Cultural Heritage Workshop

In June 2025 Friends of the Prom members attended a powerful Cultural Heritage Workshop at Stockyard Camp, led by Clinton Morton, Parks Victoria's Traditional Owner Partnerships Advisor and a proud Wiradjuri man.

This was the second such workshops and we hope can be an annual learning opportunity.
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Clinton shared the deep Indigenous history of Wilsons Promontory (known as Yiruk to Gunaikurnai and Wamoon to Bunurong-Boonwurrung), highlighting its significance to three Traditional Owner groups: Gunaikurnai, Bunurong, and Boonwurrung (Kulin Nation).
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Wilsons Prom is Victoria's only national park with structured partnerships involving all three groups. Through Managing Country Together frameworks, decisions on land management prioritize cultural respect and consistency. "Build relationships, not just projects," Clinton emphasized.
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He demonstrated traditional tools and artifacts, including emu callers, bull roarers, and cutting stones for preparing skins. Fire was a key management tool for food supply, regeneration and safety, while custodians cared for the entire landscape to ensure abundance.

The park has ~400 recorded Aboriginal sites (middens, tools, scar trees), but <1% of its 59,000 ha has been surveyed. Many prime sites were lost to early settlers. Climate change threatens others, like eroding middens at Shallow Inlet (shifting ~50m/year south).
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The group visited a midden site, where shells record millennia of meals and occasional burials maintained spiritual links. Projects like the predator-proof Prom Sanctuary fence, boardwalks, and campground upgrades involve careful consultation to avoid disturbing heritage, sometimes being adjusted by just a metre.

Challenges include building trust through consistent "yarning" and protecting sites from erosion and development. Traditional Owners guide decisions on ancestral remains and sites.

This workshop reinforced our understanding that conservation must honour living cultural connections. Friends of the Prom supports respectful stewardship.

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Check our Calendar for dates and ParkConnect for further details.