In 1863 William Barak and his cousin Simon Wonga chose Coranderrk near Healesville as the site for a mission for Aboriginal people who had been dispossessed of their land by Victoria’s settlement.

Barak was the last traditional Ngurungaeta or leader of the Wurundjeri people. Their traditional land extends from Melbourne’s city centre upstream alongside the Yarra River to its headwaters in the mountains. With their neighbouring tribes, they formed the Kulin Nation.

As a boy, Barak witnessed the ‘treaty’ between Aboriginal Elders and John Batman in 1835. Over several decades the Kulin people were forced from their land and their population declined due to violent conflict with settlers and exposure to European diseases.

When authorities tried to close down Coranderrk Aboriginal Station in the 1870s, Barak formed delegations and walked 40 miles into Melbourne to protest its closure. As a result of Barak’s demonstrations, the mission survived another 50 years.

In his later years, Barak was a respected spokesperson for Aboriginal rights and began to record his culture through painting and story-telling.

Today his paintings are recognised as cultural treasures and are held in The Ian Potter Centre: NGV Australia and in collections around the world.

The pedestrian bridge linking Birrarung Marr with the Melbourne Cricket Ground was named in his honour.

Image: Barak – last chief of the Yarra Yarra tribe, Florence Ada Fuller (1885), State Library of Victoria