The
Kulin nation, was an alliance of five Indigenous Australian nations in Central
VictoriaVictoria is the second most populous state in Australia. Geographically smallest mainland state, Victoria is bordered by New South Wales to the north, South Australia to the west, and Tasmania to the south, across the Bass Strait. Victoria is the most densely populated state, with over 70% of...
,
AustraliaAustralia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the continental mainland , the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans...
, prior to European settlement. Their collective territory extended to around
Port PhillipPort Phillip is a large bay in southern Victoria, Australia. Geographically, the bay covers and the shore stretches roughly . Although it is extremely shallow for its size, most of the bay is navigable. The deepest portion is only , and half the region is shallower than...
and
Western PortWestern Port, also known as Western Port Bay, is a large tidal bay in southern Victoria, Australia opening into Bass Strait. It is the second largest bay in Victoria. Geographically, the bay is dominated by the two large islands; French Island and Phillip Island...
, up into the
Great Dividing RangeThe Great Dividing Range, or the Eastern Highlands, is Australia's most substantial mountain range and the fourth longest in the world. The range stretches more than 3,500 km from Dauan Island off the northeastern tip of Queensland, running the entire length of the eastern coastline through...
and the Loddon and
Goulburn RiverThe Goulburn River is a major inland river in Victoria, Australia.The headwaters of the Goulburn River rise in the western end of the Victoria Alps, near Mount Buller. The Eildon Dam creates Lake Eildon, a major storage of water for irrigation...
valleys. To their east lived the
GunaiThe Gunai or Kurnai is an Indigenous Australian nation of south-east Australia whose territory occupied most of present-day Gippsland and much of the southern slopes of the Victorian Alps. The nation was not on friendly terms with the neighbouring Wurundjeri and Bunurong nations...
/Kurnai people of Gippsland. Five distinct languages were spoken in two groups. The Eastern Kulin group includes Woiwurrung, Bunurong, Taungurong, Ngurai-illam-wurrung.
Discussion
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The
Kulin nation, was an alliance of five Indigenous Australian nations in Central
VictoriaVictoria is the second most populous state in Australia. Geographically smallest mainland state, Victoria is bordered by New South Wales to the north, South Australia to the west, and Tasmania to the south, across the Bass Strait. Victoria is the most densely populated state, with over 70% of...
,
AustraliaAustralia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the continental mainland , the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans...
, prior to European settlement. Their collective territory extended to around
Port PhillipPort Phillip is a large bay in southern Victoria, Australia. Geographically, the bay covers and the shore stretches roughly . Although it is extremely shallow for its size, most of the bay is navigable. The deepest portion is only , and half the region is shallower than...
and
Western PortWestern Port, also known as Western Port Bay, is a large tidal bay in southern Victoria, Australia opening into Bass Strait. It is the second largest bay in Victoria. Geographically, the bay is dominated by the two large islands; French Island and Phillip Island...
, up into the
Great Dividing RangeThe Great Dividing Range, or the Eastern Highlands, is Australia's most substantial mountain range and the fourth longest in the world. The range stretches more than 3,500 km from Dauan Island off the northeastern tip of Queensland, running the entire length of the eastern coastline through...
and the Loddon and
Goulburn RiverThe Goulburn River is a major inland river in Victoria, Australia.The headwaters of the Goulburn River rise in the western end of the Victoria Alps, near Mount Buller. The Eildon Dam creates Lake Eildon, a major storage of water for irrigation...
valleys. To their east lived the
GunaiThe Gunai or Kurnai is an Indigenous Australian nation of south-east Australia whose territory occupied most of present-day Gippsland and much of the southern slopes of the Victorian Alps. The nation was not on friendly terms with the neighbouring Wurundjeri and Bunurong nations...
/Kurnai people of Gippsland. Five distinct languages were spoken in two groups. The Eastern Kulin group includes Woiwurrung, Bunurong, Taungurong, Ngurai-illam-wurrung. The western language group included just Wathaurung.
Nations
- Woiwurrung (Woy-wur-rung) - The Wurundjeri
The Wurundjeri are a people of the Indigenous Australian nation of the Woiwurrung language group, in the Kulin alliance, who occupy the Birrarung Valley, its tributaries and the present location of Melbourne, Australia...
People
- Boonerwrung (Bun-er-rong) - The Bunurong
The Bunurong are Indigenous Australians of the Kulin nation, who occupy South-Central Victoria, Australia. Prior to European settlement, they lived as all people of the Kulin nation lived, sustainably on the land, predominantly as hunters and gatherers, for tens of thousands of years...
or Boonerwrung People
- Wathaurong (Wath-er-rong) - The Wathaurong People
- Daungwurrung (Tung-ger-rong) - The Taungurong
The Taungurong people, also known as the Daung Wurrung, were nine clans who spoke the Daungwurrung language and were part of the Kulin alliance of indigenous Australians. They lived to the north of and were closely associated with the Woiwurrung speaking Wurundjeri people...
People
- Dja Dja Wrung (Jar-Jar wrung) - The Dja Dja Wurrung
Dja Dja Wurrung, also known as the Jaara people and Loddon River tribe, is a native Aboriginal tribe which occupied the watersheds of the Loddon and Avoca Rivers in the Bendigo region of central Victoria, Australia. They were part of the Kulin alliance of tribes. There were 16 clans, which adhered...
or Jaara People
Diplomacy
When foreign people passed through or were invited onto tribal lands, the ceremony of TanderrumA tanderrum is a ceremony enacted by the nations of the Kulin people and other Victorian aboriginal nations allowing safe passage and temporary access and use of land and resources by foreign people...
