Bunurong
Encyclopedia
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. They were referred to by Europeans as the Western Port or Port Philip tribe and were in alliance with other tribes in the Kulin
nation, having particularly strong ties to the Wurundjeri
people.
The Bunurong territory extended along the northern, eastern and southern shorelines of Port Phillip
, the Mornington Peninsula
, Western Port
and its two main islands, and land to the south-east down to Wilsons Promontory
. From 2005 the Bunurong people have been represented by the Bunurong Land Council. They are also recognised in the name of the Bunurong Marine National Park
.
and Western Port
. Initial contact was made with Lieutenant Murray and his crew from the Lady Nelson when they came ashore for fresh water near present day Sorrento in February 1801. A wary exchange of spears and axes for shirts , mirrors and a steel axe ended when the British panicked, resulting in spears flying, musket shots and the use of the ship's cannon wounding several fleeing Bunurong people.
The following month Captain Milius from the Baudin expedition
French ship Le Naturaliste danced alone on a beach at Western Port for the natives in a much more peaceful contact.
Just prior to and overlapping the period of British exploration and settlement the Bunurong were involved in a long-running dispute with the Gunai/Kurnai
people from Gippsland. The conflict was a dispute over resources, according to William Barak, which resulted in heavy casualties being suffered by the Bunurong. Many Gunnai raids occurred to abduct Bunurong women. The Yowengerra had almost been completely annihilated by 1836, largely as a result of attacks from the Gunai. During 1833 - 1834 around 60-70 Bunurong people were killed in a raid by Gunnai when
they were camped to the north of Carrum Swamp.
in October 1803, near modern day Sorrento, Victoria
, under the command of Lieutenant David Collins. William Buckley
, a convict, escaped from this abortive settlement and lived for more than 30 years with the Wada wurrung people before approaching John Batman's party in 1835. He told George Langhorne in 1836:
The Bunurong people, living primarily along the Port Phillip and Western Port coast, were also subjected to raids on their camps by sealers from at least 1809 to as late as 1833, which were frequently violent with men being killed and the women, like Louisa Briggs, being adbucted and enslaved by sealers for sexual partners and taken to the Islands in Bass Strait
where the sealers had their camps. This would have impacted the economic and social ties binding the Wurundjeri and Bunurong peoples.
James Fleming, one of the party of Charles Grimes
in the Cumberland who explored the Maryribynong River and the Yarra River as far as Dights Falls in February 1803 reported small pox scars on several aboriginal people he met, indicating that a small pox epidemic had swept through the tribes around Port Philip before 1803 reducing the population. Broome puts forward that two epidemics of small pox decimated the population of the Kulin
tribes by perhaps killing half each time in the 1790s and again around 1830. Small pox arrived in Australia with the First Fleet settlement in Sydney. These epidemics were incorporated in their oral tradition as the Mindye, a rainbow serpent from the Northwest sent to destroy or afflict any people for bad deeds, hissing and spreading white particles from its mouth from which disease could be inhaled.
One particularly notable person at the time of European settlement in Victoria was Derrimut
, a Bunurong Elder, who informed early European settlers in October 1835 of an impending attack by clans from the Woiwurrung
group. The colonists armed themselves, and the attack was averted. Benbow and Billibellary
, from the Wurundjeri
, also acted to protect the colonists as part of their duty of hospitality. Derrimut later became very disillusioned and died in the Benevolent Asylum at the age of about 54 years in 1864. A few colonists erected a tombstone to Derrimut in Melbourne General Cemetery
in his honour.
By 1839 the Bunurong had been reduced to 83 people, with only 4 of 19 children under four years old, from a probable pre-contact population of greater than 300 people. By 1850 Protector William Thomas estimated just 28 Bunurong people.
