Please note that images of deceased Indigenous people are displayed within this article.

[Above] ‘Corroboree on the Murray River’ by Gerard Krefft, Dixson Galleries, State Library of New South Wales, 1858.

Questions of Credibility:

Contextualising Edward M Curr’s Influence in the Yorta Yorta Native Title Claim

Recollections of Squatting in Victoria: then called the Port Phillip district (1841-1851) was a book published in Melbourne in 1883 which contained romanticised reminiscences and animated anecdotes about Edward M Curr’s youthful days of squatting. By the time Curr was in his 60s, he had had settled down in St. Kilda with his wife Margaret and their family, and it was here that he penned his reflections on his time spent in the Murray-Goulburn region in his earlier 20s. Recollections of Squatting was well received at the time, described as ‘charmingly written,’1 and ‘rough and adventurous’2 by the newspapers; it appealed to the nostalgia among old colonists. At the time of its release it would have been unfathomable as to the devastating affects that this single book would have on an Indigenous community well over a century after its publication. Recollections of Squatting continued to resonate throughout the twentieth century, its reverberations can still be felt among the ancestors of those that were dispossessed by Curr himself, the Yorta Yorta.

Just over 20 years ago the Yorta Yorta lodged a claim under the Native Title Act (1993), which was one of the first claims made following the historical landmark decision by the High Court to recognise native title in Mabo (1992). The Yorta Yorta claim is important in the history of native title as it laid down a precedent for future land right claimants seeking greater democratic recognition and inclusion through Anglo-Australian law. In 1998, after four years of testimonies, cross-examinations and scrutiny, Justice Howard Olney dismissed the claim and concluded that,

The tide of history has indeed washed away any real acknowledgement of their traditional laws and any real observance of their traditional customs.3

At length, Justice Olney attributed more weight to Curr’s Recollections of Squatting over the oral testimonies of the Yorta Yorta; he stated that Curr’s ‘observations’ are “the most credible source of information concerning the traditional laws and customs of the area.”4 Critics of

Olney’s decision have scrutinized his blind privileging of written history over oral testimonies, in the name of objectivity and credibility. Wayne Atkinson, one of the principle Yorta Yorta claimants has emphasizes the “need to look at the body of knowledge within the context in which it was written and against the prevailing cultural biases of the time”.5 In short, Olney was quick to question the credibility of histories passed down through generations of oral traditions, yet failed to see the prevailing bias that lay in Curr’s writing. In order to undermine the appeared objectivity in Curr’s representations and understanding of the Yorta Yorta, we need to dissect and dismantle the preconceived assumptions and context in which it was written. One of the loudest silences in Recollections of Squatting was the traditions and customs of Indigenous women. By looking in particular at the way the women have been diminished in Curr’s representation of gender, the very nature of Curr’s constructed objectivity immediately unravels. Curr’s frivolous recollections have been taken at face-value as an authoritative account of Yorta Yorta traditions which is why, especially in

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terms of the weight this document had in determining native title, we must question the context and genre of this particular book.

Figure 1: Edward Micklethwaite Curr

(1820-1889), State Library of Victoria.

The Context of Curr’s and his worldly influences

In essence, Edward M Curr is a product of his time, thus his observations can also be placed within the same context. Curr had the privilege of accessing a good education, something that was bestowed upon those who were born into a wealthy family. Popular Victorian ideas dominated the realm of the sciences and humanities in the mid-nineteenth century, just as the foundations of evolutionary biology was becoming well and truly established. Curr was heavily influenced by Enlightenment discourse and empirical knowledge, which classified Indigenous people as savages; part of the flora and fauna of the new British colony. Curr often exercised his perceived racial superiority in his writing by referring to Aboriginals as ‘child-like’ and ‘uncivilised’. Upon his first meeting with the Bangerang, who are direct ancestors of the Yorta Yorta, he states:

They constantly reminded me of children, who anxieties were about matters to which the average white man is not called on to pay much attention.6

Many examples of the Bangerang depicted as simplistic and primitive beings fill the pages of Recollection of Squatting, one way that Curr continued to assert his justifications for the dispossession of Aboriginal land. In a review shortly after its publication, the Geelong Advertiser, praised Curr’s interactions with the “primitive children of our woods”7 and The Queensland painted Curr as a hero who was, “exposed to danger from treacherous uncivilized blacks.”8 These two reviews are very telling as to the popular views of Indigenous Australians at the time; they are either presented as ‘child-like’ or as brutal savages. In order to appreciate the significant influences and genre that Recollections of Squatting falls under, it is important to understand the prevailing dominant modes of thought at that time.

