2 minute read
Aboriginal Victoria
Aboriginal Victoria Christopher Jakobi
At the Royal Botanic Gardens, Jakobi leads visitors through a part of Melbourne that continues to have a significant cultural value to its Traditional Owners.
Nearly every day at 11am, guests at the Royal Botanic Gardens Melbourne gather to join the Aboriginal Heritage Walk, an exploration of the thriving culture and rich history of the First Nations Peoples. Jakobi is the Aboriginal Programs Facilitator and often leads the tours, bringing visitors into a world they may not know a lot about.
“Not many people are aware that the Birrarung (Yarra River) once carved its way through the gardens,” he says. “This was before the river was straightened and widened to prevent natural seasonal flooding in the early twentieth century.”
Long before sport was played nearby on the MCG or varying landscapes were created in the Royal Botanic Gardens, this was a significant place for people of the Woiwurrung and Boonwurrung nations.
“This whole area was where thousands of people gathered together for ceremony, for trade, celebration and to hold inter-nation/ clan business,” Jakobi continues.
“It is a landscape that provided for such a large gathering of people, all in one place at one time. The land and the river was, and still is, bountiful, with an abundance of food, fresh water and resources for homes, tools, canoes and weaving.”
As he and his guests walk around the gardens, Jakobi explains the cultural value of this traditional meeting place. He also points out native plants and their uses.
“Of the 60,000 plants within the Melbourne Botanic Gardens, just under half of them are natives,” he says. “All our flora is unique. They are resilient and have formed adaptations to dry and hot landscapes. There are medicinal plants with cleansing aromas and there are culinary plants with amazing flavours. Plants don’t just have a single use; there might be food, utility, medicinal and fibre craft uses all in the one plant.”
Most visitors, he says, are surprised by what they discover on one of his tours. “It’s a raw and honest experience that challenges the common perspective with an alternative Indigenous perspective,” Jakobi explains. “A perspective of our shared history, of our shared future and of the landscape.” +rbg.vic.gov.au
Christopher Jakobi Artra Sartracom Aboriginal Heritage Walk, Royal Botanic Gardens Artra Sartracom