In 1852 the Boonwurrung were allocated 340 hectares at Mordialloc Creek while the Woiworrung gained 782 hectares along the Yarra at Warrandyte. These reserves were never staffed by whites and were not permanent camps, but acted as distribution depots where rations and blankets were distributed, with the intention being to keep the tribes away from the growing settlement of Melbourne. The Aboriginal Protection Board revoked these two reserves in 1862-1863, considering them now too close to Melbourne.
In March 1863 after three years of upheaval, the surviving Kulin leaders, among them Simon Wonga
and William Barak
, led forty Wurundjeri, Taungurong
(Goulburn River) and Bunurong people over the Black Spur
and squatted on a traditional camping site on Badger Creek near Healesville and requested ownership of the site. This became Coranderrk
Station. Coranderrk was closed in 1924 and its occupants forced to move to Lake Tyers in Gippsland
.
Communities consisted of six or more (depending on the extent of the territory) land-owning groups called clans that spoke a related language and were connected through cultural and mutual interests, totems, trading initiatives and marriage ties. Access to land and resources, such as the Birrarung, by other clans, was sometimes restricted depending on the state of the resource in question. For example; if a river or creek had been fished regularly throughout the fishing season and fish supplies were down, fishing was limited or stopped entirely by the clan who owned that resource until fish were given a chance to recover. During this time other resources were utilised for food. This ensured the sustained use of the resources available to them. As with most other Kulin territories, penalties such as spearings were enforced upon tresspassers. Today, traditional clan locations, language groups and borders are no longer in use and descendants of Wurundjeri people live within modern day society.
, or clan headman.
, the Mornington Peninsula
, Western Port
and its two main islands, and land to the southeast down to Wilsons Promontory
. This territory was known to the Kulin
clans as the marr ne bek or 'excellent country', as it had an abundance of food resources. As descendents from Lohan, Bunurong people were the custodians of the marr ne bek country. Kulin people believed that those from clans outside this country, were required to undergo a specific ritual to enable them to
enter the area without harm.
nation territories, based on a creative epoch known as the Dreamtime
which stretches back into a remote era in history when the creator ancestors known as the First Peoples travelled across the land, creating and naming as they went. Indigenous Australia's oral tradition and religious values are based upon reverence for the land and a belief in this Dreamtime. The Dreaming is at once both the ancient time of creation and the present day reality of Dreaming. There were a great many different groups, each with their own individual culture, belief structure, and language. These cultures overlapped to a greater or lesser extent, and evolved over time. The two moiety totems of the Wurundjeri people are Bunjil
the Eaglehawk
and Waarn the Raven
, protector of waterways.
Indigenous Australians
Indigenous Australians are the original inhabitants of the Australian continent and nearby islands. The Aboriginal Indigenous Australians migrated from the Indian continent around 75,000 to 100,000 years ago....
of the Kulin
Kulin
The Kulin nation, was an alliance of five Indigenous Australian nations in Central Victoria, Australia, prior to European settlement. Their collective territory extended to around Port Phillip and Western Port, up into the Great Dividing Range and the Loddon and Goulburn River valleys. To their...
nation, who occupy South-Central Victoria
Victoria (Australia)
Victoria is the second most populous state in Australia. Geographically the smallest mainland state, Victoria is bordered by New South Wales, South Australia, and Tasmania on Boundary Islet to the north, west and south respectively....
, Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
. Prior to European settlement, they lived as all people of the Kulin nation lived, sustainably
Sustainability
Sustainability is the capacity to endure. For humans, sustainability is the long-term maintenance of well being, which has environmental, economic, and social dimensions, and encompasses the concept of union, an interdependent relationship and mutual responsible position with all living and non...
on the land, predominantly as hunters and gatherers, for tens of thousands of years. They were referred to by Europeans as the Western Port or Port Philip tribe and were in alliance with other tribes in the Kulin
Kulin
The Kulin nation, was an alliance of five Indigenous Australian nations in Central Victoria, Australia, prior to European settlement. Their collective territory extended to around Port Phillip and Western Port, up into the Great Dividing Range and the Loddon and Goulburn River valleys. To their...
nation, having particularly strong ties to the Wurundjeri
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.
