REVEALED BY FIRE

AARON MORGAN is understandably excited about recent international recognition for his homeland. A Gunditjmara man from south-western Victoria, he was in Azerbaijan in July last year, when the state’s Lake Condah and the Tyrendarra fish traps were inscribed on the World Heritage List for their extraordinary cultural and historical values. It was confirmation that these were two of Australia’s most important Aboriginal sites.

“I was lucky enough to be one of the people to go over,” Aaron explains proudly. “I had the experience of sitting in the 43rd session of the World Heritage meeting [at Baku, in Azerbaijan] while they did all the nominations.”

Located north of Portland in Victoria’s far west, the fish traps and Lake Condah are places that powerfully repudiate the notion that Australia’s indigenous peoples led only a hunter-gatherer lifestyle. Unexpectedly, however, the area’s status was further boosted when, in December last year, devastating bushfires raced through 7000ha