Figure 2:Map of Edward Micklethwait Curr’s squatting runs, 1883.

Gentlemanly pursuits through the Colonial Gaze Deborah Bird Rose situates Recollections of Squatting in the colonial genre, stressing the gravity of recognising how genre works, she asserts that,“[it] is more about Curr’s construction of himself as a Victorian gentleman of taste and sensibility than it is about Yorta Yorta people.”9 Curr was writing for an audience that was predominately similar to himself: white, educated, and male. This inevitably influenced how he portrayed himself to his audience, and in relation to the aboriginals he encountered. Samuel Furphy explains that after Recollections of Squatting was re-published in the middle of the twentieth century, “a common view took hold that Edward M Curr was unusually sympathetic towards Indigenous people.”10 This is based on what Furphy refers to as ‘an uncritical reading’ of Recollection of Squatting, where Curr’s construction of himself tends to be in a positive, gentlemanly manner. The credence that Justice Olney pertained to Curr’s portrayal of the Bangerang was motivated by the belief that he was sympathetic, thus reliable in his observations. Furphy asserts that,

By characterising Curr as a sympathetic pastoralist, Justice Olney glossed over Curr’s status as a primary dispossessor of the Yorta Yorta11

Describing Curr as sympathetic suggests that he had a level of understanding to the issues and situations of those who he commiserated. Curr’s communication with the Bangerang heavily depended on the ability of individuals to convey their stories in a language which was foreign to them. His reliance on Aboriginals to adapt to his way of communication was aligned with his impartialness towards successfully learning the language of the Bangerang. Curr mused that amongst all the spare time they had, it never occurred to him “to take up the aboriginal languages, or grapple with the

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traditions of the ancient and singular race.”12 Can sympathy ever truly be achieved when there are language barriers and extreme cultural differences?

Gender Representations and the eternal ‘Other’

Figure 3: ‘Tom Banfield & family – Goulbourn Tribe’, State Library of Victoria,

1878.

Speaking on her experience in the Yorta Yorta native title process, Jan Muir said that, “Especially hurtful was the way the role of women was portrayed as insignificant.”13 Muir is referring to the way that women were depicted in Recollections of Squatting, which in turn, was reflected in Justice Olney’s decision. Monica Morgan criticised Olney’s uncritical reading of the text, stating that “He determined from a one-liner from Curr that we were patrilineal, that women’s role in traditional society was that of subservience to the male.”14 Gender functions on a few different levels in Recollections of Squatting, and to the uncritical eye the complexities of gender relations are lost. Bird alerts

us to a factor which is consistent in the colonial genre; “Natives were male unless otherwise noted,” this gendered application can be seen throughout the entirety of Recollections of Squatting. When Curr describes ‘the Bangerang’ he is distinctively referring to the male gender, hence, when he speaks of the women they are distinguished and defined as ‘other’, almost like an after thought. In reference to the extensive paragraphs that Curr devotes to male initiations and customs, Clare Land contends that, “Curr appears blind to Koori women’s cultural and political power, consistently focussing on men’s culture, work, skills and authority while denigrating those of women.”15 Curr’s perceptions on gender, unfortunately like many colonial writers of that time, are enthralled and restrained by the limitations of his own Eurocentric perspective. These implications had left Curr to concluded that, in light of cultural practices, “as regards women, these customs did not obtain”. 16 Curr’s observations on gender relations among the Bangerang were heavily influenced by European patriarchy, which completely reduced the status and agency of women in their community. “Within the family the father was absolute,”17 Curr boldly states, “In domestic life the man was despotic in his own mia-mia or hut; that is, over his wife, or wives”.18 Women are portrayed as disposable to their husbands, completely powerless under their control:

