Waranga Dreaming
In October 1840, there was a mass arrest of around 200 Aboriginal men near Melbourne, including some men from Ngurai-illum Wurrung country. Melbourne was only five years old at that stage. Prior to European colonisation, the banks of the Yarra had been an ancient site for gatherings of Aboriginal people
Waranga Dreaming
During the 1840s, the Melbourne papers reported on a series of battles between groups which are now considered to be part of the Kulin Nation. The journalists sometimes speculated about the cause of the battles, but more often than not would have had little understanding of what was going on.
Waranga Dreaming
One of the reasons for gatherings of vast numbers of Aboriginal people pre-European colonisation was to take advantage of seasonal surpluses of food, to be found in particular locations at certain times of the year. Across Australian, there are many well-known examples of this, such as travel to the Victorian
Waranga Dreaming
In earlier stories, the relationships between groups of Aboriginal people prior to European colonisation have been briefly discussed. The core unit was called a clan, which was usually an extended family group. A number of clans that spoke a particular language and lived in a fairly defined geographic area was
Waranga Dreaming
Most Australians are very familiar with the word “woomera” through its generic use as a term for an Aboriginal implement used to throw spears. The term was also used to name the area in South Australia where the British Government imposed on Australia to detonate atomic bombs and fire rockets
Waranga Dreaming
As explained in the last story, the spear was the principal weapon for hunting larger animals such as kangaroos and emus, which was primarily a male occupation. Prior to the hunt, a significant amount of work would have gone into spear production to try to ensure the best possible outcome.
Waranga Dreaming
One of the implements always carried by Ngurai-illum Wurrung men in the local area was the spear. When travelling across country, each man would usually carry a handful of spears. This was the principal weapon used for hunting larger marsupials, particularly kangaroos. It was also used in internecine conflict and
Waranga Dreaming
Writing about Aboriginal history is fraught, for many reasons. Not least of these is the fact that much of this history has been passed down in an oral tradition, while academic historians generally rely on documented material to verify facts and tell their stories. It is much harder to access
Waranga Dreaming
The most important Aboriginal tools in pre-colonisation times were stone axes. Recent stories have talked about the use of greenstone in producing the axe heads. Locally, the stone was quarried on the Mt Camel range. Quarried axe-heads were then chipped on one side to make a sharp edge. They could
Waranga Dreaming
Much of the research that has been done on greenstone axe-heads revolves around the quarry at Mt William near Lancefield. The quarry on the Mt Camel range near Toolleen is much smaller than the Mt William quarry, but displays some of the same characteristics, viz - * The outcrop bears scars
Waranga Dreaming
Perhaps the most important tool used by the Ngurai-illum Wurrung people prior to European colonisation was the stone axe. It had a wide variety of uses, including collecting bark to make canoes, as mentioned in the previous story. They were also used to “cut wood and bark from trees to
Waranga Dreaming
The last story talked about some of the possible links between the Aboriginal game of Marn Grook and present-day Aussie Rules football. Marn Grook is one of many activities undertaken by Aboriginal people that we would now classify as sport or games. These days we see sport as part of