This Aboriginal Art Site was re opened in October 1997 to showcase the artwork of the dominant indigenous clan of the area, the Duduroa. The clan, of around 2000 covered the area south of Wodonga, around Beechworth, and almost to Wangaratta. They were a sub-clan of the Goulbum Valley people, the Pangarang.

The artwork, thought to be over 2000 years old, is of a Thylacine or Tasmanian Tiger, a Goanna and a Snake. These three items represent totem spirits of the Duduroa.

The site is well signposted and is in Toveys Forest Road which runs off the Beechworth to Chiltern Road about 12 Km from either town.

This walk begins to the left of the picnic area towards the bracken. Follow the path the whole way. Use this map and the interpretive signs located along the walk as a guide to a better understanding of the indigenous way of life.

1  Spring 'Gna~IIeU'

To the left, through the bracken, you can see open plains similar to the areas around Wodonga or Wangaratta. The Duduroa would move to the plains during Spring where they fed on fruits and vegetables found in the area and on birds breeding along the wetlands and creeks.

2   Native Eucalyptus

A variety of native eucalypts such as the Hill Red Gum, Grey Box, Red Box and Stringy Bark were used to make many Duduroa tools and weapons such as boomerangs, spears, and digging sticks. The Duduroa used hunting boomerangs to bring down an animal and ceremonial boomerangs as clap sticks.

The digging stick was a Duduroa woman’s most important tool used to reach fruit in the trees and to dig up roots and insects. It was also used as a fighting stick and to kill small animals. The stick was between 1 to 2 metres long and about 5 centimetres in diameter. They were custom made for each woman by her father or husband by feeding the branch slowly into hot ashes. This caused the sap to rise from the wood making it extremely durable.

3   Rock Art

Clan elders used this sacred site to pass on the Dreaming Story of the Tasmanian Tiger, the totem spirit of the Duduroa people. The images thought to be around 2000 years old are quite faded but cannot be repainted as there are no known descendants of the Duduroa alive today. It is thought the orange ochre used in the paintings was acquired from Aboriginal clans in South Australia through trade.

4    Winter 'Myer'

As you walk uphill towards the cave you can see rocky outcrops similar to those the Duduroa used as shelter during winter. The second heavy rainfall towards the end of autumn signalled the time for the tribe to move to areas like this as there was a steady supply of water in the creeks. Kangaroo skins and possum fur cloaks were worn for warmth and their meat, along with vegetables, herbs and edible plants, provided an abundant food source.

5   Rock Cave

This is where the Duduroa believe the spirit of the Tasmanian Tiger lives. They used the rock as an initiation site for the young men and women to connect with the spirit. Place your palm on the rock and close your' eyes. Can you feel the tiger's heart beating?

6   Lookout and Summer Locations

From here you can see to the left the open plain areas the Duduroa inhabited during spring and to the right the river flats near Mungabarreena, Albury. During summer or ‘Cotchi' an annual gathering of northeast clans occurred in Waradjeri territory at Mungabarreena. It attracted clans such as the Minjambutta, Pangarang, Quat Quatta, Yiatmathong,  Dharra Dharra and the Duduroa. Ceremonies such as marriages, initiations, settling of disputes and renewing alliances and friendships all took place here. The final ceremony to occur was the receiving of permission to travel over the territory of the Yiatmathong, to begin the Bogong Moth Feast on the high plains of the alpine region of Victoria.

The view from the lookout with a message board explaining the scene.

7   Autumn ‘Weeitt'

Follow the path downhill and to the right towards the rocky shelter. This is similar to the journey the indigenous clans made during autumn.

Food at this time included possums, wombats, kangaroos, birds, fish and turtles found along the Murray River. The second heavy rainfall towards the end of Autumn signalled the time for the tribe to move to the more sheltered Winter areas.

A photo of the many rock formations the path so carefully follows.

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