WOMINJEKA

Is Welcome in the Woiwurrung language of the Wurundjeri People who are the custodians of this land.

The Wurundjeri have lived in the area for up to 40,000 years. They lived by fishing, hunting and gathering, and made a good living from the rich food sources of Port Phillip, both before and after its flooding about 7,000–10,000 years ago, and the surrounding grasslands.

The Wurundjeri people bore the brunt of the effects of British settlement in the Foundation of Melbourne from 1835 onwards, with the population declining rapidly. In the 27 years following the foundation of Melbourne, the population of Woiworung and Bunurong language groups was reduced from 207 to 28 people. Many people were killed by diseases, including venereal disease, introduced by the Europeans. The birth rate also drastically declined for Wurundjeri and Bunurong with only five births between 1838 and 1848, while there were 52 deaths for the same period.^[29] There is some white conjecture that infanticide was taking place. William Thomas remarked in 1844 that "Infanticide I am persuaded is most awfully on the increase though it cannot be detected. There is, however, no record of infanticide taking place pre-white settlement. Even Thomas says 'it cannot be detected', so it's as likely that conditions were so poor for Aboriginal people after white settlement that women were not conceiving or babies were dying in increasing numbers. (Source Wikipedia)

At this location I was originally going to place a  Welcome to Narre Warren East. After seeing this sign while scouting potential locations. I was prompted to research the name on the other sign and decided the history lesson I learnt should be shared.