Wominjeka (Welcome) to Melbourne, the ancestral lands of the Boonerwrung and Wurundjeri people

Bunjilaka Centre, Melbourne Museum

I remember visiting regional Victoria as a teenager with my parents. We went to Ballarat and Bendigo to see the significant sights and stories of the 'Gold Rush' era and learn about the Eureka Stockade. As a teacher I have also taught the HSIE unit about the Gold Rush to my year 4/5 class, and felt fairly confident that I had addressed all the key components of this story - the taxes, the miners rebelling and how it was a 'pivotal' moment in the developing democracy of Australia. However, it turns out I unknowingly omitted stories from key stakeholders - the local Aboriginal people. There is a whole other side to this series of events, including the important role that the local Aboriginal people did in protecting the miner's wives and children while the Stockade was going down. I would not have learnt any of this without my visit to the Bunjilaka Aboriginal Cultural Centre in Melbourne and it has reminded me of two very important messages:

1. Local knowledge is everything.
2. There's the stuff you know, there's the stuff you know that you don't know, but then there's the stuff you didn't know that you didn't know.

The Bunjilaka Centre has three parts - an art gallery, an Aboriginal garden (with an eel pond!) and a large museum filled with local artifacts and interactive displays. The visit to the centre, was beneficial in two ways for me. Firstly, in reminding me how important identity and language is for all people, not just Aboriginal people. Who you are, who you family is and how you speak at home is such an important component of your sense of self. I took the following photos of some quotes that were displayed in the centre that I thought contained very powerful messages:

Bunjilaka Centre, Melbourne Museum

Bunjilaka Centre, Melbourne Museum 

The other reason why I enjoyed my visit to the Bunjilaka Centre so much was all their interactive displays that visitors (adults and children) could engage with. My favourite was the digital story books about children playing with traditional toys. They were very engaging even though they were visual stories (no words written or spoken). The stories were entertaining and easy to relate to as they covered universal themes about growing up - learning from your parents and getting up to mischief with your friends.

As I left the museum I took a quick detour to the Rocks and Minerals section to see if I could find myself a little piece of home...

Opal, Melbourne Museum