A ceremony was held on site in the Garden Ranges near Euroa on Saturday, March 4 to celebrate the return of the land, which includes a series of four rock shelters featuring paintings made using natural pigments. The largest shelter displays 172 motifs.
In 2019, the Taungurung Land and Waters Council sought assistance to acquire the 23-hectare parcel of land, with the Indigenous Land and Sea Corporation granting $265,000 to purchase the site and fund other costs, including the provision of fencing to halt degradation from livestock.
TLaWC chief executive Matt Burns said the culturally significant art provided further evidence of the Taungurung people’s connection to Country extending over thousands of years.
“The acquisition of the Garden Range rock art site from the ILSC is of substantial cultural significance to the Taungurung people, exemplified by a history that dates back more than 20,000 years,” Mr Burns said.
“The return of this land will enable us to care for Country using techniques passed down by our ancestors, ensuring the location is preserved and protected for all Taungurung people, present and future, to see.”
ILSC group chief executive Joe Morrison said the handover allowed the Taungurung people to continue their inseparable connection with their land.
“The return of this site, and the profoundly important story within, is a reminder of the longstanding and unbroken connection between Taungurung people and their Country,” Mr Morrison said.
The ILSC said given the cultural significance of the site, and its particularly unstable condition, its exact location would remain in the trust of TLaWC and was currently closed to the public.
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