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Exploring History, Culture, and Science of Victoria’s Country
Developed alongside the feature films Magic Lands – Purra and Buckley’s Chance, the Magic Lands Alliance (MLA) Educational Series offers an in-depth exploration of Victoria’s history, Indigenous culture, and the science of Country — bringing together story, research, and truth-telling.
Drawing from over 500 Harvard-referenced articles rooted in research across Victoria, Wadawurrung Country, and Australia (Vegter, 2025), the series unites history, science, and Indigenous culture of Country. It brings together geology, ecology, hydrology, oceanography, aquaculture, archaeology, agriculture, engineering, astronomy, linguistics, and Indigenous cultural sciences— uncovering the long story of how land, life, and identity have evolved across deep time into the present.
Delivered through an interactive online learning platform, the series has been developed in partnership with First Nations collaborators across the Wadawurrung, Kulin Nations, wider Victoria, Australia and Torres Strait Islands.. It invites learners to explore the interconnected relationships between people, animals, plants, Country, sky, and sea — before, during, and after colonisation.
MLA Educational Sections
- Geology, Country, and Earth Systems — 10 Articles 
 Discover the ancient landforms, volcanoes, fossils, and earth processes that shaped Victoria’s Country and its living environments.
- Indigenous History and Natural Sciences — 19 Articles 
 Explore how traditional knowledge of land, water, and ecological cycles aligns with disciplines such as archaeology, hydrology, and sustainability.
- Indigenous Lores, Languages, and Cultural Ways — 60+ Articles 
 Examine the lores, languages, ceremonies, kinship systems, and cosmological beliefs of the Kulin Nations and Victorian First Peoples.
- Knowledge Systems, Engineering, and the Physics of Country — 80+ Articles 
 Investigate Indigenous innovations in aquaculture, astronomy, navigation, stone engineering, architecture, and sky lore — connecting ancient science with modern understanding.
- Native Animals, Plants, Medicines, and Foods — 85 Articles 
 Study Victoria’s diverse flora and fauna, including species’ ecological roles and cultural uses — from medicinal plants and native foods to totemic animals and environmental balance.
- Colonisation and Government: Victoria 1800s Onwards — 40+ Articles 
 Trace the social, political, and cultural impacts of colonisation, including missions, frontier conflict, early governance, and the resilience of Indigenous communities.
- Introduced and Endangered Species — 20 Articles 
 Investigate the ecological transformation of Country through introduced animals and plants, and the resulting threats to native biodiversity.
- Place Names, Towns, Characters, and Stories of History — 65 Articles 
 Uncover the stories, meanings, and histories behind Wadawurrung and Wurundjeri places, colonial towns, and early figures in Victoria’s development.
- Exploration and Research Studies — 15 Articles 
 Connect the film research and academic studies that inspired Magic Lands, exploring how evidence, oral history, and cultural memory combine to tell the story of Country.
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      Examples of Articles- 
      
        
          
          
          Jurisprudence
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          Indigenous Astrology and Cosmology
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          Victorian Land Treaty
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          Kangaroo History in Victoria
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          Engineering by the First Peoples of Victoria
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          Totems in Victorian Indigenous Communities
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          Dragonflies in Victoria
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          Tanderrum in Victoria
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          Indigenous Mathematics in Victoria
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          Gondwana
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          The Ice Age
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          The Bassian Plain
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          Bull Roarer in Victoria
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          Oceanography
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          Rabbits History in Victoria
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          Indigenous Languages of Victoria
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          Earth Layers Underground
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          Songlines and Music Instruments
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          Ibis - Djarrook
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          Blue Tongue Lizard of Victoria
 
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What you can learn?
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      - Ancient Dinosaurs 
- Bassian Plain – Tasmania 
- Cenozoic Era 
- Geology 
- Gondwana 
- Hydrology 
- Ice Age 
- Mesozoic Era 
- Miocene Era 
- Neogene Era 
- Oligocene Epoch 
- Paleogene Era 
- Pliocene Era 
- Precambrian Era 
- Quaternary Period 
- Volcanic Eruptions 
 
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      - Agriculture 
- Aquaculture History 
- Archaeology 
- Astrology and Cosmology 
- Biodiversity and Aquaculture 
- Botany 
- Conservation Biology 
- Engineering 
- Fossils in Victoria 
- Geology of Victoria 
- Hydrology 
- Meteorology 
- Oceanography 
- Sociology 
- Sustainability 
- Wadawurrung Waterways 
- Water Systems 
- Water Wells – Use 
- Zoology 
 
