Acknowledgement of Country Womenjika - The Melbourne Official Visitor Guide wishes to acknowledge the Traditional Owners of the Kulin Nation.
For tens of thousands of years, Melbourne has been cared for by its Traditional Custodians. Learn more during your visit. Aboriginal people have one of the oldest living cultures on Earth. They have survived on this land for many thousands of years – with some estimations going back 65,000 years. Throughout the land now known as Australia, more than 250 language groups and far more dialects were spoken before European colonisation in 1788. Far too many of these languages have now been lost, but the heritage has been kept alive from one generation to another.
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Melbourne – also known as Narrm to Aboriginal people – is a revered place for the Traditional Custodians, the Wurundjeri (Woi Wurrung) and Boon Wurrung and people of the Kulin Nation. Land is of great significance to Aboriginal people – they have an interdependent relationship between a person and their ancestral lands and seas. Aboriginal people believe they belong to the land rather than the other way around. It’s important to recognise the land now known as Australia was never ceded by its Traditional Custodians. In contemporary Melbourne, visitors can discover Aboriginal history, both before and after European arrival, as well as what life is like for Aboriginal people today. You’re also likely to see the Aboriginal flag flying at venues across the city. The black of its top half represents the Aboriginal people, the yellow circle is the sun, the giver of life, and the red represents the red earth and the First Nations people’s connection to the land.
