Indigenous History during and after Colonisation
The Trauma of Colonisation and Its Impact on Victorian Indigenous Communities
From 1835 onward, colonisation in Victoria brought rapid upheaval to Indigenous communities — including the Wadawurrung, Wurundjeri, Gunditjmara, Taungurung, and Dja Dja Wurrung nations. Within a generation, these people faced mass dispossession, frontier violence, epidemic disease, and forced removal to missions and reserves. The impact was not only physical but deeply psychological and cultural, producing collective and intergenerational trauma that continues to affect well-being, health, and social outcomes today (Broome, 2005; Clark, 1995; Reynolds, 1987). Understanding this trauma requires examining its historical roots and its expression in contemporary life, while also recognising the resilience and renewal of Indigenous peoples across Victoria.
Understanding Trauma
Trauma refers to a wound — emotional, psychological, or physical — that overwhelms the ability to cope.
Acute trauma: a single event such as violence or removal.
Chronic trauma: prolonged exposure to stress, racism, or poverty.
Complex trauma: overlapping traumas across generations and contexts.
For Indigenous communities, colonisation produced collective trauma, experienced by whole societies and transmitted through disrupted family systems, loss of Country, and structural inequality. Some research also suggests biological transmission through epigenetic change, where severe stress can alter gene expression in descendants (Atkinson, 2002; Kellermann, 2001).
The Trauma of Colonisation in Victoria
Frontier Violence and Massacres
Between the late 1830s and 1850s, frontier conflict in Victoria involved massacres and punitive raids across the colony. These occurred on Gunditjmara Country during the Eumeralla Wars, throughout Wadawurrung Country near Geelong, and in the Western District (Clark, 1995; Critchett, 1990). Survivors endured deep grief, fear, and social collapse (Broome, 2005).
Dispossession of Country
The Crown’s declaration of ownership under terra nullius severed Indigenous peoples from their lands, waters, and sacred places — the foundations of identity, ceremony, and law (Reynolds, 1987). This loss of Country was both material and spiritual, fracturing relationships between people, place, and ancestry.
Missions and Reserves
By the 1840s, survivors were confined to missions such as Coranderrk, Framlingham, Ebenezer, and Lake Tyers. Cultural practices were banned, languages suppressed, and kinship systems disrupted (Barwick, 1998). Mission control created dependency and removed autonomy, embedding psychological and cultural trauma (Broome, 2005).
The Stolen Generations
The Protection Act of 1869 and the Half-Caste Acts of 1886 and 1890 authorised the removal of children and regulated Indigenous lives. These policies caused generational grief, disconnection, and identity loss that continue to impact families today (Broome, 2005; HREOC, 1997).
The Wadawurrung Experience
Early Violence
Moorabool River and Barrabool Hills were sites of violent conflict between settlers and Wadawurrung families; entire camps were attacked in the late 1830s (Clark, 1995).
On the Bellarine Peninsula, Wadawurrung people resisting encroachment on fishing grounds at Corio Bay were killed. These stories, passed through oral tradition, form part of the region’s “silent war.”
Dispossession of Country
By 1840, almost all Wadawurrung Country — from Ballarat to Geelong and the Surf Coast — was claimed under squatter licenses.
Sacred sites such as Wurdi Youang, Mount Buninyong, and Lal Lal Falls were fenced and restricted. These losses fractured spiritual identity and cultural practice (Clark, 1990).
Missions and Relocation
Remaining Wadawurrung families were relocated to Nerre Nerre Warren, then to Coranderrk, Framlingham, and Lake Tyers, often separated from kin and Country (Barwick, 1998).
Mission life created further trauma through labour control, punishment for ceremony, and suppression of language (Broome, 2005).
The Stolen Generations
Wadawurrung children continued to be removed under 20th-century assimilation policies. Many grew up detached from culture, language, and family (HREOC, 1997).
Survival and Renewal
Despite the devastation, Wadawurrung people survived. Through the Wadawurrung Traditional Owners Aboriginal Corporation, cultural renewal, language reclamation, and land management programs now restore connection and strengthen identity.
Psychological, Biological, and Social Impacts
Disconnection from Country and Culture
Disconnection from ancestral lands fractures the spiritual framework that sustains wellbeing. In Indigenous psychology, Country is identity — when people are cut off from their lands, mental and emotional health decline (Atkinson, 2002).
Intergenerational Trauma
Trauma is passed between generations through disrupted kinship, silence about history, and structural inequality. Research suggests trauma may alter biological stress responses, a finding supported by Holocaust and Indigenous trauma studies (Kellermann, 2001).
Racism and Structural Violence
Systemic racism continues in health, education, and justice systems, reinforcing disadvantage and compounding historical trauma (Markus, 1990). Addressing these structural barriers is critical for healing.
