Wada Wurrung man in a bark canoe on the Barwon River - Geelong
The Wada Wurrung were a powerful and populous tribe that included at least twenty five clans occupying a territory of 120 by 150 kilometre. Their lands included woodlands east of the Otway Ranges, ocean and bay coasts, grasslands, lakes and wetlands of the volcanic plains, and woodlands of the central Victorian dividing range. They were one of the five peoples of the Kulin Federation, which also included the Bun Wurrung (of Port Phillip and lands east thereof), the Woi Wurrung (of Melbourne and the plain north thereof), the Daung Wurrung (central-east Victoria), and the Djadja Wurrung (central Victoria).
Wathaurong, Watha Wurrung, Wadha Wurrung, Wadouro, Wathwurrung
The numbers on this map indicate the approximate locations of clan estates. The entire landscape was a mosaic of such estates. Through intermarriage and other alliances people were able to access land and resources far beyond their own estates. Access to land and resources was negotiated through discussion, marriage, ceremony and adherence to law.
It is possible that there were more clans than listed here.
This map is derived from Clark (1990)
No. |
Clan name |
Approximate location |
The language of the Wada Wurrung is most closely related to those of the Daung Wurrung, Bun Wurrung, Woi Wurrung, Djab Wurrung and Djadja Wurrung. However, it was very much a distinct language.
Even though they had a different descent system, some Wada Wurrung clans intermarried with clans of the Gulidjan, Djab Wurrung and Djargurd Wurrung.
Relations between clans of the Wada Wurrung and nearby clans of Djadja Wurrung and Djab Wurrung were friendly and intermarriage occurred.
It is known that Wada Wurrung gathered at Mirraewuae Swamp, east of the Grampians, to hunt and conduct ceremony with the Djab Wurrung, Dauwurd Wurrung and Girai Wurrung. It is thought that Wada Wurrung and Girai Wurrung similarly gathered at Lake Bolac with the local Djab Wurrung clans for the annual early Autumn eel migration - a time of plenty when celebrations and ceremony including many hundreds of people was possible.
In the original account of the Life and Adventures of the convict William Buckley (MacDougall, 1852) who lived with the Wada Wurrung prior to the settlement of Victoria, his band met to trade eels with people at a place that may have been present day Barramunga, in the heart of Gudabanud territory. He also travelled to Gulidjan and possibly Djargurd Wurrung territory.
In common with the other Kulin peoples, the Wada Wurrung 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 Waa (crow) or the Bungil (eagle-hawk) moiety.
'Having formed features of the earth Bungil decided to bring humanity into existence. He gathered up a quantity of clay from a riverbed, divided it in two, and placed it on large sheets of bark that had been cut from a gum tree. Bunjil then worked the clay, shaping it into the image of two men. He took stringy bark from the trees and used it for hair. Bunjil was pleased with his work and danced around the figures he had made. he blew air into the mouths, noses and navels of these new creatures and filled them with life. Then Bunjil's brother Pallian, who had been given control of all the rivers, creeks and billabongs, began to thump the water with his hands. The water became thicker and thicker and eventually took on the shape and appearance of two women. Each man was presented with a hunting spear while the women were given a strong digging stick, to unearth yams and edible roots.'
From People of the Merri Merri by I. Ellender & P. Christiansen (2001).
The lands of the Wada Wurrung included vast areas of landscape stretching from the eastern Otway Coasts and shores of Port Phillip to the central Victoria uplands, including extensive areas of volcanic grassland plains between. A wide variety of food and other resources would have been bountiful in these landscapes, and bands of people would have had considerable flexibility in how they chose to move with the seasons, making use of the shores, wetlands, rivers, woodlands, forests and plains.
In addition, cooperative relationships between Wada Wurrung clans and the clans of many of the neighbouring language-culture groups would have greatly extended the territory in which food and other resources were obtained. The gatherings in Djab Wurrung country at Mirraewuae Swamp east of the Grampians, at Lake Bolac for the eel harvest are examples of this.
In his account of life with the Wada Wurrung - during the thirty years that preceeded the founding of Melbourne - William Buckley describes living with bands of people who travelled extensively around the Geelong area, the Otway Ranges, to Lake Colac and Lake Corangamite (Gulidjan and Djargurd Wurrung country), and across the intervening plains.
The Life and Adventures of William Buckley.
Aboriginal Languages and Clans: An historical atlas of western and central Victoria.
People of the Merri Merri.