Culture, Kinship, and Identity through Totems

Totems are at the heart of Indigenous cultural, spiritual, and ecological life. Across Australia, they link individuals, families, and clans to animals, plants, waterways, and ancestral beings, forming an intricate web of relationships that connect people to Country. In Victoria, totems were not merely symbolic; they carried binding responsibilities for ecological care, kinship, and ceremony. They governed marriage, shaped law (Lore), and defined identity within a system that fused the physical and spiritual worlds (Reynolds, 1987; Broome, 2005).

This article explores the meaning of totems in Victorian Indigenous communities — including examples from the Kulin Nations, Wadawurrung, Gunditjmara, and Yorta Yorta — and situates these systems within broader Aboriginal and global contexts.

What Are Totems?

A totem is a natural object, plant, or animal inherited through family or clan lines as a spiritual emblem. Each person is born into a totemic relationship that connects them to an Ancestral Being, a species or landscape, and a social group or moiety.

Totems embody reciprocal obligations. A person must care for the species associated with their totem, protect its habitat, and observe ritual restrictions. In many Victorian communities, people could not hunt, harm, or consume their totem species, for doing so would violate Lore (Broome, 2005).

Totemic law expresses the unity of ecology and ethics — a reminder that human wellbeing and environmental balance are inseparable.

Totemic Systems in Victoria

The Kulin Nations

In central Victoria, the Kulin Nations — comprising the Woiwurrung (Wurundjeri), Boonwurrung, Wadawurrung, Taungurung, and Dja Dja Wurrung — organised society around two great moieties: Bunjil (the wedge-tailed eagle) and Waa (the crow). Each person inherited one of these identities, which governed marriage and ceremony. Members of the Bunjil moiety were required to marry into Waa families and vice versa, ensuring social balance and alliance across clan territories (Barwick, 1998).

These moiety systems extended into the natural world. Animals, plants, and even celestial bodies were classified under Bunjil or Waa, creating a living structure of balance across Country (Clark, 1990).

Within this framework, cockatoos held symbolic importance: white cockatoos (such as the sulphur-crested) were linked to Bunjil, while black cockatoos (such as the yellow-tailed) were associated with Waa. The contrast of light and dark mirrored the dual harmony that underpinned Kulin law — the constant rhythm between difference and unity in social and ecological life.

The Wadawurrung

For the Wadawurrung people, whose Country spans from Ballarat to Geelong, the Bellarine Peninsula, and the Werribee Plains, totems and moieties shaped every aspect of life, linking people to the land’s mountains, rivers, and coastlines. The two major moieties — Bunjil and Waa — structured kinship and marriage, but each clan also carried specific totems connected to local landscapes, animals, and ancestors.

Wadawurrung families were deeply tied to the Barwon (Parwan) River and Moorabool River, whose totemic species included eels, fish, and waterbirds. These animals were more than resources; they were kin and teachers. Clans connected to certain totems carried custodial duties to care for breeding grounds, nesting areas, and waterways.

Among many Wadawurrung families, kangaroo, emu, and black swan were key totemic figures, embodying strength, mobility, and connection to the wetlands of the Bellarine Peninsula. The black swan in particular held ceremonial importance, symbolising grace, transformation, and renewal along the water systems stretching to Lake Connewarre.

Each totem also held gendered and ecological roles. For example, men associated with kangaroo or eaglehawk lineages often carried ceremonial duties of protection, while women linked to swan or murnong (yam daisy) totems maintained responsibilities for nurturing, harvesting, and food law.

Today, the Wadawurrung Traditional Owners Aboriginal Corporation (WTOAC) teaches these totemic relationships through education, language revival, and environmental stewardship. Programs connect schools and communities with ancestral stories of totems like Bunjil, Waa, Swan, Kangaroo, and Kooyang (eel) — re-establishing cultural identity and ecological ethics grounded in ancient knowledge.

The Gunditjmara

Further west, the Gunditjmara people of the Budj Bim region maintained a rich totemic system deeply entwined with their environment of stone channels, wetlands, and volcanic plains. The eel (kooyang) was a sacred and practical totem, central to both diet and cosmology. Clans responsible for kooyang oversaw the maintenance of aquaculture systems — channels, weirs, and ponds — ensuring balance between harvest and regeneration (Clark, 1990).

Breaking obligations to kooyang was seen as a breach of Lore, as it disturbed ancestral law and the ecological order. Other Gunditjmara clans held totems tied to kangaroos, native grasses, or specific volcanic features, reflecting the region’s deep connection between geology, spirituality, and subsistence.

The Yorta Yorta

To the north, along the Murray–Goulburn system, the Yorta Yorta people maintained totems bound to the life of the rivers. The long-necked turtle and Murray cod are among their central totemic species, embodying the teachings of Dhungala (the Murray River) as ancestor and lawgiver. Each totem expressed the community’s obligation to protect breeding grounds, regulate harvest seasons, and maintain ceremonial links between families and water systems (Atkinson, 2002).

Yorta Yorta ceremonies reinforced the sacredness of water as life-source and spiritual connector — a principle echoed in their assertion of land and river rights.

