Our Artwork
Coming Together for Treaty and Better Futures
The main element of the artwork is the possum skin which holds cultural significance to the Victorian Aboriginal community. Holding the many stories of our clans, Country and those who wore them. This cloak represents the journey of Treaty, the identity of the Treaty Authority and self-determination for our people. It also tells the story of Traditional Owners, First Nations people within Victoria, and the State coming together in collaboration, unity and partnerships to share wisdom and story through dialogue and negotiations.
It tells of the deep spiritual, physical and emotional connection First Nations people have with the land, water and sky. That we are all inextricably linked. It is an acknowledgement of the deep and long kinship lineage and ancestry of Aboriginal Victorians.
And it represents the coming together of two worlds in the journey of reconciliation, acknowledgement, truth telling and healing. The connectedness of people from different walks of life joining together to address the injustices towards Aboriginal people over many generations and advocating for change.
Throughout the artwork are animals we see across the Victorian countryside and skies – these include the wedge tailed eagle, yellow tail black cockatoo, wombat, superb fairy wrens, pelican, platypus, humpback whale, dolphin, brolgas, sugar glider and if you look closely, you will find many others.
Surrounding the possum skin are stories and representations of Cultural Lore, Land, Sky and Water elements. At the top is the sky – the night sky telling stories of Dreaming, astronomy, and a smoking ceremony. Moving over to the right are mountain ranges acknowledging the vast and diverse country of Victoria, within the mountain ranges is rock art and the right side a scar tree.
In the middle of the artwork is a representation of land and country – on the left side are Cultural tools: a coolamon, boomerang, stone axe, and bush medicine – tea tree oil, kangaroo apple and witchetty grubs. Moving over the land we see a baby in a coolamon under a birthing tree, representation of wattle, grassy hills and a symbol of connectedness to our culture and connectedness to each other. Sharing our experiences, wisdom and journeys with one another.
On the right side we see elements of bush tuckers – emu eggs, witchetty grubs, seeds and flowers. Throughout the land you see First nations people wrapped in possum skin cloaks this is an acknowledgement to Traditional Owners and First nations people all over Victoria.
At the bottom are elements of water – this tells the story of the two worlds of First Nations and broader Australian community coming together in unity – represented by the river ways and ocean coming together in meeting. In the river you will see canoes, eels and eel traps, moving over to the ocean you will see the humpback whale and dolphin.
Below the ocean and river are people from all walks of life coming together to march in solidarity with united voices fighting for a better shared future. It also pays acknowledgement to our ancestors and Elders who have marched and stood strong in their voices advocating for change for our people.
Merring-Jippa Murray
Yorta Yorta, Dja Dja Wurrung, Wamba Wamba and Kamilaroi
Our logo
The Treaty Authority logo is derived from the artwork of Yorta Yorta, Dja Dja Wurrung, Wamba Wamba and Kamilaroi woman Merring-Jippa Murray.
Story of the logo
The Treaty Authority logo is a representation of our work being grounded in Aboriginal Lore, Law and Cultural Authority.
The shield in the middle of the design carries the notion of protection and conveys several meanings:
- It represents the Treaty or Treaties. It protects the shared and overlapping interests, relationships and obligations to each other, and to Country.
- It represents the Treaty Authority and its role in protecting the stories, dialogue, negotiations, information and Treaties made between parties
- The shield contains four diamonds which represent the Treaty Authority’s values of Honour, Responsibility, Fairness and Connection.
Either side of the shield, in the centre of the oval design is the Treaty negotiating space. The people sitting in this sacred space are those that have been chosen to negotiate Treaty on behalf of the people they represent.
In the enclosing oval we see the Traditional Owner groups and wider Victorian communities that will be kept informed and will help guide the journey towards Treaty making in Victoria.
