Aboriginal Heritage Outdoor Artwork Tour (City of Melbourne)

The Kulin Nation was made up of five Aboriginal tribes from central Victoria who were once the sole occupiers of the land we are exploring (Presland 1994, p. 36). This tour explores the presence of Aboriginal peoples’ heritage in the landscape through the outdoor public artwork located by the Yarra River in the City of Melbourne. Through the artworks we look at, we discover expressions of identity and culture of the Aboriginal tribes.  The tour starts at the place where Europeans first embarked from the Enterprize ship in 1835. At this site, we encounter the Scarred Trees installation. Further along the Yarra River we encounter the etched carvings of Nearamnew in Federation Square plaza and look at a couple of the Vision carvings which tell us more about the confederacy of the Kulin Nation who would have met and conducted tribal business on this site.  We then move to view the collection of artworks behind Federation Square located on the Yarra River at Birrarung Marr.  Here we focus on three artworks based on the themes of activities that would have been conducted by Aboriginal tribes on this land including hunting animals, battles, and ceremonial themes.This tour is part of an assessment for Deakin University Masters of Cultural Heritage.