As regards his wife, he might ill-treat her, give her away, do as he liked with her, or kill her, and no one in the tribe interfered.19

This view of Aboriginal societies as predominately patriarchal is not uncommon in the colonial genre. Patricia Grimshaw and Andrew May have highlighted the implications of misrepresenting Koori Life: “it made Koori women into victims, it made Koori men into vicious oppressors and gave legitimacy to white male attempts to ‘protect’ Koori women.”20 On top of the

poor representation of women as powerless victims, Grimshaw and May acknowledge that, “What was worse in their construction of Koori culture was the assertion that the men were lazy, and oppressed their wives further by keeping them hard at work.”21 The reduction of women in Aboriginal culture also effects the true depiction of men. It does not shed light on the intricacies of the kinship system or paint a clear picture of the interactions between Aboriginal men and women.

Figure 4: ‘Jem Mima - Goulbourn Tribe’, State Library of Victoria, 1878.

Women as agents of their

own resistance? In recent years, Australian historians and Indigenous scholars have attempted to disarm and disparage the myth of Aboriginal societies being purely patriarchal. Larrissa Behrendt has argued that prior to British sovereignty women were not subordinate to men, she states that,

Aboriginal women had their own culture and customs that men were not privy to. Female elders could be as powerful as male elders in their community.22

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Women’s responsibilities and influences were necessary in the continuation of indigenous culture; they were the child-bearers, the primary caretakers and were extremely efficient in their provision of food. In spite of Curr’s diminishment of women status in Recollection of Squatting, Land suggests that, “Curr left clues to a more balanced picture,” especially in his brief observations of ‘native ovens’ and women’s ability to gather food. Recollections of Squatting holds many contradictions within itself, in particular with regards to women’s subservient, submissive status. One passage that stands out is the story a Kilbangaroo, a young Bangerang girl who is promised to Wawgroot, a man from the neighbouring Ngooraialum clan. Kilbangaroo’s father insists that she leaves the campfire and go to Wawgroot’s hut, but the young girl is reluctant to go and sits in silence.

So he raised his nulla-nulla…[and] was about to bring down the heavy weapon on her head… when the mother caught his arm, as she opened in vociferous abuse of her daughter, and, raising her by the shoulders from the ground, lifted her on to her feet.23

There are flittering moments in Recollections of Squatting that display women’s resistance either towards their husbands or to the colonial invaders. Yet, these fragments are overlooked by Curr as he resides himself to his Eurocentric understanding of gender, that reflects his views on sexuality and gender in his own culture. This inevitably aided his attempts to apply the same framework to Bangerang culture.

The prevailing significance and implications of Curr’s

Recollections By overlooking the existence and presence of women’s traditions, Curr’s silence has bruised the status of Indigenous women. Land argues that “Curr’s gender bias has significant political implications for the survival of Indigenous women’s cultural heritage, and for the attainment of land justice today.” 24 Due to the lack of importance placed on women’s cultural sites by colonial writers such as Curr, they have not been recorded thus, not preserved and protected. Curr’s Recollections of Squatting, written forty years after his initial interactions with the Bangerang, has severely impaired the Yorta Yorta success in their native title claim, particularly for the women. Morgan criticises Justice Olney’s dismissal of 13 direct ancestors of Yorta Yorta as “sexist in its application,” as the thirteen 13 people had “a white father and black mother.”25 This further exemplifies the difficulties in tracing generations through matrilineal ancestors.