The Bunurong territory extended along the northern, eastern and southern shorelines of Port Phillip
Port Phillip
Port Phillip Port Phillip Port Phillip (also commonly referred to as Port Phillip Bay or (locally) just The Bay, is a large bay in southern Victoria, Australia; it is the location of Melbourne. Geographically, the bay covers and the shore stretches roughly . Although it is extremely shallow for...
, the Mornington Peninsula
Mornington Peninsula
The Mornington Peninsula is a peninsula located south-east of Melbourne in 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 protrusion...
, Western Port
Western Port
Western Port, is sometimes called "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, it is dominated by the two large islands; French Island and Phillip Island. Contrary to its name, it lies to...
and its two main islands, and land to the south-east down to Wilsons Promontory
Wilsons Promontory National Park
Wilsons 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....
. From 2005 the Bunurong people have been represented by the Bunurong Land Council. They are also recognised in the name of the Bunurong Marine National Park
Bunurong Marine National Park
Bunurong Marine National Park is a 21 km2 marine park along the coast of South Gippsland, Victoria, Australia. About 5 km in length, it stretches from 2.5 km east of Cape Paterson eastwards to a point 6 km south-west of Inverloch, extending seawards for 3 nm to the limit of...
.
First contact
The Bunurong clans would have been aware of the Europeans, as people of the coast who watched the explorers ships sail past, then enter Port PhillipPort Phillip
Port Phillip Port Phillip Port Phillip (also commonly referred to as Port Phillip Bay or (locally) just The Bay, is a large bay in southern Victoria, Australia; it is the location of Melbourne. Geographically, the bay covers and the shore stretches roughly . Although it is extremely shallow for...
and Western Port
Western Port
Western Port, is sometimes called "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, it is dominated by the two large islands; French Island and Phillip Island. Contrary to its name, it lies to...
. Initial contact was made with Lieutenant Murray and his crew from the Lady Nelson when they came ashore for fresh water near present day Sorrento in February 1801. A wary exchange of spears and axes for shirts , mirrors and a steel axe ended when the British panicked, resulting in spears flying, musket shots and the use of the ship's cannon wounding several fleeing Bunurong people.
The following month Captain Milius from the Baudin expedition
Baudin expedition of 1800 to 1802
The Baudin expedition of 1800 to 1803 was a French expedition to map the coast of Australia. Nicolas Baudin was selected as leader in October 1800...
French ship Le Naturaliste danced alone on a beach at Western Port for the natives in a much more peaceful contact.
Just prior to and overlapping the period of British exploration and settlement the Bunurong were involved in a long-running dispute with the Gunai/Kurnai
Gunai
The 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...
people from Gippsland. The conflict was a dispute over resources, according to William Barak, which resulted in heavy casualties being suffered by the Bunurong. Many Gunnai raids occurred to abduct Bunurong women. The Yowengerra had almost been completely annihilated by 1836, largely as a result of attacks from the Gunai. During 1833 - 1834 around 60-70 Bunurong people were killed in a raid by Gunnai when
they were camped to the north of Carrum Swamp.
Dispossession
The first British settlement occurred at Sullivan BaySullivan Bay, Victoria
Sullivan Bay lies 60 km due south of Melbourne on Port Phillip, one kilometre east of Sorrento, Victoria. It was established as a short-lived convict settlement in 1803 by Lieutenant Colonel David Collins. The site was chosen because of its strategic location near the entrance of the Bay...
in October 1803, near modern day Sorrento, Victoria
Sorrento, Victoria
Sorrento is a township in Victoria, Australia, located on the shores of Port Phillip on the Mornington Peninsula, about one and a half hours south of Melbourne...
, under the command of Lieutenant David Collins. William Buckley
William Buckley (convict)
William 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....
