Bundoora got its name from Keelbundora, the parish enclosing Bundoora and adjoining areas. Greensborough was originally called Keelbundora after the parish but was later renamed after an early settler Edward Bernard Green. Keelbundora is an aboriginal ancestor and was the nephew of Billibellary and the brother of William Barrack. William Barrack (1824 – 1903) was the clan leader of Wurundjeri people. William Barrack completed a series of drawings about the cultural life of Wurundjeri people at the Coranderrk mission.
Keelbundoora’s father Bebejan was also a clan head and his Uncle Billibellary, a signatory to John Batman’s 1835 “treaty”. The area around Bundoora was originally inhabited by the Kurnaj-berring tribe of the Wurundjeri clan. In 1937, When Government Surveyor Robert Hoddle investigated Darebin creek area, he designated land to the east of the creek as Keelbundora and the west as Jika Jika. The land in Bundoora was auctioned in 1838, with Bundoora being sectioned off into two areas of approximately 400 acres. The land was primarily used for sheep grazing and grain production.