Indigenous Knowledge, Stories, and Culture
The Three Sisters on Wadawurrung Country
Across many Indigenous Nations, stories of “three sisters” encode kinship law, place-based ethics, and women’s authority. While a famous version is linked to the Blue Mountains (NSW), Wadawurrung Country (Surf Coast, Bellarine, Djilang/Geelong, Ballarat, to the Werribee River) also holds Three Sisters narratives mapped onto volcanic peaks, coastal headlands, and stony rises. These are not fables; they are teachings that bind people to Country, moiety rules, and care for sea- and freshwater places (VACL & Creative Victoria 2014; Deadly Story n.d.; WTOAC 2025).
Storytelling on Wadawurrung Country
Wadawurrung education is embodied—story is taught on Country through dance, song, ochre, and symbol drawing. Children learn where stories “live” by visiting rock forms and waterways that anchor ancestral transformations. Early colonial accounts (e.g., Buckley/Murrangurk) and contemporary community programs both emphasise story as law-in-action rather than myth (State Library Victoria n.d.; WTOAC 2025).
The Story (Wadawurrung context)
Three young Wadawurrung women drew suitors from outside groups. Under Kulin law—organised by the moieties Bunjil (Eagle) and Waa (Crow)—the proposed unions breached marriage rules. Conflict followed. To protect the women and to uphold law, an ancestral being transformed them into stone. They remain in Country as guardians and reminders that kinship rules sustain community and ecological balance (VACL & Creative Victoria 2014; Eccles 2017).
Where the Sisters “Stand” in Country
You Yangs (Anakie Hills): Granite tors and saddles are tied to ancestor resting places; local tellings associate specific outcrops with the sisters who “watch” the plains (State Library Victoria n.d.).
Bellarine & Surf Coast headlands: Rock stacks and points near Point Lonsdale, Aireys Inlet and along Wadawurrung sea Country are teaching sites for tides, shellfish protocols, and safe coastal movement—framed through the sisters’ transformation (WTOAC 2025).
Volcanic plains & stony rises (Djilang–Ballarat): Lava flows and boulder fields are read as the path and presence of the sisters, used to teach fire and murnong care, travel rules, and respect for women’s places (GORCC & Wadawurrung 2020).
Meanings and Teachings
Kinship & moiety: The narrative explains why Bunjil/Waa marriage rules matter and how they structure obligations (VACL & Creative Victoria 2014).
Ancestral transformation: Landforms are ancestors made visible; Country is a legal archive, not scenery.
Protection of women: The story affirms communal duties to safeguard women and ensure cultural continuity.
Country as text: Children “read” rock, tide and wind as parts of the story—linking geology, oceanography, and law.
Teaching with Children
Cultural educators often pair the story with: on-Country visits; symbol drawing of three figures with Bunjil/Waa markings; call-and-response songs; and gentle discussion about right relationship and safety on cliffs and reefs. Activities follow community-approved resources such as Wadawurrung Way: Symbol Stories (GORCC & Wadawurrung 2020) and Nyernila (VACL & Creative Victoria 2014).
Contemporary Significance
Wadawurrung Traditional Owners Aboriginal Corporation (WTOAC) leads school programs, cultural tours, and heritage work that position Three Sisters places within protection and planning—reminding visitors that the You Yangs, Bellarine headlands, and volcanic stonescapes are living cultural sites, not merely scenic lookouts (WTOAC 2025). For non-Indigenous audiences, the narrative offers a respectful entry point to understand that law is held in Country.
References
Deadly Story (n.d.) ‘Wadawurrung: Stories & Totems.’
Eccles, C. (2017) ‘Corrina Eccles – a Wadawurrung Traditional Owner.’ Otway Life Magazine.
GORCC & Wadawurrung (2020) Wadawurrung Way: Symbol Stories (F–3 resource).
State Library Victoria (n.d.) ‘William Buckley—Reminiscences (1837), MS 13483.’
VACL & Creative Victoria (2014) Nyernila: Listen Continuously – Aboriginal Creation Stories of Victoria. Melbourne: VACL.
Wadawurrung Traditional Owners Aboriginal Corporation (WTOAC) (2025) ‘Country and Culture.’
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.