, a convict, escaped from this abortive settlement and lived for more than 30 years with the Wada wurrung people before approaching John Batman's party in 1835. He told George Langhorne in 1836:
- I frequently entertained them (the Wada wurrung), when sitting around the campfires, with accounts of the English People, Houses, Ships – great guns etc. to which accounts they would listen with great attention – and express much astonishment.
The Bunurong people, living primarily along the Port Phillip and Western Port coast, were also subjected to raids on their camps by sealers from at least 1809 to as late as 1833, which were frequently violent with men being killed and the women, like Louisa Briggs, being adbucted and enslaved by sealers for sexual partners and taken to the Islands in Bass Strait
Bass Strait
Bass Strait is a sea strait separating Tasmania from the south of the Australian mainland, specifically the state of Victoria.-Extent:The International Hydrographic Organization defines the limits of the Bass Strait as follows:...
where the sealers had their camps. This would have impacted the economic and social ties binding the Wurundjeri and Bunurong peoples.
James Fleming, one of the party of Charles Grimes
Charles Grimes
Charles Grimes was an English-born surveyor who did some valuable work in colonial Australia. He served as surveyor-general of New South Wales and discovered the Yarra River in what is now the state of Victoria. He is perhaps best known for being the surveyor who mapped the route of the Hobart...
in the Cumberland who explored the Maryribynong River and the Yarra River as far as Dights Falls in February 1803 reported small pox scars on several aboriginal people he met, indicating that a small pox epidemic had swept through the tribes around Port Philip before 1803 reducing the population. Broome puts forward that two epidemics of small pox decimated the population of the Kulin
Kulin
The Kulin nation, was an alliance of five Indigenous Australian nations in Central Victoria, Australia, prior to European settlement. Their collective territory extended to around Port Phillip and Western Port, up into the Great Dividing Range and the Loddon and Goulburn River valleys. To their...
tribes by perhaps killing half each time in the 1790s and again around 1830. Small pox arrived in Australia with the First Fleet settlement in Sydney. These epidemics were incorporated in their oral tradition as the Mindye, a rainbow serpent from the Northwest sent to destroy or afflict any people for bad deeds, hissing and spreading white particles from its mouth from which disease could be inhaled.
- "Any plague is supposed to be brought on by the Mindye or some of its little ones. I have no doubt that, in generations gone by, there has been an awful plague of cholera or black fever, and that the wind at the time, or some other appearance from the north-west has given rise to this strange being." reported William Thomas
One particularly notable person at the time of European settlement in Victoria was Derrimut
Derrimut (Indigenous Australian)
Derrimut , was a headman or arweet of the Boonwurrung people from the Melbourne area of Australia....
, a Bunurong Elder, who informed early European settlers in October 1835 of an impending attack by clans from the Woiwurrung
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,...
group. The colonists armed themselves, and the attack was averted. Benbow and Billibellary
Billibellary
Billibellary 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, Jika Jika, Jacky Jacky and Jaga Jaga...
, from the Wurundjeri
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...
, also acted to protect the colonists as part of their duty of hospitality. Derrimut later became very disillusioned and died in the Benevolent Asylum at the age of about 54 years in 1864. A few colonists erected a tombstone to Derrimut in Melbourne General Cemetery
Melbourne General Cemetery
The Melbourne General Cemetery is a large necropolis located north of the city of Melbourne in the suburb of Carlton North.-History:...
in his honour.
By 1839 the Bunurong had been reduced to 83 people, with only 4 of 19 children under four years old, from a probable pre-contact population of greater than 300 people. By 1850 Protector William Thomas estimated just 28 Bunurong people.
In 1852 the Boonwurrung were allocated 340 hectares at Mordialloc Creek while the Woiworrung gained 782 hectares along the Yarra at Warrandyte. These reserves were never staffed by whites and were not permanent camps, but acted as distribution depots where rations and blankets were distributed, with the intention being to keep the tribes away from the growing settlement of Melbourne. The Aboriginal Protection Board revoked these two reserves in 1862-1863, considering them now too close to Melbourne.
