Celestial Connections
During the 19th century gold rushes, many Chinese miners came to the Waranga area, mostly from the mid-1850s onwards. In history, they have tended to be lumped together into one homogenous group. One reason for this was that they tended to stick together as part of tight-knit groups
Celestial Connections
The Waranga area has strong Chinese historical connections, thanks largely to the influx of Chinese miners during the gold rush. Gold discoveries in this area in 1853 post-dated earlier finds in Victoria, which had sparked the first gold rushes to the new state, by a little over two years.
Waranga Dreaming
It is quite remarkable that humans have occupied the Waranga area for more than 40,000 years. We do not know a lot about that history, instead tending to focus almost exclusively on the period from the commencement of the gold rush in 1853. The process of colonisation, which commenced
Waranga Dreaming
These days we take our various modes of communication for granted – radio, television, telephone, the internet and so on. Imagine living on the extensive Ngurai-illum Wurrung Country prior to colonisation where none of these methods were available. For instance, how could people who were living for a large part
Waranga Dreaming
Despite the fact that there is not a lot of information in contemporary writing (i.e. mid 1800s), it is clear that the local Ngurai-illum Wurrung people kept dogs (pure-bred dingoes) at the time of colonisation. The dogs were important to them in all sorts of ways, as
Waranga Dreaming
With the arrival of colonists, it was assumed that the local Aboriginal people would change their names to European sounding names. If you think about that for a while, it is an astonishingly arrogant expectation. The local Aboriginal people had lived in the Waranga area continuously for over 40,000
Waranga Dreaming
When we look at the night sky, we tend to look at the features that are illuminated e.g. stars, planets, meteors, satellites, the moon. We tend not to look at the dark spaces in between these features. With their comprehensive knowledge of the night skies, which were seen simply
Waranga Dreaming
Just prior to World War 2, a farmer at Prairie, west of Rochester, recorded the rainfall on his property. At the same time, he sketched the position of the crescent new moon each month. He seems to have been testing a theory that there is a clear relationship between the
Waranga Dreaming
Aboriginal people saw connections between everything in their world, with the sky being seen as an integral part of what is regarded as Country. “Country includes land, seas, waters, rocks, animals, winds and all the beings that exist in and make up a place, including people. It also embraces the
Waranga Dreaming
We recognise just four seasons – summer, autumn, winter and spring – a concept which was probably brought to Australia by colonists from the northern hemisphere. Aboriginal people of the Kulin Nation recognised between six and eight seasons, depending on where they lived and who you listen to.
Waranga Dreaming
During the early days of colonisation in the Waranga area, there were instances where flocks of sheep were taken by Aboriginal people, particularly along the Campaspe River. There were some obvious reasons for this. Firstly, squatters valued the same resources as the traditional custodians – access to water in proximity to
Waranga Dreaming
Recent Waranga Dreaming stories have talked about Aboriginal artefacts in the form of stone tools – either stone chipped off (knapped) during the construction phase, the final product or part thereof. Many farmers in the area east of the Mount Camel range can attest to large numbers of artefacts being found