Healing and Resilience in Victoria
Cultural Revitalisation
Language revival, on-Country learning, and ceremony strengthen community identity and resilience. Projects such as the Wadawurrung Language Reclamation Program reconnect younger generations with their ancestral voice.
Truth-telling and Treaty
Victoria’s Yoorrook Justice Commission (2022) and Treaty process are essential steps in collective healing. They provide official recognition of colonisation’s trauma and pathways toward justice and self-determination.
Community-led Healing
Indigenous-led initiatives emphasise storytelling, ceremony, and cultural safety as therapeutic tools. Programs such as Koori Court, cultural mentoring, and on-Country education embed culture within systems of care and law.
Policy Timeline
1835–1847: Colonisation begins; squatter licenses formalise occupation (Reynolds, 1987).
1860–1886: Protection Board established; Aboriginal Protection Act 1869 and Half-Caste Act 1886 enforce control (Barwick, 1998).
1910–1970s: Assimilation policies and large-scale child removals (HREOC, 1997).
1990s–Present: Truth-telling, land justice, and Treaty processes (Victorian Government, 2022).
Global Comparisons
First Nations in Canada: Residential schools created intergenerational trauma similar to missions in Victoria (TRC Canada, 2015).
Native Americans (U.S.): Forced relocations such as the Trail of Tears parallel Victoria’s mission removals.
Māori (Aotearoa New Zealand): Land loss and suppression of Te Reo Māori mirror Victoria’s cultural suppression, though Treaty mechanisms later enabled redress.
Sámi (Scandinavia): Assimilation policies and the loss of reindeer herding caused cultural and psychological harm comparable to Indigenous experiences in Victoria.
Strategies for Healing and Recovery
Truth-telling: Acknowledge massacres, dispossession, and removals.
Cultural Strengthening: Support language, ceremony, and land care.
Trauma-informed Services: Embed Indigenous knowledge in health and education systems.
Structural Reform: Confront racism and ensure Indigenous leadership in decision-making.
Intergenerational Focus: Rebuild kinship, strengthen parenting, and educate youth in cultural heritage.
Conclusion
The trauma of colonisation in Victoria is not only historical — it remains a lived reality. For the Wadawurrung, it meant violence along the Moorabool River, the loss of Corio Bay fishing grounds, and forced removal from sacred places. Yet through language revival, truth-telling, and Country healing, Indigenous communities continue to reclaim strength and sovereignty. Across the world, Indigenous peoples share parallel histories of colonisation and trauma — but also stories of renewal. In Victoria, the Treaty and Yoorrook Justice Commission signal a new chapter of recognition and recovery, where healing grows from truth, justice, and cultural resilience.
Reference List
Atkinson, J. (2002). Trauma Trails: Recreating Song Lines – The Transgenerational Effects of Trauma in Indigenous Australia. Melbourne: Spinifex Press.
Barwick, D. (1998). Rebellion at Coranderrk. Canberra: Aboriginal History Inc.
Broome, R. (2005). Aboriginal Victorians: A History Since 1800. Sydney: Allen & Unwin.
Clark, I. D. (1990). Aboriginal Languages and Clans: An Historical Atlas of Western and Central Victoria, 1800–1900. Clayton: Monash Publications in Geography.
Clark, I. D. (1995). Scars in the Landscape: A Register of Massacre Sites in Western Victoria 1803–1859. Canberra: Aboriginal Studies Press.
Critchett, J. (1990). A Distant Field of Murder: Western District Frontiers, 1834–1848. Melbourne: Melbourne University Press.
Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission (HREOC). (1997). Bringing Them Home: Report of the National Inquiry into the Separation of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Children from Their Families. Canberra.
Kellermann, N. (2001). “Transmission of Holocaust Trauma.” American Journal of Psychiatry, 158(9).
Markus, A. (1990). Governing Savages. Sydney: Allen & Unwin.
Reynolds, H. (1987). The Law of the Land. Ringwood: Penguin.
Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada. (2015). Final Report. Ottawa: TRC Canada.
Victorian Government. (2022). Yoorrook Justice Commission Interim Report. Melbourne.
Written, Researched and Directed by James Vegter (22 October 2025)
MLA
Sharing the truth of Indigenous and colonial history through film, education, land, and community.
www.magiclandsalliance.org
Copyright MLA – 2025
Magic Lands Alliance acknowledges the Traditional Owners, Custodians, and First Nations communities across Australia and internationally. We honour their enduring connection to the sky, land, waters, language, and culture. We pay respect to Elders past, present, and emerging, and to all First Peoples’ communities and language groups. This article draws only on publicly available information; many cultural practices remain the intellectual property of their respective communities.