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The Kulin nation is an alliance of five Aboriginal nations in the south of Australia - up into the Great Dividing Range and the Loddon and Goulburn River valleys - which shares Culture and Language.

History

Before British colonisation, the tribes spoke five related languages. These languages are spoken by two groups: the eastern Kulin group of Woiwurrung–Taungurung, Boonwurrung and Ngurai-illam-wurrung; and the western language group of just Wadawurrung.

The central Victoria area has been inhabited for an estimated 42,000 years before European settlement.^[a] At the time of British settlement in the 1830s, the collective populations of the Woiwurrung, Boonwurrung and Wadawurrung tribes of the Kulin nation was estimated to be under 20,000.^[1]^[2]^[b] The Kulin lived by fishing, cultivating murnong (also called yam daisy; Microseris) as well as hunting and gathering, and made a sustainable living from the rich food sources of Port Phillip and the surrounding grasslands.^[2]^[3]

Due to the upheaval and disturbances from British settlement from the 1830s on, there is limited physical evidence of the Kulin peoples' collective past. However, there is a small number of registered sites of cultural and spiritual significance in the Melbourne area.^[4]^[5]

People

Woiwurrung (Woy-wur-rung) – the Wurundjeri people
Boonwurrung – the Boonwurrung people
Wathaurong (Wath-er-rung) – the Wathaurong people
Taungurung (Tung-ger-rung) – the Taungurung people
Dja Dja Wurrung (Jar-Jar-Wur-rung) – the Djadjawurrung or Djaara people

At certain times of the year, these nations would meet at Yarra Falls to settle disputes, to trade, and to hold corroborees.^[6]

Diplomacy

When foreign people passed through or were invited onto tribal lands, the ceremony of tanderrum – freedom of the bush – was performed. This was intended to allow for 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.

Notes

^ "There is some evidence to show that people were living in the Maribyrnong River valley, near present day Keilor, about 40,000 years ago." (Presland 1997:^{[page needed]})
^ Presland describes in some detail the archaeological evidence regarding aboriginal life, culture, food gathering and land management, particularly the period from the flooding of Bass Strait and Port Phillip from about 7–10,000 years ago, up to the European colonisation in the 19th century. (Presland 1994, p. ^{[page needed]})

Citations

^ Anon. n.d.
^ ^a ^b Presland 1994, p. ^{[page needed]}.
^ Pascoe 2017, p. ^{[page needed]}.
^ Eidelson 1997, pp. 8–9.
^ Eidelson 2001.
^ Maunder 2008.

Bibliography

Anon. (n.d.). "Indigenous connections to the site" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 31 August 2007.
Eidelson, Meyer (1997). The Melbourne Dreaming. A Guide to the Aboriginal Places of Melbourne. Canberra: Aboriginal Studies Press. ISBN 0-85575-306-4.
—— (2001). "The Footballer, First in the league (about James Wandin)". Walks in Port Phillip. A guide to the cultural landscapes of a City (PDF). City of Port Phillip. pp. 35–37. ISBN 0-646-41199-3. Archived from the original (PDF) on 30 October 2008.
Maunder, Patricia (11 January 2008). "Melbourne dreamtime a reality". The Age. Retrieved 24 April 2019.
Pascoe, Bruce (2017). Dark Emu. ISBN 978-1-4893-8039-5. OCLC 1089338508.^{[better source needed]}
Presland, Gary (1994) [First published 1985]. Aboriginal Melbourne: The Lost Land of the Kulin People (Second ed.). Harriland Press. ISBN 0-9577004-2-3.
—— (1997). The First Residents of Melbourne's Western Region. Forest Hill, Victoria: Harriland Press. ISBN 0-646-33150-7. OCLC 222368168.