Hotham History Project invites you to a talk on ‘Reliving the Early Days’: The literal and symbolic making of settler place – by Fiona Gatt, Historian, academic & PhD candidate, Deakin University.

This talk will analyse an archive of letters, written in 1934–5 during the centenary celebrations of Melbourne, by adults who were children in the 1860s and 70s in Hotham.

Through these letters we can uncover a narrative of self-indigenisation of the settler residents, that is their positioning of white colonial-born children of Hotham as natural inhabitants of the area.

Several themes in the letters evidence this narrative: conquering the space through play; local personalities positioned in the settler space; pride in key colonial moments; positioning First Nations people as wandering fringe-dwellers; and claims of colonial childhood as ‘original’ or ‘native’ to the area.

This online talk offers the opportunity to engage with an appreciation of how the literal and symbolic building of Hotham/North Melbourne was/is embedded in the attempted erasure of its Traditional Owners.

If you missed the live Zoom event, you can still watch our recording below.

Click image below to start the video.

Due to the current Covid19 situation in Melbourne the live in person aspect of this talk has been cancelled.

Location: Dewey common room, Henry Bastow Institute, Victorian Academy of Teaching and Leadership, 603 – 615 Queensberry St, North Melbourne 3051. Enter via Union Street side door. Public parking available on the streets surrounding the venue.

Strictly limited, 100 tickets only to watch the event on zoom are available at:   Hotham History Event on Eventbrite

 Date: 3rd August 2022.

 Time: 7:30pm.

  Start Zoom

Click here to join the ZOOM meeting

Meeting ID: 873 8058 3548

Passcode: 507609