Water Systems, Aquaculture & Environmental Knowledge
Introduction
The Barwon River and Lake Connewarre, flowing from the Otway Ranges through Geelong and into the wetlands of the Bellarine Peninsula, form one of the most significant cultural and ecological landscapes of Wadawurrung Country. For tens of thousands of years, the Wadawurrung people lived along its banks, fishing, hunting, harvesting plants, and holding ceremony. These waterways were more than physical resources: they were storied landscapes, sustaining identity, spirituality, and law.
Today, the Barwon–Connewarre wetlands are recognised under the Ramsar Convention as internationally significant, but their deeper value lies in their continuing role as places of Wadawurrung cultural survival and renewal.
Meanings of Barwon and Connewarre
The name Barwon is derived from parwan or barwon, an Aboriginal term for “great wide river” (Clark, 1990). The Barwon was a lifeline, defining travel routes, seasonal food cycles, and spiritual law.
Lake Connewarre, from the Wadawurrung kunuwarra, means “black swan.” The shallow lake and surrounding swamps were once alive with vast flocks of swans, ducks, pelicans, and other waterbirds. The black swan was not only a food source but also a totemic and ceremonial figure.
The Wadawurrung Water System: Barwon, Connewarre, Torquay, Breamlea, and Modewarre
The Barwon–Connewarre system must be seen as part of a larger network of interconnected water places that shaped Wadawurrung life.
Torquay and Spring Creek
Torquay (Spring Creek area) was a site of freshwater springs and burial grounds. It is also where William Buckley, after escaping Sullivan Bay in 1803, was discovered by the Manmart clan of the Wadawurrung holding a broken spear at the burial of the warrior Murrangurk. Buckley was believed to embody Murrangurk’s spirit, beginning his 32 years among the Wadawurrung (Morgan, 1852).
Breamlea and the Coast
At Breamlea, midden sites testify to millennia of shellfish harvesting. Swamps behind the dunes supported swans, eels, and fish. Grasses and rushes were woven into ropes and nets for fishing, reflecting a sophisticated technology of fibre-working (Zola & Gott, 1992).
Lake Modewarre
Lake Modewarre (sometimes interpreted as “moss water” or “muddy water”) was a vital freshwater resource on the volcanic plains. Springs and waterholes around Modewarre were dug and maintained by the Wadawurrung, providing permanent sources of water even in dry times. William Buckley recalled drinking from these wells (Morgan, 1852).
Together, these sites created a living water network linking coast, plains, and wetlands — a single cultural-ecological system sustained by Wadawurrung knowledge.
Country Before Colonisation
Aquaculture and Fishing
The Barwon and Connewarre wetlands supported eel traps, stone weirs, and woven nets. Eels (kooyang) were smoked and traded across Victoria, linking the Wadawurrung into exchange networks with Gunditjmara and Kulin neighbours (Gott & Zola, 1992).
Plant Resources
Reeds, rushes, and grasses: woven into ropes, nets, baskets, and mats.
Yam daisy (murnong): cultivated across volcanic soils, dug with wooden sticks and baked in earth ovens.
Seaweed: gathered along the coast at Breamlea and Torquay, used as food, fertiliser, and wrapping material for cooking.
Wildlife
The wetlands supported kangaroo, emu, and wallaby hunting, as well as freshwater mussel and crayfish harvesting. Above all, the black swan (kunuwarra) symbolised abundance, its eggs harvested with cultural rules ensuring sustainability.
Ceremony and Story
The wetlands and waterways were places of law and Dreaming. The black swan gave its name to Connewarre; the Barwon River was a pathway for ancestral beings. Corroborees and tanderrum ceremonies along these waters marked them as centres of diplomacy and kinship.
William Buckley and the Barwon
Buckley’s memoirs, recorded by John Morgan (1852), describe the richness of the Barwon system. He observed fish traps, eel-smoking, and the role of waterholes in survival. Importantly, Buckley highlights how waterways served as meeting grounds for clan gatherings, where trade, marriage arrangements, and ceremony bound communities together. His survival testifies to Wadawurrung generosity and ecological knowledge.
Colonisation and Dispossession
From the 1830s, squatters transformed the Barwon–Connewarre landscape:
Squatter runs destroyed yam-daisy fields and polluted waterholes.
Frontier violence scarred Wadawurrung Country, with massacres recorded along the Barwon and its tributaries (Clark, 1995).
Black swan decline: mass hunting by settlers decimated populations.
Missions and reserves: Wadawurrung survivors were displaced to Nerre Nerre Warren, Framlingham, and Coranderrk (Broome, 2005).
By the mid-19th century, drainage works, river diversions, and grazing had permanently altered the wetlands’ ecology.
Ecology and Ramsar Recognition
Today, the Connewarre complex (including Lake Connewarre, Reedy Lake, Hospital Swamp, and Salt Swamp) is listed under the Ramsar Convention. It provides:
Breeding grounds for estuarine and freshwater fish.
Habitat for migratory waterbirds under international treaties.
Saltmarsh, reedbeds, and grassy woodlands — though many are degraded by agriculture and invasive species (DEECA Victoria, 2022).
Wadawurrung Custodianship and Renewal
The Wadawurrung Traditional Owners Aboriginal Corporation (WTOAC) is leading cultural and ecological renewal, focusing on:
Reviving eel harvesting and traditional fishing knowledge.
Protecting midden sites and stone traps.
Embedding Wadawurrung language in signage and education (e.g., Barwon = Parwan, Connewarre = Kunuwarra).
Partnering with Parks Victoria and DEECA in cultural burning and ecological restoration.
Conclusion
The Barwon River, Lake Connewarre, Breamlea swamps, Torquay springs, and Lake Modewarre form a single cultural–ecological system at the heart of Wadawurrung Country. These waters once teemed with swans, eels, and reeds, sustaining life and law for tens of thousands of years.
Colonisation brought violence, dispossession, and ecological collapse, but the stories, names, and renewal led by the Wadawurrung ensure their survival in cultural memory. Today, they stand as places of truth-telling, science, and healing — living archives where Country itself teaches balance and resilience.
References
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.D. (1990). Aboriginal Languages and Clans: An Historical Atlas of Western and Central Victoria, 1800–1900. Melbourne: Monash University.
Clark, I.D. (1995). Scars in the Landscape: A Register of Massacre Sites in Western Victoria 1803–1859. Canberra: Aboriginal Studies Press.
DEECA Victoria. (2022). Cultural Burning in Victoria: Policy and Programs. Melbourne: Department of Energy, Environment and Climate Action.
Gott, B. & Zola, N. (1992). Koorie Plants, Koorie People: Traditional Aboriginal Food, Fibre and Healing Plants of Victoria. Melbourne: Koorie Heritage Trust.
Morgan, J. (1852). The Life and Adventures of William Buckley. Hobart: Archibald MacDougall.
Presland, G. (1994). Aboriginal Melbourne: The Lost Land of the Kulin People. Melbourne: Harriland Press.
Wadawurrung Traditional Owners Aboriginal Corporation. (2023). Our Country, Our Heritage. Geelong: WTOAC.
Written, Researched and Directed by James Vegter 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