When Ian McClaren uncovered what turned out to be a greenstone axe head on his property, he knew that he'd found something special.
A physical buzz, like an electric shock, made the hairs on his head stand straight up when he realised it was an Aboriginal artifact.
Ian and his wife Amanda had moved to Graytown near Nagambie in 2005 looking forward to breeding his Angus-cross cattle, tending pigs and poultry.
The artifact find represented an opportunity to engage in mutual learning - for the landowner and the traditional owners of the land.
The landscape in the area was intriguing - the dry rocky ground, once valued for its gold, was constantly bringing rocks to the surface, despite the clearing of the land.
Mr McLaren followed American Joel Salatin's healthy grass farming practices, improving the fertility of the land by putting chickens across it in mobile coops.
On his weekly rounds Ian was always bringing home pocketfuls of man-made rubbish that he found around the place. He spent hours looking at stones and trying to understand the soil types and how they relate to his farming.
He found the greenstone axe head five years ago shining on the ground after a rain event. These tools were made for skinning animals, digging, scarring trees to make utensils and canoes. They were also traded, as the greenstone was prized for its hardness.
"Most of the artifacts have come from around the house. I spend more time there so that's where I'm more likely to find things. You'd never set out to look for artifacts, but I think it's important to keep an eye out for them," Mr McLaren said.
"I hadn't seen greenstone or Aboriginal artifacts prior to this but I must have learnt about it from an ecology course we did when we first arrived here. I honestly thought that any history like this would be buried too deep to be uncovered," he said.
There are several sources of Greenstone on Taungurung country and the Taungurung people are currently undertaking research to ascertain other sources.
Ian and Amanda's first introduction to the Taungurung was the box ironbark ecology course, run by two Catchment Management Authorities, where they met Uncle Ernie and Tandy.
The course looked at soils, geology, flora and fauna.
"It really opened our eyes to what is out there. It is a harsh environment here in Graytown and when there's so much excellent country within the Taungurung traditional lands, I wonder why they chose to stay in this spot and what they were getting or gathering at which time of year. We are, however, strategically positioned between four unique hills, so this could have been a good meeting point between those landmarks.
"When I met Tandy and she walked us across the country and we saw things through her eyes, it brought about a much greater appreciation of what is actually here. I realise that finding tools is an important step in helping Taungurung people to connect the dots regarding their history."
As Shire Mayor, Amanda McLaren said she felt there could be a stronger connection with the Taungurung people and a healthy relationship has grown from that, with introductions to language, a cultural heritage adviser and cultural educational providers.
"I handed the artifacts over to the Taungurung Land and Water Council (TLaWC) Cultural Heritage Programs Manager, Francisco Almeida, in Broadford, expecting not to see them again. Francisco's eyes lit up. He'd not seen examples like this in Victoria. He made resin replicas of the tools and gave the originals back to me," she said.
The Taungurung were not able to legally or logistically, confiscate artifacts, nor did they seek to have artifacts returned to them, Mr Almeida said.
"The current legislation states that only secret/sacred objects or ancestral remains are to be returned," said.
"The most common artifacts, such as groundstone axes and other knapped stones belong on the country where they are found and it is the preference of Taungurung people for them to stay as close as possible to the areas where Taungurung ancestors left them.
"We encourage anybody finding artifacts to advise us so we can study, record and perhaps replicate them if they are deemed important for educational purposes, but then we hand them back for future generations. Most people put them on display somewhere safe. If they sell the property, we encourage them to hand the tools on to the next owner or, if they're not interested, to contact TLaWC to decide their future.
"It is important for landowners to understand that the presence of Aboriginal cultural heritage on their properties is something that will not interfere with their ownership," he said.
"It should be looked at as something that enhances the historical and heritage value of the area, and an essential element to tell a very old story of how it was cared for and managed for thousands of years."
