WARNING: Distressing content
When it comes to treaty, Victoria is leading the way.
But the state has already made history when it comes to treaty with First Peoples, being the birthplace of the first treaty signed between a settler and Aboriginal people.
The Batman Treaty was signed by grazier and settler John Batman and Aboriginal people from across the Kulin Nation. It enabled Batman to take ownership of over 600,000 acres, almost the entirety of the Kulin Nation.
The Kulin Nation is home to , Boonwurrung, Dja Dja Wurrung, Taungurung, Wathaurung and Woiwurrung/Wurundjeri
While the history books write the story as one of progress and respect, some Aboriginal people know it as one of deceit, land theft and violence.
Who was John Batman?
John Batman was an established grazier and farmer in Tasmania, he had interactions with Aboriginal people on his property including in April of 1828.
A shepherd on his property abandoned a flock of sheep after an interaction with Aboriginal people. The next day, Batman went out to find the clan and attempted to attack them.
According to a report in the, he crept up to the campsite and spooked the the small group.
As one man went to throw a spear to warn him off, Batman fired his gun.
"The man fell, but got up again and ran off. Mr. Batman then pursued them, and at last overtook a boy about 16 years of age, whom he took prisoner… [but] during the night the boy made his escape, by groping his way up the chimney," the report read.
Sketch of John Batman by Charles Nuttall. Credit: WikiCommons
A perpetrator of frontier violence
Batman became an active soldier on the frontier.
In 1829, he lobbied Governor Arthur for convicts and resources to form a roving party that would track and capture Aboriginal people.
As payment for the first year, he requested 2,000 acres of land. He also requested a reward for every Aboriginal person he returned to authorities.
The Governor approved it all but denied the final request.
That yearand chased them into the bush, firing at them.
They captured a woman and a two-year-old boy, and the next day they came across two men who were severely wounded.
The men told them that ten others were dying from wounds, and many had bullets in their legs.
"On Friday morning we left the place for my farm with the two men, woman and child, but found it quite impossible that the two former could walk, and after trying them by every means in my power, for some time, found I could not get them on," .
"I was obliged therefore to shoot them."
Batman was never reprimanded for the killings.
From lutruwita to the Kulin Nation
With his sights on more money, Batman became one of the founders of the Port Phillip Association. He and 14 other settlers were petitioning to purchase and develop grazing land in the Port Phillip District in Victoria.
The association secured because of the treaty Batman made with Aboriginal people in June 1835.
Batman traded food, tools and blankets for the land, meeting with representatives of the five Aboriginal clans.
In , who watched his uncle, Billibellary, who was a Wurundjeri clan leader, sign the treaty.
The exact location of where the treaty was signed is unknown, but some suggest .
The treaty was . The Governor of New South Wales, Richard Bourke, determined that British Crown had ownership of the land and so was the only body that could sell or trade land.
A photo of the Batman Treaty. Credit: WikiCommons
A 'deceitful' trade
While the document is heralded as Australia's first treaty, many believe it was signed under false pretences.
Yoorrook Commissioner, Sue-Anne Hunter is a staunch Wurundjeri woman. For her, and her family, the story of Batman's treaty is one of deceit.
"That was the start of deception for our people," she said.
"The mid-1830s was a devastating time for my people. It was the beginning of land theft, the loss of access to Country, the destruction of our land and our cultural ways of life."
Commissioner Hunter firmly believes that her Ancestors believed they were doing the right thing.
"I don't believe they knew what they were agreeing to. There was a huge language barrier, and even when you think about the idea of land ownership, we didn't believe in that, that was a European concept," she said.
"They gave them food and blankets, for our Country. Connection to Country was so strong back then, it doesn't make sense that they would sign that away.
I don't believe it was a treaty, it wasn't a trade. It was deception.
Some writings suggest that Aboriginal people believed that they were being offered gifts from settlers for safe passage through Country.
"That's what our people did, they had message sticks or gifts to travel through people's land to access Country, so it makes sense," said Commissioner Hunter.
"We'll never know what was going through their heads. History is written by the coloniser."
Wurundjeri and Ngurai Illum Wurrung woman and Deputy Chair and Commissioner of the Yoorrook Justice Commission Sue-Anne Hunter. Source: Supplied / YOORROOK JUSTICE COMMISSION/PR IMAGE
While Commissioner Hunter believes the 'consent' he got was not prior, free or informed, she says if they didn't sign the treaty, Country would have been taken another way.
"A treaty, as we know now, is about empowering First Nations People. This treaty just let them take our land away. And if my Ancestors didn't sign it, they would have taken it another way," she said.
"When you have all the power and all the control, is it really a fair trade?"
The Batman Treaty is just one point in Victoria's history that Commissioner Hunter will examine in her role as a Yoorrook Commissioner.
For her, the work is about painting the whole picture of history.
"The work isn't about rewriting history, it's about adding our part, adding our voices - seeing the full picture of what happened," she said.
"To be in a position where we as First Peoples can truth tell, that is powerful."
History heralds John Batman as a hero because of the treaty he formed with members of the Kulin Nation.
But, for many Aboriginal people in Tasmania and Victoria, Batman was a murderer and a conman.
