1. The importance of Melbourne’s
grassy plains:
an historical perspective
Dr Gary Presland FRHSV
Hon Fellow
School of Geography
The University of Melbourne

2. Content As an example of vastly different perspectives
on human/environment relationships
(country as kin vs land as a commodity)
The central role played by the grassy plains in Indigenous life;
The importance of the grassy plains in a study of European settlement of this region

3. Country as kin
Aboriginal people regard land in much the same way as they regard kin and, likewise, care for it in the same way.
This ‘Caring for country’ occurs in a number of contexts:
at a spiritual level, it is a religious commitment, a way of
ensuring that the world remains as it was created, that it is always a
sustaining home for humans and other living beings;
at a day-to-day practical level, caring for one’s country,
particularly through the use of fire, makes for easier
travelling, and it has a range of economic outcomes

4. European perceptions of nature
were influenced by three strands of thought within the western world:
1) The Bible. For example, in Genesis (1:28) humans were
commanded to ‘Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth and subdue it; and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the air and over every living thing that moves upon the earth.’
since the period referred to as the Enlightenment, a line had been drawn between humans and the rest of nature;
The rise and development of the capitalist economic system.
Ultimately, these intellectual strands led to nature being regarded as a commodity

5. Eastern Kulin language groups
Clark (1990)

6. Living off the land
‘Their natural food consists of the meat of the country when they can kill it, but chiefly roots, of which the favourite is that of a plant very much like the dandelion.’ (Thomas Winter, 1837) ;
‘They depend for food almost entirely on animals and roots’ (James Dawson 1881);
‘Of the 940 [plant] species recorded as used for food in Victoria, 296 (32%) were used for their underground parts.’ (Beth Gott, 2005)

7. Firestick farming
An expression coined by archaeologist Rhys Jones in 1969 in recognition of the way in which Aboriginal people were managing natural resources, particularly plant resources
Hateley, Ron (2010) The Victorian bush: its ‘original and natural’ condition.
Gammage, Bill (2011) The biggest estate on earth: how Aborigines made Australia

8. There was more to the use of fire than hunting kangaroos
There was more to the use of fire than hunting kangaroos! While it is true that fire was sometimes used to drive game from cover, the major purpose of burning practices was much more subtle. It was a means of achieving a bigger supply of plant foods.

9. Fire as a management tool
Fire was applied to particular areas, usually with a frequency of 3-5 years. From the point of view of vegetation, this maintained an open woodland regime in the targeted areas and:
maximised the growth of those herbaceous species with tubers, e.g. lilies, orchids, murnong;
promoted and maintained species diversity in tussock grasslands, by creating sufficient space between tussocks to allow herbaceous species to develop;

10. Fire also had impacts on local animal species:
browsing animals such as kangaroos and wallabies were attracted to the new growth following a burn, making it easier to find game;
with less foliage it was easier to both see and pursue these animals
regular burning possibly promoted the increase of animal species that favoured open vegetation, e.g. kangaroos, wallabies and emu

11. Women’s work
Use of digging sticks in the work of gathering tubers, served to promote the growth of herbaceous species:
by helping to combine the nutrients in the ashes with the soil around the plants;
by aerating the soil;
by thinning the plants.

13. Murnong – Microseris lanceolata

14. Murnong
Greenhood orchids
Vanilla lily

15. Grasslands on the western side of Port Phillip Bay; the environment that drew Europeans to the area.

16. J Batman (1835):
‘… passed over some beautiful land and all
good sheep country’
‘It [the plains between Maribyrnong and
Werribee Rivers] was exceedingly rich and
beautiful in the extreme.’ Its general
character presents that of cultivated pasture
for centuries past …’
‘Most beautiful sheep pasturage I ever saw in my life’
JT Gellibrand (1836):
We then proceeded direct for the Anakie Hills. We passed over a tract of very fine land … and the herbage for miles round, and even up to the top, of the finest description.’

17. The landscapes of the Port Phillip District that were so attractive to European pastoralist were in large part an artefact of the sustaining practices of the Indigenous people.
In the words of anthropologist Deborah Bird Rose:
‘Aboriginal people had created these nourishing terrains through their knowledge of the country, their firestick farming, their organisation of sanctuaries, and their rituals of well-being.’

18. The effects of sheep grazing on native grassland
The disturbance to the soil caused by
stock can encourage weed invasion;
compaction of the soil shifts the botanical composition of the ecosystem to native plant species that are more disturbance-tolerant, and in turn to exotic annual species;
Overgrazing has been known to encourage the growth of some weed species;
‘the forbs on which the Aboriginal people had depended for plant food virtually disappeared under grazing’

19. Deleterious introductions
The European invasion brought a range of both floral and faunal which, in a variety of ways impacted on the native ecosystems of the grassy plains.
Exotic plants species such as clover and rye
grass were deliberately introduced; other species came accidently, eg. Vulpia bromoides
Domesticated animals eg. cats and dogs impacted on native species of ground-dwelling mammals and birds;
Accidently introduced exotic invertebrate species also had a negative effect of native species.

20. Thank you for your attention
Questions are welcome

21. Useful sources
Gammage, Bill (2011) The biggest estate on earth: how Aborigines made Australia (Sydney: Allen & Unwin)
Gott, B (2005) ‘Aboriginal fire management in south-eastern Australia: aims and frequency’ Journal of biogeography 32: 1203–1208.
Hateley, R (2010) The Victorian bush: its ‘original and natural’ condition. (Melbourne: Polybractea Press)
Jones, RM (1969) ‘Fire-Stick Farming’ Australian Natural History, 16: 224–228.
Jones, RM (1990) ‘Landscapes of the mind: Aboriginal perceptions of the
environment’ in Mulvaney, DJ (Ed) The humanities and the Australian
environment (Canberra: Australian Academy of the Humanities, Occasional paper 11), pp. 21–48.
Pascoe, B (2014) Dark Emu: black seeds agriculture or accident? (Broome, WA: Magabala Books)
Presland, G (2010) First people: the Eastern Kulin of Melbourne Port Phillip and
central Victoria (Melbourne: Museum Victoria)
Rose, DB (1996) Nourishing terrains: Australian Aboriginal Views of Landscape
and Wilderness (Canberra: Australian Heritage Commission)
Williams, NSG et al (2015) Land of sweeping plains: managing and restoring the native grasslands of south-eastern Australia. (Clayton South: CSIRO Publishing)