As thousands of people join the Yoorrook Justice Commission’s historic Walk For Truth across Victoria in coming weeks, organisers hope the Victorian Government will feel a growing pressure to enact the historic truth-telling body’s final report recommendations.
The recommendations, Commissioner Travis Lovett told walkers this week, will be about creating a better Victoria for everyone. He urged the Government to respond promptly, and not use the negotiations for Treaty as an excuse for delay.
His hope was for Victoria to “build a new relationship based on truth, justice, healing and hope, formalised by a treaty that will forever bind our peoples together”.
Apart from its strategic intent, the Walk for Truth is also a powerful opportunity for First Peoples and non-Indigenous peoples to walk together, sharing stories of the traumatic impacts of colonisation and also the resistance, persistence, and achievements of ancestors and communities.
After four years of often harrowing work at the Yoorrook Justice Commission, the nation’s first formal truth telling process, the Walk for Truth is also an important opportunity for healing. Many walkers made submissions to the Commission and gave evidence.
“This walk is more than just a journey. It’s a powerful act of remembrance, resistance and hope. It’s about healing, justice and unity,” Lovett told the launch on Sunday.
Croakey members participated in the first two days of the Walk for Truth on the beautiful Country of the fighting Gunditjmara, on May 25 and 26 on the south-west Victorian coast, and report below on some of the discussions and conversations along the way.
Also see this compilation of photos; a highlights video will be published next week.
The 400 km walk is due to end at the Victorian Parliament on 18 June; readers can register to join the public legs.
Day one: Portland
This city on Gunditjmara Country in south west Victoria is where colonisation began in what is now Victoria. Named for an English Duke, many of its streets, signs and monuments carry the names of the earlier colonialists, the Hentys, the White brothers, and the Duttons.
Speaking at the opening ceremony, Travis Lovett, a Kerrupmara Gunditjmara man and Deputy Chair of the Yoorrook Justice Commission, said that when the Henty brothers illegally established the first permanent European settlement here in 1834, this marked “the beginning” for many.
“But for Aboriginal peoples, it was the end of the world as our people knew it for tens of thousands of years,” he said.
The deep and ongoing impacts of colonisation are a truth familiar to his and countless other Aboriginal families and communities right across the state and the nation.
“Truth matters more than ever today….we are all living with the legacy of two centuries of hidden truths, stolen land and stolen wealth, massacres buried, Stolen Generations concealed and attempted eradication of culture, customs and traditions and language,” he said.
Lovett also described the positive stories that had not been told, “that our ancestors built complex systems, engineered technologies, created systems of languages as well, spoken and practised for 60,000 plus years, lived through two ice ages, a 1,000 year long drought and rising sea levels”.
“We want everyone to be proud to have the oldest continually culture in the world as ours…The journey of First Peoples on the path to justice is something we should all be immensely proud of,” he said.
“Our journey has seen setback after setback on land rights, on voting rights, our children’s rights, on Stolen Generations and our ability to have a voice and just control our lives. There’s nothing new to us, but for every step backwards, we have all responded as peoples and taken two steps forwards.”
Aunty Donna Wright, a Kerrupmara, Nillaan, Gunditjmara, Dhauwurd wurrung, Djab wurrung, Kamilaroi, and a member of Victoria’s First People’s Assembly, told the gathering that this historic walk was also about honouring “all our old people, our families, our loss, and the people who gave testimony”.
Aunty Claudette Lovett, a Gunditjmara Elder who delivered the Welcome to Country and made a submission, said the start of the walk was a “great day”.
“We walk for the people that weren’t here, who haven’t survived…that is our truth, and it needs to be told, and it needs to be walked proudly,” she said.
Colonial monument
Gunditjmara/Yorta Yorta woman Keicha Day spoke of the area’s history of attempted ethnic cleansing while standing on one of many monuments and place names in and around Portland that commemorate the Henty family. Nearby is a whale boiler where she said Gunditjmara peoples’ bodies were also disposed of.
Looking over Gunditjmara Sea Country and standing with her son and sister, Keicha Day spoke of family deaths in custody, and called out governments’ failures to implement recommendations from the Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody.
She honoured the long history of Blak Matriarchs and Gunditjmara Warriors, thanked the Yoorrrook Justice Commission for “amplifying our truths”, and urged the Victorian Government to implement the Commission’s final recommendations.
Day also told Glenelg Shire Council that the whole of the local community would be invited to help in re-naming the streets, parks and reserves.
“When we see these monuments coming down, that will be part of Gunditjmara healing,” she said.
Conversations
The Walk for Truth is an opportunity for connections and conversations.
Croakey spoke with some health leaders along the way, including Michelle Isles, CEO of the Climate and Health Alliance, John Bell, CEO of the Winda-Mara Aboriginal Corporation, and Andy Giddy, from the Western Victoria PHN.
