The treatment of the Indigenous population by the colonial government remains contentious. European settlement is seen as illegitimate because the British administrators refused to acknowledge the traditional owners. There was no negotiation for appropriate treaties or any compensation for the settlement of the Kulin nation by European settlers. This refusal of recognition of the Wurundjeri willam as traditional owners gave little opportunity to observe and record the culture and lifestyle of the local people. Therefore, the rapid demise of the peoples traditional lifestyle following European settlement would soon be lost forever.