Figure 5: ‘Mallee Scrub, River Murray’ [Women next to a ‘bush oven’] by N. Chevaler State Library of Victoria, 1871. Through interrogating the context and bias of Curr’s Recollections of Squatting, we are able to undermine and weaken his book as an objective and credible source in native title claims. This is demonstrated through situating Curr’s writing in a colonial genre, placing his knowledge in the context of an Enlightened Gentleman, and his depreciating representation of Bangerang women. Olney’s uncritical reading of Recollections of Squatting and the weight he placed on it as an authoritative source over oral testimonies, has resulted in an adverse outcome for the Yorta Yorta. In 2002, after two judicial attempts were made to overturn Justice Olney’s decision, the High Court of Australia dismissed the appeal of the Yorta Yorta. Meaning, that they are unable to make any more appeals to claim the very land their ancestors have lived on for many generations. This is why we must always question the discourse of colonial men who appropriate the right to define gender roles and the positions of women in Aboriginal societies, and allow those who were once silenced, to be heard.

By Deanna Ramsey.

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Notes 1 ‘Squatting in Victoria’, Adelaide Observer, 9 June 1883, 41, in Trove [online database], accessed 20 Sep. 2015. 2 ‘New Books’, Advocate, 14 Jul 1883, 17, in Trove [online database], accessed 20 Sep. 2015. 3 Members of the Yorta Yorta Aboriginal Community v Victoria (1998), FCA 1606, 129 4 Cited in Kerruish, Valerie and Perrin, Colin, ‘Awash in Colonialism’ in Alternative Law Journal, 24/1, (1999), 4. 5 Wayne Atkinson, “Not One Itoa’ of Land Justice: Reflections on the Yorta Yorta Native Title Claim, 1994-2001” Indigenous Law Bulletin, 5/6, (2001), 3. 6 Edward M. Curr, Recollections of Squatting in Victoria – Then Called the Port Phillip District (From 1841-1851), (Melbourne: George Robertson, 1883), 92-92. 7 ‘Review’, Geelong Advertiser, 13 Jun 1883, 4, in Trove [online database], accessed 25 Sep. 2015. 8 ‘The Reviewer’, The Queenslander, 16 Jun 188, 932. in Trove [online database], accessed 25 Sep. 2015. 9 Deborah Bird Rose, ‘Relfections on the Use of Historical Evidence in the Yorta Yorta Case’ in Geoffrey Gray and Mandy Paul (eds.), Through a Smoky Mirror: History and Native Title, (Canberra: Aboriginal Studies Press, 2002), 40. 10 Furphy, Samuel, ‘“Our Civilisation Has Rolled Over The”: Edward M Curr and The Yorta Yorta Native Title Case’, History Australia, 7/3, (2010), 54.3. 11 Furphy, Our Civilisation Has Tolled Over The, 54.8. 12 Curr, Recollections of Squatting, 126. 13 Morgan, Monica and Muir, Jan, ‘Yorta Yorta: The Community’s Perspective on the Treatment of Oral History’, in Geoffrey Gray and Mandy Paul (eds.), Through a Smoky Mirror: History and Native Title, (Canberra: Aboriginal Studies Press, 2002) 3. 14 Ibid. 9. 15 Clare Land, ‘Representations of Gender in E M Curr’s Recollections of Squatting in Victoria: Implications for land justice through the native title process’, Indigenous Law Bulletin, 5/19, (2002), 7. 16 Curr, Recollections of Squatting, 270. 17 Ibid., 244. 18 Ibid., 247-48. 19 Ibid., 248. 20 Patricia Grimshaw and Andrew May, ‘Inducements to the Strong to be Cruel to the Weak: Authoritative White Colonial Male Voices and the Construction of Gender in Koori Society’ in Ailsa Burns and Norma Grieve (eds.), Australian Women: Contemporary Feminist Thought, (Melbourne: Oxford University Press), 102. 21 Grimshaw and May, Inducements to the Strong to be Cruel to the Weak, 103. 22 Ibid., 100. 23 Curr, Recollections of Squatting, 144. 24 Land, Representations of Gender in E M Curr’s Recollections of Squatting in Victoria, 8. 25 Morgan and Muir, The Community’s Perspective on the Treatment of Oral History, 9.

