Lore, Ceremony & Cultural Practice
Introduction
Welcome to Country is a ceremonial protocol performed by Indigenous custodians to acknowledge and honour sovereignty, culture, and connection to land. In Victoria, it draws on deep-time Kulin Nation protocols for movement across Country and has evolved as a modern act of recognition, resistance, and education (Barwick 1984; Clark 1990; Broome 2005). This article traces its pre-colonial origins, suppression under colonisation, twentieth-century revival, contemporary uses, debates about overuse or tokenism, and parallels across Australia and internationally.
Pre-1800s
Long before colonisation, Nations across Victoria followed strict cultural protocols regulating movement between estates and clans. Within the Kulin Nation — including Woiwurrung (Wurundjeri), Boonwurrung, Taungurung, Dja Dja Wurrung, and Wadawurrung — cultural lore governed who could travel, hunt, or harvest on another group’s land (Barwick 1984; Clark 1990).
Visitors sought permission from Traditional Owners through ceremonies of introduction, exchange, song, dance, and performance — often remembered in the Melbourne region as Tanderrum, a welcome ceremony granting safe passage and temporary access to resources. These ceremonies were not simple courtesies but spiritually and culturally grounded acts reaffirming kinship obligations, responsibility to Country, and ancestral authority. Violating these protocols could lead to conflict, exclusion, or sanction (Broome 2005).
Colonisation and Suppression
European invasion from 1835 severely disrupted these cultural systems. John Batman’s 1835 “treaty” with Woiwurrung Elders has been interpreted by some historians as a misunderstood attempt to seek occupation rights, although colonial authorities quickly voided the agreement and reasserted the doctrine of terra nullius (Boyce 2011).
Ceremonies of welcome, movement, and permission were discouraged, restricted, or suppressed as Indigenous communities were displaced onto missions and reserves such as Coranderrk, Framlingham, and Lake Tyers (Barwick 1998). Although many protocols survived within communities, they were largely ignored or unrecognised by colonial governments and institutions.
Revival in the Twentieth Century
From the late twentieth century onward, alongside Indigenous self-determination, land rights, and cultural revival movements, Welcome to Country ceremonies re-emerged as important public affirmations of continuing sovereignty and custodianship (Atkinson 2002).
In Victoria, Wurundjeri Elders played a major role in restoring metropolitan Welcome to Country ceremonies, while Wadawurrung and other Nations revitalised welcomes across Geelong, Ballarat, and western Victoria. Smoking ceremonies, song, dance, and public speaking adapted to civic and institutional contexts while retaining cultural authority and spiritual significance.
Welcome to Country in Public Events
Welcome to Country ceremonies are now incorporated into many major public occasions and institutional gatherings throughout Australia.
Examples include:
the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games Opening Ceremony,
openings of the Victorian Parliament,
local government events across Melbourne, Geelong, and regional Victoria,
and truth-telling and Treaty forums facilitated by the First Peoples’ Assembly of Victoria.
These ceremonies acknowledge that events occur on Indigenous lands and reinforce the continuing authority and presence of Traditional Owners (Broome 2005).
Debates About Overuse and Tokenism
As Welcome to Country ceremonies have become more visible, discussions have emerged concerning tokenism, repetition, and loss of meaning.
Some Indigenous Elders and cultural leaders caution that frequent or rushed welcomes risk losing cultural significance if performed without proper context, cultural authority, remuneration, or community engagement (Bamblett 2013). Concerns are also raised when ceremonies become symbolic gestures without meaningful structural change or respect for Indigenous sovereignty.
Resistance from some non-Indigenous commentators — who frame the practice as repetitive or political — often reflects discomfort with acknowledging unceded land and histories of dispossession. Education remains essential: Welcome to Country is not merely a formal introduction, but a spiritually and culturally grounded recognition of custodianship, responsibility, and continuing Indigenous presence (Atkinson 2002).
Maintaining the integrity of Welcome to Country requires proper consultation, cultural authority, respectful participation, and acknowledgement of the specific Traditional Owners connected to the land where the ceremony occurs.
Practices Across Australia and Internationally
Protocols of welcome, permission, and ceremonial acknowledgement exist across Indigenous cultures worldwide.
Across Australia, these practices take many forms:
smoking ceremonies among Eora and Dharug communities,
ceremonial song and dance among Yolŋu and Arrernte peoples,
and public welcomes integrated into universities, festivals, and state institutions across Queensland and other regions.
International parallels include:
pōwhiri ceremonies in Aotearoa/New Zealand,
Elder-led welcomes among First Nations communities in Canada,
opening prayers and smudging ceremonies among Native American Nations,
and welcoming rituals among Pacific Islander communities.
Victoria’s revival of Welcome to Country forms part of a broader global movement of Indigenous cultural authority re-emerging within public and institutional spaces.
Distinction Between Welcome to Country and Acknowledgement of Country
An Acknowledgement of Country may be delivered by anyone — Indigenous or non-Indigenous — as a statement recognising Traditional Owners and their continuing connection to Country.
A Welcome to Country, however, must be delivered by a Traditional Owner, Elder, or authorised cultural custodian connected to that specific Country (Broome 2005).
This distinction reflects the difference between general recognition and community-led cultural authority grounded in Indigenous lore and custodianship.
Contemporary Significance in Victoria
In Victoria today, Welcome to Country ceremonies play an important role within reconciliation, truth-telling, cultural education, and emerging Treaty processes.
Registered Aboriginal Parties and Traditional Owner groups help ensure that cultural authority, local protocols, and custodianship are respected appropriately.
For Indigenous communities, Welcome to Country ceremonies can be spiritually restorative, reconnecting people with ancestors, Country, and cultural continuity after generations of disruption. For non-Indigenous Victorians, respectful participation provides an opportunity to build understanding, accountability, and ethical relationships with place and history (Broome 2005).
Conclusion
Rooted in Kulin Nation cultural lore and protocols of movement across Country, Welcome to Country survived colonisation and suppression to become a powerful symbol of resilience, sovereignty, cultural continuity, and education.
Its increasing presence within parliaments, councils, schools, universities, festivals, and public events offers visibility and recognition — yet its deeper meaning depends upon respectful practice rather than routine performance.
Grounded in truth-telling, consent, and the authority of Traditional Owners, Welcome to Country continues to renew relationships between people, place, history, and Country across Victoria and Australia.
References
Atkinson, W 2002, ‘Not one Iota: The need for acknowledging Indigenous sovereignty in the treaty debate’, Indigenous Law Bulletin, vol. 5, no. 17, pp. 4–6.
Bamblett, L 2013, Our Stories Are Our Survival, Aboriginal Studies Press, Canberra.
Barwick, D 1984, ‘Mapping the past: An atlas of Victorian clans, 1835–1904’, Aboriginal History, vol. 8, no. 2, pp. 100–131.
Barwick, D 1998, Rebellion at Coranderrk, Aboriginal Studies Press, Canberra.
Boyce, J 2011, 1835: The Founding of Melbourne and the Conquest of Australia, Black Inc., Melbourne.
Broome, R 2005, Aboriginal Victorians: A History Since 1800, Allen & Unwin, Sydney.
Clark, I 1990, Aboriginal Languages and Clans: An Historical Atlas of Western and Central Victoria, 1800–1900, Monash Publications in Geography, Melbourne.
Written, Researched and Directed by James Vegter and Uncle Reg Abrahams 16/09/2025
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Magic Lands Alliance acknowledge 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. We pay our respects to Elders past, present, and emerging, and to all First Peoples communities and language groups. This article draws only on publicly available information; many cultural practices remain the intellectual property of communities.