DISCOVER how European settlement impacted on Indigenous people and landscapes including waterways, fauna, flora, and the effects today on modern Melbourne.
VISIT important Melbourne or Nerm sites that have supported the economic and cultural life of Indigenous peoples, settlers, and contemporary Melbournians.
EXPERIENCE traditional tools, medicine and foods described in Black Emu and The Greatest Estate on Earth e.g how skin, ochre, shell, stone, bark, grass, wood, bone and fire were used by indigenous people for food, tools, shelter and medicine as well as by later European settlers, explorers and modern Melbournians.
LEARN about the Batman Treaty, the Indigenous Seasons, waterways system, territories.
RECEIVE our free history book pdf written by ourselves in partnership with the Boonwurrung Foundation and the City of Port Phillip.
NOTE* Our guides are not usually Indigenous, we come from the Reconciliation perspective of how contemporary Australians can learn from our landscapes and their use by Indigenous cultures from pre-history to modern times to the carbon-neutral future.
SEE – BOOKINGS AND PRICES – FOR INDIVIDUALS, ADULT GROUPS, BUSINESSES AND SCHOOLS (Schools may attract an additional surcharge for bushtucker materials).
”People thought the local route you chose for our walk was fantastic. The content was informative, educative, enjoyable and so interesting. We will repeat it next year. City Port Phillip Reconciliation Action Group.
‘We thoroughly enjoyed the walk by the Yarra River in the CBD. The students all completed such detailed reflections and summaries from your information shared. Thanks for making it so interactive, real, and relevant to the lives of the Year 9 students! Caulfield Grammar
‘We all thought it was excellent: interesting, informative, and very hands-on. The students certainly learned a lot and enjoyed themselves’. Athol Primary
‘The knowledge that students get from this tour prepares them so well for SAC’s and the end of year exam…for Unit 3 – Outdoor and Environmental Studies, this tour is a must!! Bendigo Catholic College.
WHERE DO WE GO?
‘We acknowledge the traditional Aboriginal custodians of Melbourne and pay our respects to them, their culture, and their Elders past, present, and future.’
MELBOURNE CITY CENTRE: Our city tours usually start from Federation Square and explore Birramung Marr and the Yarra River and its surroundings.
SUBURBS: We have also run Indigenous landscape tours in many of Melbourne’s suburbs including Merri Creek, Black Rock, Bulleen, Fitzroy, Clifton Hill, Kananook Creek, Footscray, Queens Park (Ascot Vale), Albert Park, Port Melbourne, Elwood, Gardenvale Creek, Gasworks Park, Carlton Gardens, Hawthorn, Richmond, Alphington and others.
LOCAL TO YOU: Alternatively we can also deliver Indigenous landscape tours near your local business, school, park, library, beach, community centre etc.
Meyer Eidelson, the founder of Melbourne Walks, is the author of the award-winning ‘Melbourne Dreaming. A Guide to Important Places Past and Present’ Aboriginal Studies Press, 2015 and also Yalukit Willam, The River People of Port Phillip
See also the App of our book Melbourne Dreaming
Android App
Itunes App
technological use of indigenous plants, Zena Cumpston, Melbourne University 2020 Melbourne Dreaming. A Guide to Important Places Past and Present, 2014, Meyer Eidelson, Aboriginal Studies Press. Yalukit Willam. The River People of Port Phillip, 2014, Meyer Eidelson, City of Port Phillip, Boonwurrung Foundation.
Aboriginal Melbourne: the Lost Land of the Kulin People, Gary Presland
Aboriginal Victorians. A history since 1800, Richard Broome, Allen and Unwin 2005.
Meerreeng-an. Here is my Country. The Story of Aboriginal Victoria told through art. Chris Keeler and Vicky Couzens 2010. I Succeeded Once. The Aboriginal Protectorate on the Mornington Peninsula, Marie Fels 2011.
1835: The Founding Of Melbourne And The Conquest Of Australia by James Boyce 2011.
Koorie Plants. Koorie People. Beth Gott
Archaeology of the Dreamtime, J Flood, Angus and Robertson, 2001.
Remains to be Seen. Archaeological Insights into Australian pre-history. David Frankel.Good Men and True. The Native Police of Port Phillip. Marie Fels. A Bend in the Yarra : a history of the Merri Creek Protectorate Station, Ian Clark, Toby Heydon See Learning resources See Woiwurrung language Apps See curriculum resources See Resources for Schools and Families See Reconciliation Australia Share Our Pride See Prices & Bookings