Convincing Ground Convincing Ground

The Convincing Ground was a whaling station established in 1829 located in Portland Bay, southwest of Melbourne.

In 1833/34 according to local Aboriginal people was the site of a massacre that killed up to 200 Gundidjmara people. Though the number of people massacred at the Convincing Ground will never be known, almost all the Kilcarrer Gunditj clan, or more than 60 men, women and children, are believed to have been wiped out. Estimates range from 60 to as many as 200 people died after they were attacked by whalers.

Although the massacre has been disputed by some conservative historians, Victoria's first Protector of Aborigines, George Robinson, recorded the Convincing Ground "was a remarkable place" where a conflict had occurred "between the Aborigines and the whalers on which occasion a large number of the former were slain".

The Kilcarrer Gunditj clan had laid claim to a whale washed up on the beach, but the whalers used their guns to "convince" them they had no right to it.

This highly disputed event is unsupported by historical records or accounts.

Convincing Ground: an invented massacre

A Quadrant Online study examines the texts academic historians used to create the massacre story.

quadrant.org.au

Land Dispute

What is not in dispute, is the land once belonged to the Gunditjmara people of south-west Victoria.

More recently, a long running dispute between a landowner, the State Government and local Aboriginal folk over the land has been resolved.

Restoration of the site is one of a series of significant projects for the Gunditjmara people of south-west Victoria.

Top of their priorities is to prepare for a surge in post-COVID visitors to the volcanic Budj Bim Cultural Landscape about 40 kilometres north-east of Portland, which was listed last year as Australia's newest UNESCO World Heritage site.

Tenders worth between $5 million and $10 million have been put out for roads, paths, tourist buildings, landscaping, interpretative displays and other infrastructure over five major sites where Aboriginal people established an aquaculture system about 7000 years ago and built stone houses.

Although a summer bushfire and the pandemic have interfered, major tourist facilities are expected to open within 12 months at three sites amid the volcanic stony rises and wetlands of Budj Bim, according to Damein Bell, chief executive of the Gunditj Mirring Traditional Owners Aboriginal Corporation. A million dollar Keeping Place has already risen over the old Lake Condah Mission.

Built to represent the style of ancient Gunditjmara community housing, the Keeping Place will serve as an administrative centre and repository of Indigenous cultural artefacts currently held in collections across Australia. Mr Bell said a top priority was to have a famous Gunditjmara possum skin cloak repatriated from the Museum Victoria collection.

Meanwhile, the Gunditj Mirring corporation is planning a community effort to restore the Convincing Ground after receiving $30,000 as part of the Coastcare Victoria Community Grants. The corporation's project officer , Denis Rose, said the initial stage would be to clean up the site and replace weeds with native plants. Eventually, there were plans to create a "reflective area" where Indigenous and other Australians could learn the history of the site and contemplate a healing future.

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❊ Web Links ❊

➼ Convincing Ground 

➼ Convincing Ground massacre: Wikipedia

➼ Convincing Ground massacre: Wikipedia






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