67
Creeks, down to the east Werribee plains and down south the coastal areas of the Bellarine Peninsula,
along the Surf Coast down to Aireys Inlet. The Wadawurrung is closely related to the language-culture groups of the Daung Wurrung, Bun Wurrung, Woi Wurrung, Djab Wurrung, and Dadja Wurrung,
which form the Kulin Nation
5
and consisted of more than 25 Clans (Marshall & MacCulloch, 2012).
As with all Kulin peoples, the Wadawurrung had a patrilineal kinship system, in which a person’s
skin- group (otherwise known as a moiety) was inherited from their father. Clans belonged to either
the Bungil (eagle-hawk) or the Waa (crow) moiety (CoGG, 2014; Richards, 1998; Clark, 1990).
The area of land over which the Wadawurrung hunted and gathered food has been described by
Clark as ‘the range’:
…. the tract or stretch of country identifiable as the economic range, normally included the estate and was thus
owned by clans [of the Wathaurong]. The band seasonally occupied and utilised various parts of the range in a
settlement pattern that was a response to the group’s habitat (Clark, 1990, pp. 4-5).
5.5 The Wadawurrung and the Coast
Wadawurrung travelled extensively in Country, moving with the seasons and following food resources. They
moved from inland and the mountains across the plains to the sea, then back inland again. Temporary bark shelters were used for camping, but our people always returned to their permanent settlements with houses made of
rock walls and mud roofs covered with bower spinach
6 and other herbs. (Aboriginal Elder Tandop David Tournier
[dec.], personal communication, 2014, in Roös, 2017, p. 98)
The Wadawurrung had an affinity with the coast, and their cultural lands stretched along the coastline from the Werribee River to the Lorne peninsula and traversed inland in a north- westerly direction
(WAC, 2014). Wadawurrung Country includes the ‘Sea Country’, which is the sea and the coastal
strip along the coast that includes adjoining estuaries, beaches, coastal waters (up to about 80 nautical
miles offshore), rivers and ocean. The Wadawurrung make no distinction between land and sea. They
see themselves as having responsibilities and custodianship across the land and sea boundaries that
have been put in place over many thousands of years.
Sea Country is based on the relationship between the Wadawurrung and the Sea Country that goes
back to Creation. The wetlands, estuaries, rivers, lakes, and the sea have sustained the people culturally and economically for tens of thousands of years. Ownership and rights of Country and Sea
Country formed part of a complex structure that embraced all aspects of social, legal, economic and
religious life. This structure was underpinned by the Aboriginal concept of Dreaming. The Dreaming
stories of the Wadawurrung are similar to the other Aboriginal peoples that resided around Port Phillip
Bay. Aboriginal Elder Tandop David Tournier noted that ‘the Dreaming of Bunjil is very important for
the Wadawurrung, as part of the larger Kulin Nation’.
5 The Kulin Nation consisted of five language groups that resided around the Port Phillip Bay area and up to the Yarra
River (Marshall & MacCulloch, 2012).
6 Bower Spinach (Tetragonia implexicoma) is found mainly in the coastal regions of New Zealand and South Australia.
It occupies habitats of coastal dunes, shrub land, coastal woodland and grassland. The succulent leaves and orange-red
berries was a significant food source for the Aboriginal people of Tasmania and Victoria (DEPI, 2014).
5.5 The Wadawurrung and the Coast
Creeks, down to the east Werribee plains and down south the coastal areas of the Bellarine Peninsula,
along the Surf Coast down to Aireys Inlet. The Wadawurrung is closely related to the language-culture groups of the Daung Wurrung, Bun Wurrung, Woi Wurrung, Djab Wurrung, and Dadja Wurrung,
which form the Kulin Nation
5
and consisted of more than 25 Clans (Marshall & MacCulloch, 2012).
As with all Kulin peoples, the Wadawurrung had a patrilineal kinship system, in which a person’s
skin- group (otherwise known as a moiety) was inherited from their father. Clans belonged to either
the Bungil (eagle-hawk) or the Waa (crow) moiety (CoGG, 2014; Richards, 1998; Clark, 1990).
The area of land over which the Wadawurrung hunted and gathered food has been described by
Clark as ‘the range’:
…. the tract or stretch of country identifiable as the economic range, normally included the estate and was thus
owned by clans [of the Wathaurong]. The band seasonally occupied and utilised various parts of the range in a
settlement pattern that was a response to the group’s habitat (Clark, 1990, pp. 4-5).
5.5 The Wadawurrung and the Coast
Wadawurrung travelled extensively in Country, moving with the seasons and following food resources. They
moved from inland and the mountains across the plains to the sea, then back inland again. Temporary bark shelters were used for camping, but our people always returned to their permanent settlements with houses made of
rock walls and mud roofs covered with bower spinach
6 and other herbs. (Aboriginal Elder Tandop David Tournier
[dec.], personal communication, 2014, in Roös, 2017, p. 98)
The Wadawurrung had an affinity with the coast, and their cultural lands stretched along the coastline from the Werribee River to the Lorne peninsula and traversed inland in a north- westerly direction
(WAC, 2014). Wadawurrung Country includes the ‘Sea Country’, which is the sea and the coastal
strip along the coast that includes adjoining estuaries, beaches, coastal waters (up to about 80 nautical
miles offshore), rivers and ocean. The Wadawurrung make no distinction between land and sea. They
see themselves as having responsibilities and custodianship across the land and sea boundaries that
have been put in place over many thousands of years.
Sea Country is based on the relationship between the Wadawurrung and the Sea Country that goes
back to Creation. The wetlands, estuaries, rivers, lakes, and the sea have sustained the people culturally and economically for tens of thousands of years. Ownership and rights of Country and Sea
Country formed part of a complex structure that embraced all aspects of social, legal, economic and
religious life. This structure was underpinned by the Aboriginal concept of Dreaming. The Dreaming
stories of the Wadawurrung are similar to the other Aboriginal peoples that resided around Port Phillip
Bay. Aboriginal Elder Tandop David Tournier noted that ‘the Dreaming of Bunjil is very important for
the Wadawurrung, as part of the larger Kulin Nation’.
5 The Kulin Nation consisted of five language groups that resided around the Port Phillip Bay area and up to the Yarra
River (Marshall & MacCulloch, 2012).
6 Bower Spinach (Tetragonia implexicoma) is found mainly in the coastal regions of New Zealand and South Australia.
It occupies habitats of coastal dunes, shrub land, coastal woodland and grassland. The succulent leaves and orange-red
berries was a significant food source for the Aboriginal people of Tasmania and Victoria (DEPI, 2014).
5.5 The Wadawurrung and the Coast