Spotlight on Bendigo: A heritage goldmine

In November 1851, Kennedy and Farrell pulled enough gold nuggets out of Bendigo Creek to fill a sock. Their discovery sparked the gold rush and was the first of nine billion dollars of gold found in Bendigo (then known as Sandhurst), making it the seventh richest field in the world. Just a few months later, there were 800 people on the Bendigo field, and by June of the next year there were 20,000 diggers from all over the world. Bendigo became known for its gold, and the Chinese residents called it ‘Dai Gum San’ or ‘Big Gold Mountain’.

But for 30,000 years before this, the only inhabitants of Greater Bendigo were the Dja Dja Wurrung people, who flourished on the rich hunting grounds. Settlers soon established sheep runs on the precious fertile land, while the miners also changed the landscape by digging holes, diverting waterways, and cutting down trees for firewood and building. However, historians like Dr Fred Cahir point out that Indigenous Australians were not mere victims of the