Illustrations Title Image: Krefft, Gerard, Corroboree on the Murray River [digital image of a watercolour drawing], State Library of New South Wales: a128454r, (1858) <http://www.acmssearch.sl.nsw.gov.au/search/itemDetailPaged.cgi?itemID=423229>, accessed 29 Sep. 2015. Figure 1: Edward Micklethwait Curr Portrait (1820-1889) [digital image], State Library of Victoria: H15062, http://handle.slv.vic.gov.au/10381/208376, accessed 21 Sep. 2015. Figure 2: ‘Map of the Run of the late Edward Curr of St. Heliers’, Edward M. Curr, Recollections of Squatting in Victoria, (Melbourne: George Robertson, 1883). Figure 3: Kruger, Fred, Tom Banfield & family – Goulbourn Tribe [digital image], State Library of Victoria: H41139/71, (1878) <http://handle.slv.vic.gov.au/10381/307983>, accessed 4 Oct. 2015. Figure 4: Kruger, Fred, Jem Mima - Goulbourn Tribe [digital image], State Library of Victoria: H41139/44, (1878) <http://handle.slv.vic.gov.au/10381/307722>, accessed 4 Oct. 2015. Figure 5: Chevaler, Nicholas, Mallee Scrub, River Murray [digital image], State Library of Victoria: H3581, (1871) <http://handle.slv.vic.gov.au/10381/81006>, accessed 5. Oct. 2015.

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Primary Sources Curr, Edward M., Recollections of Squatting in Victoria – Then Called the Port Phillip District (From 1841-1851), (Melbourne: George Robertson, 1883), 92-92. Members of the Yorta Yorta Aboriginal Community v Victoria (1998), FCA 1606 < http://www.austlii.edu.au/au/cases/cth/federal_ct/1998/1606.html > ‘New Books’, Advocate, 14 Jul 1883, 17, in Trove [online database], accessed 20 Sep. 2015. ‘Review’, Geelong Advertiser, 13 Jun 1883, 4, in Trove [online database], accessed 25 Sep. 2015. ‘The Reviewer’, The Queenslander, 16 Jun 188, 932. in Trove [online database], accessed 25 Sep. 2015. ‘Squatting in Victoria’, Adelaide Observer, 9 June 1883, 41, in Trove [online database], accessed 20 Sep. 2015.

Secondary Sources Atkinson, Wayne, “Not One Itoa’ of Land Justice: Reflections on the Yorta Yorta Native Title Claim, 1994-2001” Indigenous Law Bulletin, 5/6, (2001), 19-23. Behrendt, Larissa, ‘Women’s Work: The Inclusion of the Voice of Aboriginal Women’, Legal Education Review, 6/2, (1995) 169-174. Furphy, Samuel, Edward M. Curr and the Tide of History, (Canberra: Australian National University Press, 2013). Furphy, Samuel, ‘“Our Civilisation Has Rolled Over The”: Edward M Curr and The Yorta Yorta Native Title Case’, History Australia, 7/3, (2010), 54.1 – 54.16. Kerruish, Valerie and Perrin, Colin, ‘Awash in Colonialism’, Alternative Law Journal, 24/1, (1999), 3-8. Land, Clare, ‘Representations of Gender in E M Curr’s Recollections of Squatting in Victoria: Implications for land justice through the native title process’, Indigenous Law Bulletin, 5/19, (2002), 6-9. Morgan, Monica and Muir, Jan, ‘Yorta Yorta: The Community’s Perspective on the Treatment of Oral History’, in Geoffrey Gray and Mandy Paul (eds.), Through a Smoky Mirror: History and Native Title, (Canberra: Aboriginal Studies Press, 2002) 1-10. Patricia Grimshaw and Andrew May, ‘Inducements to the Strong to be Cruel to the Weak: Authoritative White Colonial Male Voices and the Construction of Gender in Koori Society’ in Ailsa Burns and Norma Grieve (eds.), Australian Women: Contemporary Feminist Thought, (Melbourne: Oxford University Press). Rose, Deborah B., ‘Relfections on the Use of Historical Evidence in the Yorta Yorta Case’ in Geoffrey Gray and Mandy Paul (eds.), Through a Smoky Mirror: History and Native Title, (Canberra: Aboriginal Studies Press, 2002), 35-47.