In March 1863 after three years of upheaval, the surviving Kulin leaders, among them Simon Wonga
Simon Wonga
Simon Wonga ngurungaeta and son of Billibellary, was an elder of the Wurundjeri indigenous people who lived in the Melbourne area of Australia.In 1840 Simon Wonga injured his foot in the Dandenongs...
and William Barak
William Barak
William Barak , was the last traditional ngurungaeta of the Wurundjeri-willam clan, based around the area of present-day Melbourne, Australia...
, led forty Wurundjeri, Taungurong
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...
(Goulburn River) and Bunurong people over the Black Spur
Black Spur
The Black Spur is a road between the towns of Healesville and Marysville in Victoria, Australia.-Statistics:* Length : 30* Corner Ratio: 80%* Corner Speeds: 60-120 km/h* Legal Speed Limit: 80 km/h* Traffic : 2-5* Bumpiness: Smooth...
and squatted on a traditional camping site on Badger Creek near Healesville and requested ownership of the site. This became Coranderrk
Coranderrk
Coranderrk was an Indigenous Australian mission station set up in 1863 to provide land under the policy of concentration, for Aboriginal people who had been dispossessed by the arrival of Europeans to the state of Victoria 30 years prior. The mission was formally closed in 1924 with most residents...
Station. Coranderrk was closed in 1924 and its occupants forced to move to Lake Tyers in Gippsland
Gippsland
Gippsland is a large rural region in Victoria, Australia. It begins immediately east of the suburbs of Melbourne and stretches to the New South Wales border, lying between the Great Dividing Range to the north and Bass Strait to the south...
.
Structure, borders and land use
Clans
It is generally considered that prior to European settlement, six separate clans existed, each with an arweetArweet
Arweet is an important tribal position in the Boon wurrung and Wathaurong tribal peoples of the Indigenous Australian Kulin alliance who live from Western Port, Port Phillip, Geelong to Ballarat.An Arweet is a leader or headman and held a similar tribal standing as a ngurungaeta of the Wurundjeri...
, or clan headman.
- Yalukit-willam: occupied the thin coastal strip from Werribee, to Williamstown, around to Mordialloc Creek
- Mayone-bulluk: occupied the area at the top of the Mornington PeninsulaMornington PeninsulaThe Mornington Peninsula is a peninsula located south-east of Melbourne in 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 protrusion...
and the head of Western PortWestern PortWestern Port, is sometimes called "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, it is dominated by the two large islands; French Island and Phillip Island. Contrary to its name, it lies to... - Ngaruk-Willam: from Dandenong across to the Mordialloc area
- Yallock-Bullock: from the Bass River on the eastern side of Western Port
- Burinyung-Ballak: unknown territory
- Yowenjerre: the eastern-most side of Bunurong land
Territory
The Bunurong territory extended along the northern, eastern and southern shorelines of Port PhillipPort Phillip
Port Phillip Port Phillip Port Phillip (also commonly referred to as Port Phillip Bay or (locally) just The Bay, is a large bay in southern Victoria, Australia; it is the location of Melbourne. Geographically, the bay covers and the shore stretches roughly . Although it is extremely shallow for...
, the Mornington Peninsula
Mornington Peninsula
The Mornington Peninsula is a peninsula located south-east of Melbourne in 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 protrusion...
, Western Port
Western Port
Western Port, is sometimes called "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, it is dominated by the two large islands; French Island and Phillip Island. Contrary to its name, it lies to...
and its two main islands, and land to the southeast down to Wilsons Promontory
Wilsons Promontory National Park
Wilsons 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....
. This territory was known to the Kulin
Kulin
The Kulin nation, was an alliance of five Indigenous Australian nations in Central Victoria, Australia, prior to European settlement. Their collective territory extended to around Port Phillip and Western Port, up into the Great Dividing Range and the Loddon and Goulburn River valleys. To their...
clans as the marr ne bek or 'excellent country', as it had an abundance of food resources. As descendents from Lohan, Bunurong people were the custodians of the marr ne bek country. Kulin people believed that those from clans outside this country, were required to undergo a specific ritual to enable them to
enter the area without harm.
