Aboriginal cultural heritage has been laid down for many thousands of years.
Australia has been settled for over 65,000 years and we know here in Victoria at least 30 to 40,000 years.
And over that period of time tribes settled areas, they had established settlement patterns and they left that evidence sitting across landscapes that are really cultural landscapes that they adopted to.
They’re things like shell middens, canoe trees or scarred trees, these are modified trees in the landscape that still exist. Burial grounds. There are battlegrounds. There are ceremonial grounds. Favourite camping areas that have evidence of long-term use.
Across Victoria we have landscapes that run from the coast right to the Murray River and across that landscape are different Aboriginal places that provide evidence of what the Old People have left.
The other important thing about Victoria’s cultural heritage is that it’s a shared responsibility. We’re all custodians of caring for country and into the future, future generations will need to step up to the plate and be aware but also influence the need to manage cultural heritage in a respectful and culturally safe way.
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