Bebejan (birth circa 1796, died August 1836) also known as Bebejern or Jerum Jerum, was a Ngurungaeta (Leader -pronounced ung-uh-rung-eye-tuh) of the

Wurundjeri The Wurundjeri people are an Australian Aboriginal people of the Woiwurrung language group, in the Kulin nation. They are the Traditional Owners of the Birrarung (Yarra River) Valley, covering much of the present location of Narrm (Melbo ...

people of the Woiwurung language group in the present day Australian state of Victoria. The four Woiwurung clans collectively claimed the area of the

Yarra River The Yarra River or historically, the Yarra Yarra River, ( Kulin languages: ''Berrern'', ''Birr-arrung'', ''Bay-ray-rung'', ''Birarang'', ''Birrarung'', and ''Wongete'') is a perennial river in south-central Victoria, Australia. The lower ...

and its tributaries. Thus Bebejan's domain was

Heidelberg Heidelberg (; Palatine German language, Palatine German: ''Heidlberg'') is a city in the States of Germany, German state of Baden-Württemberg, situated on the river Neckar in south-west Germany. As of the 2016 census, its population was 159,914 ...

to the source of the

. Tooterie was a young Ngurai-illam-wurrang woman who was given in marriage to Bebejan, in the early 1820s. Bebejan was head of his clan, a Ngurungaeta, at the time Europeans invaded Kulin territory. He was at the meeting which purportedly gained signatures to

Batman's Treaty Batman's Treaty was an agreement between John Batman, an Australian grazier, businessman and coloniser, and a group of Wurundjeri elders, for the purchase of land around Port Phillip, near the present site of Melbourne. The document came to ...

in 1835 and signed it along with seven other tribal leaders. The contract itself is historically significant as it was the first and only documented time when Europeans negotiated their presence and occupation of Aboriginal lands directly with the

traditional owners Native title is the designation given to the common law doctrine of Aboriginal title in Australia, which is the recognition by Australian law that Indigenous Australians (both Aboriginal Australian and Torres Strait Islander people) have rights ...

. Also, present at this meeting with John Batman, was Tooterie and Bebejan's son, Beruk. He would grow up to be one of the most important Kulin leaders in the post-European contact period. When he grew older Beruk, would change his name to

William Barak William Barak, named Beruk by his parents, (1823 – 15 August 1903), the "last chief of the Yarra Yarra tribe", was the last traditional ngurungaeta (elder) of the Wurundjeri-willam clan, the pre-colonial inhabitants of present-day Melbourne, ...

. Bebejan was most probably elevated to tribal leadership after the decimation of the second smallpox plague in 1828. The fact that he was elevated over Billibelleri, his wife's uncle, is testament to the Aboriginal leadership system being merit-based, not lineal descent. Billibelleri readily became number two man (Songman) to his younger nephew and succeeded Bebejan as leader in 1836. Bebejan was also the father of

as well as nephew-in-law to

Billibellary Billibellary (c. 1799–10 August 1846) was a song maker and influential ngurungaeta of the Wurundjeri-willam clan during the early years of European settlement of Melbourne. He was known by various names including Billi-billeri, Billibellary, Ji ...

.Culture Victoria
/ref>

References

Indigenous Australian people Wurundjeri People from Victoria (Australia) 1836 deaths Year of birth unknown {{IndigenousAustralia-stub