Religion
The Bunurong people shared the same belief system as other KulinKulin
The Kulin nation, was an alliance of five Indigenous Australian nations in Central Victoria, Australia, prior to European settlement. Their collective territory extended to around Port Phillip and Western Port, up into the Great Dividing Range and the Loddon and Goulburn River valleys. To their...
nation territories, based on a creative epoch known as the Dreamtime
Dreamtime
In the animist framework of Australian Aboriginal mythology, The Dreaming is a sacred era in which ancestral Totemic Spirit Beings formed The Creation.-The Dreaming of the Aboriginal times:...
which stretches back into a remote era in history when the creator ancestors known as the First Peoples travelled across the land, creating and naming as they went. Indigenous Australia's oral tradition and religious values are based upon reverence for the land and a belief in this Dreamtime. The Dreaming is at once both the ancient time of creation and the present day reality of Dreaming. There were a great many different groups, each with their own individual culture, belief structure, and language. These cultures overlapped to a greater or lesser extent, and evolved over time. The two moiety totems of the Wurundjeri people are Bunjil
Bunjil
In Australian Aboriginal mythology, Bunjil the eagle is a creator deity, culture hero and ancestral being. In the Kulin nation in central Victoria he was regarded as one of two moiety ancestors, the other being the trickster Crow. Bunjil has two wives and a son, Binbeal the rainbow. His brother...
the Eaglehawk
Wedge-tailed Eagle
The Wedge-tailed Eagle , sometimes known as the Eaglehawk in its native range, is the largest bird of prey in Australia, but it is also found in southern New Guinea. It has long, fairly broad wings, fully feathered legs, and an unmistakable wedge-shaped tail...
and Waarn the Raven
Australian Raven
The Australian Raven is the largest Australian member of the genus Corvus and one of three Australian species commonly known as ravens. It is a more slender bird than the Common Raven of the Northern Hemisphere but is otherwise similar...
, protector of waterways.
Dreamtime stories
- BunjilBunjilIn Australian Aboriginal mythology, Bunjil the eagle is a creator deity, culture hero and ancestral being. In the Kulin nation in central Victoria he was regarded as one of two moiety ancestors, the other being the trickster Crow. Bunjil has two wives and a son, Binbeal the rainbow. His brother...
& Pallian Creation Story: Bunjil is the Creator spirit of the Kulin People. - BirrarungYarra RiverThe Yarra River, originally Birrarung, is a river in east-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...
Creation Story: formation of the Birrarung River. - Waarn the protector of Bunurong waterways.
Notable Bunurong people
- DerrimutDerrimut (Indigenous Australian)Derrimut , was a headman or arweet of the Boonwurrung people from the Melbourne area of Australia....
(c.1810 – 28 May 1864), a Bunurong Elder, associated with the WurundjeriWurundjeriThe 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...
See also
- Indigenous AustraliansIndigenous AustraliansIndigenous Australians are the original inhabitants of the Australian continent and nearby islands. The Aboriginal Indigenous Australians migrated from the Indian continent around 75,000 to 100,000 years ago....
- Australian Aboriginal enumerationAustralian Aboriginal enumerationA common misconception among non-Aboriginals is that Aboriginals did not have a way to count beyond two or three. However, Alfred Howitt, who studied the peoples of southeastern Australia, disproved this in the late nineteenth century, although the myth continues in circulation today.The...
- Possum-skin cloakPossum-skin cloakPossum-skin cloaks were a form of clothing worn by Aborigines in the south-east of Australia – present-day Victoria and New South Wales.The cloaks were made from numerous possum pelts sewn together with kangaroo sinew, and often decorated with significant incisions on the inside such as clan...
- WurundjeriWurundjeriThe 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...