After walking the first 12 kilometres, Michelle Isles discusses in the interview above the importance of health leaders hearing and understanding truth telling, its importance for healing, and connections between climate change and colonisation.
Later, Isles wrote on LinkedIn that: “I was proud to walk with my little family on Gunditjmara country where I’ve found deep learning, mentorship and friendship over 17 years from a fiercely intelligent, honest and generous mob.
“The Gunditjmara peoples have been sharing the truth of their experiences for over a century overcoming resistance, racism and bureaucracy. They have achieved incredible feats throughout the years based on this truth, from influencing industrialisation, securing native title and Indigenous led World Heritage.”
In the interview above, John Bell, CEO of the Winda-Mara Aboriginal Corporation, says the walk is important as there remain many unspoken truths in Victoria.
This walk is a great demonstration of Aboriginal people and non-Aboriginal people coming together, he said. In addition to the health benefits of walking, conversations along the way also contribute to social and emotional wellbeing, he said.
Andy Giddy, from the Western Victoria PHN, said it was good to be walking in partnership with ACCHOs from the region.
Convincing Ground
The first day of the walk ended at Convincing Ground, on the water’s edge. This site marks the first recorded massacre of Gunditjmara people, in the early 1880s.
After a smoking ceremony, walkers were invited to dip their feet in Sea Country.
As waves sounded upon the shore, Kerrupjmara/Gunditjmara man Jayden Lillyst told walkers about how the 59 Gunditjmara clans were decimated in just a few decades after colonisation began, down to just nine.
“You had the beginnings of the Frontier Wars out here,” he said. Accept the truth, or be left behind, he said.
Watch more here from Jayden Lillyst and Keicha Day.
Day two: Tae Rak
Tae Rak is made up of 1,700 hectares of significant wetlands and stony rises right next to the historic lava flows of Budj Bim National Park in south-west Victoria. Day two began with a smoking ceremony outside the Tae Rak Aquaculture Centre overlooking Tae Rak (Lake Condah).
Aunty Eileen Alberts, a Gilgar Gunditj woman and nurse with a long history in the health sector, provided the Welcome to Country.
In the interview below, Uncle Michael ‘Mookeye’ Bell, a member of Winda-Mara Aboriginal Corporation, a Gunditjmara/Boandik man, and an elected member of the First Peoples Assembly of Victoria, describes the story behind the UNESCO World Heritage listing of the the Budj Bim Cultural Landscape in 2019.
The Centre is important for self-determination, providing jobs and financial security, and connection to Country, he says. It also supports truth telling, including through cultural tours.
He also recounts the community’s strong history of developing holistic primary healthcare services tackling the wider determinants of health – including creating employment, providing transport and housing.
Important health gains that have resulted, including big increases in the numbers of Elders. “Back in my early days, in the mid 90s we had about five elders over 70; today we’d have over 40,” he said.
Among several speakers at the Centre, Lisa Briggs, Metropolitan Member for the First Peoples Assembly of Victoria, discussed preparations for Treaty in Victoria, urging Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal people to engage.
Lake Condah mission
Walkers were invited to visit the Lake Condah mission, established within sight of Budj Bim (Mt Eccles) near Portland. The mission opened in 1867; after it closed the Gunditjmara people fought to get back some of the land.
While a place of trauma, it was also important as a community meeting place, an administrative centre, a symbol of political struggle and a link to family.
Uncle Michael ‘Mookeye’ Bell shared stories about the good times here, and the hard times. It was significant to visit this place on National Sorry Day, given its history in the Stolen Generations.
Tyrendarra Indigenous Protected Area
Walkers visiting the Tyrendarra Indigenous Protected Area learnt about fish traps, the construction of stone housing and villages and ongoing cultural practices, including Care for Country.
After walking in the wind, rain and then enjoying a glorious burst of soft sun, Travis Lovett wrapped up day two of the walk with a heartfelt reflection that you can watch below.
The walk is about demonstrating the importance of not only the culture and knowledge, “but also the kindness and the sense of humour and the humility that our people have as well”, he said.
Lovett urged people to walk lightly on Country, but to talk strong for Country and for people, and to join with the Commission in creating change for everyone’s future and generations to come.
“Let’s continue to walk forward,” he said.
Next steps…
- Follow news of the walk, via Travis Lovett and the Yoorrook Justice Commission on social media
- Find out more about how to participate
- Book a Budj Bim cultural tour
- Read the Yoorook Justice Commission’s final report when it is handed down next month.
• Croakey’s Marie McInerney, Mitchell Ward and Melissa Sweet acknowledge and thank the Gunditjmara people and the Yoorrook Justice Commission for the opportunity to join the #WalkForTruth and encourage our readers to follow online and consider participating.
See Croakey’s archive of articles on social and emotional wellbeing
