Greater Dandenong City Council acknowledges and pays respects to the Bunurong people of the Kulin Nation, as the Traditional Custodians of the lands and waters in and around Greater Dandenong.
The Reconciliation Action Plan (RAP) embodies Council’s commitment to advance the process of Reconciliation and strives to embed Reconciliation across policy, business, and community structures.
Traditional Custodians
The Traditional Custodians of the lands, which is also known as the City of Greater Dandenong, are the Bunurong people of the Kulin Nation. The Bunurong Land Council represent them.
They are Traditional Owner organisation that represents the Bunurong people of the South Sea Kulin Nation.
Bunurong Land council aim to preserve and protect sacred lands and waterways of their ancestors, their places, Traditional Cultural practises, and stories.
Bunurong Land Council Aboriginal Corporation
The Bunurong Land Council Aboriginal Corporation (BLCAC) represents Bunurong people’s rights and interests and manages the statutory responsibilities of the Corporation. Bunurong people are once again recognised as the rightful custodians of much of what is now known as greater Melbourne. We pay our respects to and thank our Ancestors and Elders for their words and stories of country as passed down through the families.
Over the last 35,000 years Bunurong people have adapted to a range of significant changes within their Country. Our stories of the Bay flooding with water, asteroid impacts near Cranbourne, Arthurs Seat once being an Island, volcanic activity in the western suburbs, the great floods, fires, and earthquakes all speak of such events. Around 10,000 years ago, before the Bay flooded with water, the Birrarung extended all the way out to the heads and out via a large waterfall which covered the entire area in mist. This is how the river earns its early name 'the river of mist'. This part of the river, up to the point the river became fresh water, was Bunurong Country.
Bunurong people were amongst the first Indigenous people in Victoria that were involved in cross-cultural entanglements with Europeans, and though reduced to just a handful of individuals by the mid-1800s, we are still here, and we continue to maintain our cultural obligations to care for the people, the flora and fauna, the lands and the waters within the Bunurong cultural landscape, which is alive with our stories.
Over 2000 generations of our people have been here before us. Archaeological excavation within our Country has already demonstrated about 30,000 years worth of occupation. These sites can show us how our ancestors interacted with their environment and how that interaction changed over time. We regard all evidence of our people’s occupation as sacred.
All of our Country is highly significant, every square inch, every rock, every leaf, every dune, and every artefact. If we could attribute the cause of this blanket high significance rating of our Country to any one thing, it would be that in Melbourne especially, so much has been destroyed and lost as the city grew, and so quickly. If you lose enough of something, what little you have left becomes so much more important. Similarly, when someone passes, their earthly possessions become more important to those they left behind.
Every part of our Country is of high significance to our people past and present.
For more information visit the Bunurong Land Council Aboriginal Corporation website.