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      - Clans and Country 
- Community Group Structures 
- Elders – Lawmen and Lawwomen 
- Knowledge Systems 
- Kulin Nation History 
- Languages and Clans 
- Linguistics 
- Lore of the Land 
- Men’s Business 
- Men’s and Women’s Business 
- Moieties 
- Old People of Victoria 
- Songlines – Music 
- Tanderrum 
- Totems 
- Welcome to Country 
 
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      - Birth Trees 
- Bunyip – Story 
- Burial Grounds 
- Ceremony 
- Children’s Stories – History 
- Clothing – Victorian Aboriginals 
- Dancing 
- Dreamtime Stories 
- Healers and Doctors 
- Ochre Painting 
- Possum Skin Cloaks 
- Purra Story 
- Seasons 
- Shape-Shifting 
- Star Stories 
- Stories of the Land – Victoria 
- Three Sisters Story 
- Trade Meets 
- Tribal Markings 
- Victorian Aboriginal Stories 
- Wadawurrung Stories – Land 
- Yowies 
 
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      - Aboriginal Children’s Toys 
- Baskets 
- Boomerangs, Spears, and Woomeras 
- Bullroarer 
- Canoes 
- Clapsticks 
- Coolamon 
- Digging Sticks 
- Drums 
- Eel Traps 
- Fire Making 
- Huts 
- Marngrook 
- Rope and Nets 
- Smoke and Fire 
- Stone Country 
- Stone Tools 
- Stone Use – Aboriginal Culture 
- Tarnook (Water Carrier) 
- Waterways 
 
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      · Clouds · Colours of Country · Full Moons · Ley Lines · Lightning and Thunder · Lime Caves · Rainbows · Skies · Stars · Sun · Waterfalls · Waters · Wind 
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      Ants 
 Bats
 Bees
 Bettongs
 Black and White Cockatoo
 Crow – Waa
 Crustaceans
 Curlew
 Dingoes
 Dolphins
 Dragonflies
 Eagles – Hunting History
 Echidna
 Eels
 Emu
 Hawks
 Indigenous Animals of Country
 Kangaroos
 Koala
 Kookaburras
 Lizards
 Magpie
 Moths
 Native Birds of Victoria
 Native Fish
 Native Frogs
 Native Insects
 Native Parrots
 Native Possums
 Native Reptiles
 Native Sea Creatures
 Native Spiders
 Owl – History
 Pademelons
 Pelicans
 Penguins
 Platypus
 Rock Wallabies
 Seals
 Seagulls
 Sharks in Victoria
 Shellfish
 Swans
 Tasmanian Tiger
 Turtles
 Wallabies
 Wedged-Tailed Eagle
 Whales
 Willy Wagtail
 Wombat
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      · Algae in Victoria · Bearded Heath · Bees and Honey · Bird Faeces · Cherry Ballart · Cooking · Fungi · Grasses · Grasses of Country · Gum Trees · Indigenous Vegetation History · Kangaroo Apple · Meats, Fish, and Cooking · Mushrooms · Nardoo · Native Plants of Victoria · Native Berries · Native Flowers · Native Foods on Country · Native Leek · Native Raspberries · Native Vegetables · Pig Face · Plant Medicines · Quandong · Seaweed · She-oak / Bull Oak · Warrigal Cabbage · Wattle Trees · Yam Daisy 
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      - Architecture and Materials Used in Early Victoria 
- Bell 
- Board of Protectors 
- Building Early Victoria 
- Colonisation – Word and Meaning 
- Colonial Courts 
- Colonial Geelong Make-up 
- Colonial Men in Port Phillip 
- Colonial Prisons 
- Coranderrk Mission 
- Crown Definition and Crown Land 
- Cummeragunja Mission 
- Early Economy of Victoria 
- Fire – History in Victoria 
- First Colonisers on Wadawurrung Country 
- First Colonisers – Victoria 
- Government Policy History on Aboriginal Victorian People 
- Gold Rush – History 
- Half Caste Act 
- Hanging Law 
- Journals 
- Leadership and Authority – Early Geelong 
- Leadership and Authority – Early Melbourne (1835–1900s) 
- Melbourne – History 
- Missions 
- Painting and Photography 
- Policing, Prisons, and Punishments (1835–1860) 
- Population – Early Victoria 
- Port Phillip Association 
- Sealing History 
- Shepherds and Colonial Victoria 
- Shepherds, Servants, and Stockmen 
- Ships – History 
- Silent War – Massacres, etc. 
- Smallpox History 
- Squatter Licences 
- Terra Nullius 
- Treaty 
- Wadawurrung Land Grab 
- Women of Early Port Phillip 
 
