Camperdown - Wombeetch Puyuun Reconciliation Park
Wombeetch Puyuun Reconciliation Park is a small but culturally significant public park offering a place for reflection, learning and reconciliation. It commemorates the Traditional Owners of the Camperdown district and acknowledges the impact of European settlement on local Aboriginal communities.
For thousands of years, the Liwura Gundidj clan of the Djargurd Wurrung people were the Traditional Owners of the country around Camperdown.
In 1854, Bullenmere, also known as King Alick, petitioned the colonial administration to reserve part of the traditional hunting grounds around Mount Leura for his family. A 14.5-acre Aboriginal Reserve was subsequently proposed between Henderson Street and the Princes Highway.
Bullenmere died before the reserve was established. Despite representations on behalf of his son Prince Albert, the Victorian Government abandoned the proposal in 1860 and subdivided the land to accommodate the growing township.
The Reconciliation Park was established in Victoria Square in 2008 on land that had formed part of the proposed Aboriginal Reserve. It was named in honour of Wombeetch Puyuun, a respected Liwura Gundidj Elder who remained on his ancestral Country despite pressure to relocate to the Framlingham Aboriginal Mission.
Park features include:
- A native garden
- Aboriginal artwork
- Interpretive signs explaining the proposed Aboriginal Reserve
- Information about Wombeetch Puyuun and the Liwura Gundidj people
- An outdoor place for reflection, learning and community gatherings
Access for Dogs:
Keep dogs on a leash and away from garden beds and artworks. Owners must clean up after their dogs.
Opening Hours:
Open at all times.
Location
2B Walker Street, Camperdown 3260 View Map
Web Links
→ camperdownhistory.org.au/reconciliation-park-camperdown
