted Radcliffe-Brown's generalisations. The word "band" is also used in North America, for example among the indigenous peoples of the Great Basin . With African hunter-gatherers, for instance among the Hadza , the term "camp" tends to be used. Bands have a loose organization. They can split up (in spring/summer) or group (in winter camps), as
736-482: The killing of Woolmudgin on 7 October 1836, following which John Whitehead was sent to Sydney for trial, the case was dropped for lack of evidence and the absconding of key witness Frederick Taylor . At the time Aboriginal people were denied the right to give evidence in courts of law. The incidents listed below are just those cases that have been reported; it is likely other incidents occurred that were never documented officially. Writing on 9 December 1839, Niel Black ,
768-594: The last 25,000 years. Wathaurong is a Pama-Nyungan language , belonging to the Kulin sub-branch of the Kulinic language family . Wadawurrung territory extended some 7,800 square kilometres (3,000 sq mi). To the east of Geelong their land ran up to Queenscliff , and from the south of Geelong around the Bellarine Peninsula , towards the Otway forests . Its northwestern boundaries lay at Mount Emu and Mount Misery, and extended to Lake Burrumbeet Beaufort and
800-564: The law-governed and coercive agency of a specialized body, as occurred with the rise of the more complex societies that arose upon the establishment of agriculture. A. R. Radcliffe-Brown defined the horde as a fundamental unit of Australian social organizations according to the following five criteria: In his 1975 study, The Notion of the Tribe , Morton Fried defined bands as small, mobile, and fluid social formations with weak leadership that do not generate surpluses, pay taxes or support
832-452: The various bands of the Ojibwa tribe . Band societies historically were found throughout the world, in a variety of climates, but generally, as civilisations arose, were restricted to sparsely populated areas, tropical rainforests , tundras and deserts . With the spread of the modern nation-state around the globe there are few true band societies left. Some historical examples include
864-461: The vicinity of Cambrian Hill and Golden Plains Shire . The Leigh River rises below Mount Mercer and flows generally south, joined by three minor tributaries before reaching its confluence with the Barwon River, southeast of the central business district of Inverleigh . The river descends 265 metres (869 ft) over its 61-kilometre (38 mi) course . There are several crossings over
896-427: Was appointed a headman and had often witnessed wars, raids, and blood-feuds. He adds that he frequently settled disputes and disarmed warring groups on the eve of some fight. As a revered spirit, he was banned from participating in tribal wars. According to Buckley, warfare was a central part of life among Aboriginal people in the area. The European settlement of Wadawurrung territory began in earnest from 1835, with
928-483: Was at the time of his death a storekeeper on Specimen Hill and hence he was among the miners. Whether his wife was with him is unknown, but it is a fair assumption that the local Aboriginal people would have been very familiar with the miners, especially if they were in constant contact with George Yuille. One Learmonth brother in particular was implicitly aware his shepherds were using skulls of Wadawurrung people on stakes to ward people off his property. Willem Baa Nip
960-634: Was charged with murder for killing Yammowing of the Gulidjan people whose territory bordered that of the Wadawurrung. According to the Wesleyan missionary Francis Tuckfield, Bonjon had been in contact with Europeans more than any other member of the Wadawurrung, having been attached to the Border Police for some time. According to the local head of that force, Captain Foster Fyans , Bonjon
992-468: Was the last surviving member of the Wadawurrung to witness colonisation. A number of prominent Wadawurrung people from the early colonial period, including Baa Nip, are buried in the north-west corner of the Western Cemetery in Geelong. According to William Buckley, the Wadawurrung practised ritual cannibalism , moderately compared to what he reported of the practices of a neighbouring tribe,
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1024-487: Was with him and his troopers for 4 years, tracking down and assisting in armed confrontations with Aboriginal insurgents in the districts to the west. The prosecution alleged that on or about 14 July 1841, Bonjon shot Yammowing in the head with a carbine at Geelong , killing him. The prosecution ultimately abandoned the case and Bonjon was eventually discharged. The case in the Supreme Court of New South Wales for
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