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      📜 INDIGENOUS HISTORY: 1800s ONWARDS - Aboriginal Protectorate 
- Botanical Gardens Mission 
- Framlingham and Western Indigenous Communities 
- Framlingham Mission 
- Indigenous Children 
- Indigenous Men of the Frontier 
- Indigenous Women 
- Lake Condah 
- Lake Tyers Mission 
- Native Police 
- Path to Treaty 
- RAP – History 
- Referendum – 1967 
- Resistance – Warfare 
- Self-Determination (1970–Present) 
- Stolen Generations 
- Trauma of Colonisation 
- Wadawurrung Survivors 
- Word – Aboriginal 
 
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      · Cats – History · Cattle – History · Dogs – History in Colonial Victoria · Endangered Species – Plants · Endangered Species – Animals and Plants · Foxes – History · Introduced Animals · Mice and Rats – History · Rabbits – History · Sheep – History · Victorian Flora and Fauna · Weeds Introduced 
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      CHARACTERS · Anne Drysdale and Caroline Newcomb · Buckley · Eliza Batman · George Augustus Robinson · Henty Brothers · Hesse and Gellibrand · Hume and Hovell · John Batman and the Treaty · Major Mitchell’s Expedition · Purran Murnin CITIES · Ballarat – Gold and Governance · Geelong – Djilang History · Melbourne – Narrm · Torquay – Coastal Settlement · Warrnambool – Western Frontier · Bendigo – Gold and Growth STATE NAMINGS · Naming of Tasmania · Victoria Naming · Victoria–Tasmania Shared Naming History TOWNS · Local Colonial Town Development · Early Settlement Patterns · Mission Townships and Colonial Mapping · Victorian Coastal Settlements · Port Phillip District History WADAWURRUNG PLACE NAMES AND MEANINGS · Anakie · Bacchus Marsh · Ball-wein – Bellarine Peninsula · Ballan · Ballarat · Barwon River · Breamlea · Barwon–Barwon Coast · Buninyong · Djilang (Geelong) · Djilang–Kardinia Meeting Place · Kardinia – History · Lake Connewarre · Lake Modewarre · Lara · Lorne · Moorabool River · Mount Moriac · Narrm – Melbourne · Surf Coast – History · Torquay · Wadawurrung Meaning · Wadawurrung Place Names · Werribee · You Yang and Wurdi Youang WURUNDJERI PLACE NAMES · Birrarung (Yarra River) · Nairm (Port Phillip Bay) · Corhanwarrabul (Dandenong Ranges) · Kew – Kooyong · Merri Creek and Darebin · Plenty River · Mount Macedon and Sunbury Region · Wurundjeri Songlines – Northern Country YARRA FALLS · Yarra Falls History and Early Industry · The Falls as a Meeting Place · Wurundjeri Connection to the River · Colonial Alterations and Bridge History 
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      - Beneath Country 
- Frequencies and Energy of Country 
- Healing Country 
- Indigenous Philosophy 
- IP Explained – ICIP 
- Jurisprudence 
- Matriarchal – Patriarchal 
- Physics of Rhythm 
- Polymer Chemistry 
- Psychology 
- Racism – Human Rights 
- Truth 
 
MLA Educational Series disclaimer
All material within the MLA Education Series is the intellectual property of Magic Lands Alliance (MLA) and is provided for educational and cultural learning purposes only. Commercial use is not permitted. Anyone wishing to use this information in business or media contexts must first consult and gain permission from the relevant local Indigenous Communities and Magic Lands Alliance.
This COURSE will be available in 2026, depending on funding.
Supporting the Magic Lands Alliance means contributing in:
- Educational infrastructure – curriculum-ready Indigenous resources for schools and universities 
- Cultural preservation – authentic partnerships with First Nations communities 
- Sustainable storytelling – linking film, research, and education for global distribution 
“From screen to classroom — truth-telling that teaches, heals, and connects.
Reach out for more information

