The Girai wurrung are Indigenous Australian people who traditionally occupied the territory between Mount Emu Creek and the Hopkins River up to Mount Hamilton, and the Western Otways from the Gellibrand River to the Hopkins River. The territory was bordered by the Djab wurrung

Djab Wurrung

The Djab wurrung people are Indigenous Australians who occupy the volcanic plains of central Victoria from the Mount William Range of Gariwerd in the west to the Pyrenees range in the east encompassing the Wimmera River flowing north and the headwaters of the Hopkins River flowing south. The towns...

 and Wada wurrung in the north, the Dhauwurd wurrung in the west, and the Djargurd Wurrung

Djargurd Wurrung

The Djargurd wurrung are Indigenous Australian people who traditionally occupied the territory between Mount Emu Creek and Lake Corangamite, extending to Mount Emu and Cressy in the North, and to Cobden and Swan Marsh in the South in central Victoria and are still represented in the region. The...

, Gulidjan

Gulidjan

The Gulidjan, also known as the Colac tribe, Colijan, Colagdians, Kolakgnat, are an indigenous Australian tribe whose traditional lands cover the Lake Colac region of Victoria, Australia. They occupied the grasslands, woodlands, volcanic plains and lakes region east of Lake Corangamite, west of the...

 and Gadubanud

Gadubanud

The Gadubanud people occupied the rainforest plateau and rugged coastline of Cape Otway in Western Victoria covering the present towns of Lorne and Apollo Bay. The Gellibrand and Barwon Rivers are likely territorial borders with the Wada wurrung to the north east, Gulidjan to the north and Girai...

 in the east. The Framlingham Aboriginal Reserve

Framlingham, Victoria

Framlingham was an Aboriginal reserve established by the Board for the Protection of Aborigines in Victoria, Australia in 1861. It was located beside the Hopkins River in the territory of the Girai wurrung near the boundary with the Gunditjmara, not to far from Warrnambool on the south-west coast...

 was established in Girai wurrung territory bordering the Gunditjmara

Gunditjmara

Gunditjmara, or Gundidj for short, are an Indigenous Australian group from western Victoria . Their neighbours to the west were the Buandig people, to the north the Jardwadjali and Djab wurrung peoples, and in the east the Girai wurrung people.The name may also be spelt Gournditch-Mara...

 (Dhauwurd wurrung) people.

Clan System

The Girai wurrung people had 21 clans with a matrilineally based descent system based on the Gabadj (Black Cockatoo) and Guragidj (White Cockatoo) moieties

Australian Aboriginal kinship

Australian Aboriginal kinship is the system of law governing social interaction, particularly marriage, in traditional Australian Aboriginal culture...

. The clans gathered with the Djab wurrung, Dhauwurd wurrung and Wada wurrung peoples to harvest eels at Lake Bolac. They also met at Mirraewuae swamp near Hexham to hunt emus and other game and to conduct business.

History

European settlement of the area began in 1838 and in the early 1840s the Girai wurrung engaged in a sustained guerilla war with the encroaching pastoralists. Dispossession from their land led to starvation and the theft of sheep resulted in murderous reprisals.

Assistant Aboriginal Protector Charles Sievwright was successful in bringing charges against G.S. Bolden for killing 2 Gunawurd gundidj people on 27th October 1841, but Supreme Court judge Willis acquitted Bolden in December 1841 of the charges and spoke of the right of squatter licencees to turn anyone off their property. This decision was made despite the conditional nature of the squatter's licence by the Government to allow for aboriginal access for hunting and traditional use.

During 1841 Assistant Protector CW Sievwright set up headquarters at two locations: Lake Keilambete and Lake Terang, but these were only temporary and Sievwright was ordered by Robinson to move to Mount Rouse in February 1842.

When Framlingham Aboriginal Reserve

Framlingham, Victoria

Framlingham was an Aboriginal reserve established by the Board for the Protection of Aborigines in Victoria, Australia in 1861. It was located beside the Hopkins River in the territory of the Girai wurrung near the boundary with the Gunditjmara, not to far from Warrnambool on the south-west coast...

was occupied in 1865 near Warrnambool many of the surviving members of the Girai wurrung joined the reserve along with surviving Djargurd wurrung who were forcibly relocated and Gunditjmara from Warrnambool. Gunditjmara from Portland and Lake Condah refused to settle at Framlingham, leading to the establishment of Lake Condah reserve in 1869.

Historian Ian Clark asserts that from 1868 the history of the Girai wurrung becomes the history of Framlingham.