- freedom of the bush - would be performed. This allowed safe passage and temporary access and use of land and resources by foreign people. It was a diplomatic rite involving the landholder's hospitality and a ritual exchange of gifts.
Languages
- Woiwurrung
Woiwurrung is an Indigenous Australian language spoken by some of the Kulin Nation clans, the Wurundjeri people, of Central Victoria, from Mount Baw Baw in the east to Mount Macedon, Sunbury and Gisborne in the west.The Woiwurrung clans inhabited the Yarra River, called Birrarung in Woiwurrung,...
: spoken from Mount Baw BawMount Baw Baw is a mountain in Victoria, Australia. Mount Baw Baw Alpine Resort is an Unincorporated area of Victoria surrounded the Shire of Baw Baw.-Location:...
in the east to Mount Macedon, Sunbury and Gisborne in the west. The Wurrundjeri-willam were a clan who occupied the Yarra RiverThe Yarra River, originally Birrarung, is a river in central Victoria, Australia. The lower stretches of the river is where the city of Melbourne was established in 1835 and today Greater Melbourne dominates and influences the landscape of its lower reaches...
and its tributaries. Referred to initially by Europeans as the Yarra Yarra tribe. Other Woiwurrung clans include the Marin-Bulluk, Kurung-Jang-Bulluk, Wurundjeri-Balluk, Balluk-willam. WurundjeriThe Wurundjeri are a people of the Indigenous Australian nation of the Woiwurrung language group, in the Kulin alliance, who occupy the Birrarung Valley, its tributaries and the present location of Melbourne, Australia...
is now the common term for descendants of all the Woiwurrung clans.
- Bunurong
The Bunurong are Indigenous Australians of the Kulin nation, who occupy South-Central Victoria, Australia. Prior to European settlement, they lived as all people of the Kulin nation lived, sustainably on the land, predominantly as hunters and gatherers, for tens of thousands of years...
: spoken by six clans along the coast from the Werribee River, across the Mornington PeninsulaThe Mornington Peninsula is a peninsula located south-east of Melbourne in Central Victoria, Australia. It is surrounded by Port Phillip to the west, Western Port to the east and Bass Strait to the south, and is connected to the mainland in the north. Geographically, the peninsula begins its...
, Western PortWestern Port, also known as Western Port Bay, is a large tidal bay in southern Victoria, Australia opening into Bass Strait. It is the second largest bay in Victoria. Geographically, the bay is dominated by the two large islands; French Island and Phillip Island...
Bay to Wilsons PromontoryWilsons Promontory National Park, commonly known as Wilsons Prom or The Prom, is a national park in the Gippsland region of Victoria , 157 km southeast of Melbourne....
. Referred to by Europeans as the Western Port or Port Philip tribe. The Yalukit-willam clan occupied the thin coastal strip from Werribee, to Williamstown. BunurongThe Bunurong are Indigenous Australians of the Kulin nation, who occupy South-Central Victoria, Australia. Prior to European settlement, they lived as all people of the Kulin nation lived, sustainably on the land, predominantly as hunters and gatherers, for tens of thousands of years...
is now the common term used to describe all the people of this language group.
- Daungwurrung language: spoken north of the Great Dividing Range in the Goulburn River Valley around Mansfield, Benalla and Heathcote. Referred to by Europeans as the Goulburn River tribe. Taungurong
The Taungurong people, also known as the Daung Wurrung, were nine clans who spoke the Daungwurrung language and were part of the Kulin alliance of indigenous Australians. They lived to the north of and were closely associated with the Woiwurrung speaking Wurundjeri people...
is now the common term used to describe all the people of this language group.
- Ngurai-illam-wurrung: spoken by the 16 clans of the Jaara or Dja Dja Wurrung
Dja Dja Wurrung, also known as the Jaara people and Loddon River tribe, is a native Aboriginal tribe which occupied the watersheds of the Loddon and Avoca Rivers in the Bendigo region of central Victoria, Australia. They were part of the Kulin alliance of tribes. There were 16 clans, which adhered...
people around MurchisonMurchison is a small rural village located on the Goulburn River in Victoria, Australia. Murchison is located 167 kilometres from Melbourne and is just to the west of the Goulburn Valley Highway between Shepparton and Nagambie. The surrounding countryside contains orchards, vineyards and dairy...
, the central highlands region, east to Kyneton, west to the Pyrenees, north to Boort and south to the Great Dividing Range. Referred to by Europeans as the Broken River tribe or Loddon Aborigines.
- Wautharong
Wathaurong, also called the Wada wurrung, are an Indigenous Australian tribe living in the area near Melbourne, Geelong and the Bellarine Peninsula. Part of the Kulin alliance. The Wathaurong language was spoken by 25 clans south of the Werribee River and the Bellarine Peninsula to Streatham...
: spoken by 15 clans south of the Werribee River and the Bellarine PeninsulaThe Bellarine Peninsula is a peninsula located south-west of Melbourne in Victoria, Australia, surrounded by Port Phillip, Corio Bay and Bass Strait. The peninsula, together with the Mornington Peninsula separates Port Phillip from Bass Strait...
to Streatham. Referred to by Europeans as the Barrabool people. The escaped convict, William BuckleyWilliam Buckley was an English convict who was transported to Australia, escaped, was given up for dead and lived in an Aboriginal community for many years....
lived with this community for 32 years, between 1803 and 1835, before being found by John BatmanJohn Batman was an Australian farmer and businessman who was one of the first settlers of the Melbourne area and known for founding Victoria.-Life:...
on 6 July 1835.
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