AustLit

'The River People of Port Phillip is published by the City of Port Phillip in consultation with the Boon Wurrung Foundation which describes the Aboriginal history of the City from settlement to today, including its significant Aboriginal cultural places. Before the arrival of Europeans in 1835, the City of Port Phillip area was occupied by the Yalukit Willam clan of the Boon Wurrung people or language group. Yalukit Willam means 'river home' or 'people of the river' The six clans of the Boon Wurrung people (sometimes called 'the Coast' or 'Westernport' tribe) were associated with Melbourne's southern suburbs, Mornington Peninsula, Westernport and Wilsons Promontory. It was once a kind of 'temperate Kakadu' surrounded by sea, river, creeks, lakes and lagoons. Rising from the many former wetlands on the City were prominent points such as today's Point Ormond Hill, The Esplanade bluff, the silurian ridge of St Kilda Hill, and the ancient volcanic core of Emerald Hill. These provided higher and drier locations for willam or camp places for ceremonies, tool manufacture, ochre collection and lookouts. The book describes these places and how the City of Port Phillip landscape has changed since European occupation. As well as traditional sites such as corroboree, camping, hunting, lookout, midden, and bushtucker sites, the book also describes contemporary places in the City as well as significant language, maps, contemporary and historical images, sources and further information.' (Source: TROVE)