Totems Across Indigenous Australia

Totemic systems vary across Australia yet share the universal principles of kinship, balance, and reciprocity.

In the Northern Territory, the Yolŋu divide all beings into Dhuwa and Yirritja moieties, organising marriage, songlines, and ceremonies through these dual structures (Morphy, 1991). Among the Arrernte in Central Australia, Dreaming totems (Altyerrenge) — such as kangaroo, witchetty grub, or honey ant — link individuals to creation stories and ceremonial duties (Strehlow, 1971). In Western Australia, Noongar families inherit kobong, personal and clan totems that forbid harming the species with which they share spiritual kinship (Moore, 1842/1978). In the Torres Strait, totems are primarily marine — shark, turtle, and dugong — binding people to the rhythms of the sea (Sharp, 1993).

Totems and Cultural Responsibilities

Totemic systems are both spiritual and ecological frameworks. They:

• regulate marriage and kinship to maintain genetic diversity and social harmony;

• guide hunting and resource use, restricting harm to totem species;

• embed environmental ethics into ceremony and story; and

• enforce reciprocity with the natural world (Broome, 2005).

For millennia, totemic law ensured sustainability and respect — functioning as an ecological governance system grounded in spiritual obligation rather than ownership.

Impacts of Colonisation

Colonisation in Victoria severely disrupted totemic life. Ceremonies were banned, languages suppressed, and missions prohibited traditional kinship structures. Land clearing and grazing destroyed the habitats of many totemic species, including murnong fields, eels, and wetlands (Reynolds, 1987; Clark, 1990).

Despite these pressures, Elders maintained knowledge through oral tradition, quietly passing down totemic names, stories, and taboos. Even during periods of forced assimilation, cultural memory persisted — a silent continuity that underpins today’s resurgence.

Revival and Modern Practice

Across Victoria, totemic knowledge is being revived through cultural education, ecological restoration, and ceremony. The Wadawurrung Traditional Owners Aboriginal Corporation reintroduces totem teachings in schools and land management projects. Gunditjmara Elders celebrate eel totems through Budj Bim ceremonies that unite heritage and sustainability. Yorta Yorta leaders reaffirm totemic ties to Dhungala in land justice movements. Across Australia, Yolŋu and Noongar groups integrate totemic principles into bilingual education and environmental programs, demonstrating the ongoing vitality of Indigenous ecological law.

Global Analogies

Totemic systems are a shared human phenomenon linking ecology and culture. First Nations in North America identify clan animals such as Bear, Wolf, and Turtle; in Africa, totemic taboos protect clan species and habitats; in Polynesia, genealogies connect families to animal and elemental ancestors. These parallels highlight how totems express a universal human ethic — embedding law, spirituality, and ecology within nature itself.

Conclusion

Totems remain a living framework of culture, identity, and law. In Victoria, the moieties of Bunjil and Waa, the kooyang of Gunditjmara, the turtle and cod of Yorta Yorta, and the swan, eaglehawk, and kangaroo of Wadawurrung express an enduring philosophy: that people, species, and Country are inseparable.

Colonisation sought to silence these connections, yet their revival across Victoria demonstrates resilience and continuity. As communities restore totemic knowledge and ecological stewardship, they reaffirm the balance between humanity and the living world — a balance first taught by Bunjil, Waa, and the Ancestors who still dwell in the land and sky.

References

Atkinson, W. (2002). Not One Iota: The Yorta Yorta Struggle for Land Justice. Melbourne: Aboriginal Studies Press.
Barwick, D. (1998). Rebellion at Coranderrk. Canberra: Aboriginal History Monograph.
Blake, B. (1991). Wathawurrung and the Colac Language of Southern Victoria. Canberra: Pacific Linguistics.
Broome, R. (2005). Aboriginal Victorians: A History Since 1800. Sydney: Allen & Unwin.
Clark, I. (1990). Aboriginal Languages and Clans: An Historical Atlas of Western and Central Victoria, 1800–1900. Melbourne: Monash Publications in Geography.
Moore, G.F. (1842/1978). A Descriptive Vocabulary of the Language in Common Use Amongst the Aborigines of Western Australia. Nedlands: University of Western Australia Press.
Morphy, H. (1991). Ancestral Connections: Art and an Aboriginal System of Knowledge. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
Reynolds, H. (1987). The Law of the Land. Ringwood: Penguin.
Sharp, N. (1993). Stars of Tagai: The Torres Strait Islanders. Canberra: Aboriginal Studies Press.
Strehlow, T. (1971). Songs of Central Australia. Sydney: Angus & Robertson.

Written, Researched and Directed by James Vegter and Uncle Reg Abrahams — 16 September 2025

Magic Lands Alliance
Sharing the truth of Indigenous and colonial history through film, education, land, and community.
www.magiclandsalliance.org

Magic Lands Alliance acknowledges the Traditional Owners, Custodians, and First Nations communities across Australia and internationally. We honour their enduring connection to the sky, land, waters, language, and culture, and pay our respects to Elders past, present, and emerging. This article draws only on publicly available information; many cultural practices remain the intellectual property of their communities.