Koorie Heritage Trust

The Trust’s Photographic Collection contains approximately 48,000+ items including original and duplicate copies of historic and contemporary photographs, transparencies, negatives, born digital images and reference copies of images held by other organizations. Included in this collection are images of Koorie people, cultural heritage sites and significant cultural events.

The majority of this Collection has been donated to the Trust through private collectors and other institutions or collected by staff and contract photographers.

This historical photograph, which was donated to the Trust, shows the ‘Crowning of the King of the Murray tribe near Swan Hill.’ The photograph was taken around the 1920s. During the late 1800s/early 1900s, certain Aboriginal people received the title of ‘King’, ‘Queen’, ‘Duke’ or ‘Chief’ by the white community and were presented with a breast plate, as shown in this photograph. However, these European monarchal positions had no equivalent in Koorie culture and held no meaning for the Koorie community.

The Trust has recently embarked on a registration/digitization project for this collection of 48,000 items. Access to this collection is currently limited as the majority of items are yet to be registered.

For general enquiries about this Collection please contact Collections Project Officer Miriam Ross by phone (03) 8622 2600 or by email on miriam@koorieheritagetrust.com.