Traditional Owners of Country

The Registered Aboriginal Party for Rutherglen, Wahgunyah, Cornishtown and parts of Chiltern and Browns Plains is the Yorta Yorta People. More information about Yorta Yorta can be found on its website .

In other parts of Indigo Shire, there are multiple Traditional Owner groups with interests and several other groups that have a past or current Registered Aboriginal Party application for consideration by the Aboriginal Heritage Council.

Council engages with all Traditional Owner groups that have a past, present or intended application with the Heritage Council or any other Traditional Owner group with a historical connection to the Shire.

To view the formally recognised Traditional Owners in Victoria you can visit: https://www.aboriginalheritagecouncil.vic.gov.au/ or https://achris.vic.gov.au/#/onlinemap

If you are wanting to see if a Recognised Aboriginal Party application is pending or has been lodged please go here: https://www.aboriginalheritagecouncil.vic.gov.au/registered-aboriginal-party-applications-council.

The contact details for various Traditional Owner groups can be found here: https://www.oric.gov.au/start-corporation/registration-options

Acknowledgement of Traditional Owners

A Welcome to Country is conducted by Traditional Owner representatives. Across Indigo Shire, an invitation can be extended to Yorta Yorta for this area. For townships outside the Yorta Yorta area, an invitation is recommended to be extended to all Traditional Owner groups with a past or current Registered Aboriginal Party application with the Aboriginal Heritage Council. Local Aboriginal service delivery agencies such as Victorian Aboriginal Child Care Agency (VACCA), Albury Wodonga Aboriginal Health Service (AWAHS) and Mungabareena can also provide advice on Welcome to Country activities.

If you would like to do an Acknowledgement of Country, you may choose to use the following acknowledgement we have adopted in our Reflect Reconciliation Action Plan –

“We acknowledge the original custodians of these lands. The people of the rivers and the hills have walked these lands for thousands of years as well as today, and we pay respects to the elders of the past, present and emerging.”

Indigo Shire Council - Reconciliation Action Plan (RAP)

Council adopted its first ever Reflect Reconciliation Action Plan (RAP) on Tuesday 26 April, 2022.

The RAP will guide Council’s strategic engagement with Aboriginal and Torres Straits Islander groups.

The multi-stage plan, developed in partnership with Reconciliation Australia, the lead body for reconciliation in Australia, and with input from traditional owner groups, and other Aboriginal and Torres Straits Islander stakeholders, provides Council with a framework to build its internal capacity and awareness about Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultures.

It also sets out the steps required to prepare Council for specific reconciliation initiatives and projects and sets out an approach to developing relationships with external community groups.

View our RAP