Indigenous Knowledge, Stories, and Culture
Trading Between Indigenous Community Groups in Victoria
For tens of thousands of years before colonisation, Indigenous peoples in Victoria sustained vibrant economies through trade, exchange, and ceremonial gatherings. These trade meets were not simply markets — they were complex cultural events that reinforced kinship, law, and spiritual obligations between nations. Goods, songs, stories, and marriages were exchanged, weaving vast social and ecological networks across the continent (Clark, 1990; Pascoe, 2014).
Far from being isolated, Victorian Indigenous communities were part of a continent-wide trading system. Items such as greenstone axe heads from Mount William, ochre from Gippsland, eels from Budj Bim, and shells from South Australia travelled hundreds of kilometres, carried along ancient routes that functioned as both economic corridors and songlines (Gammage, 2011; UNESCO, 2019).
Trade Meets in Victoria
Seasonal Gatherings
Trade was structured around seasonal abundance and ecological knowledge:
Large gatherings were timed when rivers and wetlands were rich in food, allowing sustainable hosting of many people.
Major events included eel harvests at Lake Condah (Budj Bim, Gunditjmara Country) and gatherings along Merri Creek and the Yarra (Wurundjeri Country).
These meets combined economic exchange with ceremony, law renewal, and storytelling, reaffirming relationships between neighbouring nations (Broome, 2005).
Tanderrum Ceremony
The Tanderrum was a diplomatic welcome ceremony performed by Kulin Nations for visiting groups.
It granted guests temporary rights to food, water, and safe passage, ensuring peace during trade.
Tanderrum represented a sophisticated legal protocol — an Indigenous form of treaty-making and ecological diplomacy (Clark & Heydon, 2002).
Key Trade Goods in Victoria
Mount William Greenstone Axes (Wurundjeri Country)
The Mount William quarry near Lancefield was one of Australia’s most important axe production sites.
Greenstone (diabase) axes were traded across Victoria, reaching as far as South Australia and New South Wales (Clark, 1990).
Control of the quarry was hereditary and governed by Wurundjeri law, showing the integration of resource management and spiritual custodianship (Pascoe, 2014).
Ochre (Gippsland and Western District)
Ochre was a sacred material used in ceremony, art, and trade.
High-quality red ochre from Gippsland and yellow pigments from Western Victoria were exchanged widely.
Ochre represented not just pigment but spiritual energy and ancestral connection, demonstrating how natural materials were embedded with cultural value (Isaacs, 1987).
Food Resources
Eels (Kooyang): The Gunditjmara engineered extensive aquaculture systems at Budj Bim to trap and smoke eels for trade (UNESCO, 2019).
Shellfish and Marine Foods: Boonwurrung and Wadawurrung peoples shared shell resources and fish from Port Phillip and Bass Strait.
Plant Foods: Staples such as murnong (yam daisy) were cultivated, harvested, and exchanged between regions (Pascoe, 2014).
Cultural Items
Possum-skin cloaks, woven baskets, spears, and shields were highly valued.
Each item carried regional identity and often featured artistic designs reflecting Country, kinship, and storylines.
Mount Noorat and the Western District Trade Network
Cultural and Geographical Significance
Mount Noorat, an extinct volcano in Gunditjmara Country, formed part of Victoria’s Western District Volcanic Plains, one of the most fertile regions in Australia.
Its crater and wetlands sustained abundant food and stone resources, making it a key gathering and trade hub (Clark, 1990; UNESCO, 2019).
Trade and Ceremony
The region’s waterways supported the eel trade, with smoked eels forming a vital export.
Basalt and volcanic stone from Mount Noorat were used for tools and traded across western Victoria.
Ceremonial gatherings celebrated both ecological abundance and law renewal, intertwining spiritual connection and economic exchange.
Connection to Wider Networks
Goods from Mount Noorat — including eels, stone tools, and ceremonial items — travelled east to Wathaurong and Wurundjeri lands, north to Dja Dja Wurrung, and west into South Australia.
These routes illustrate how volcanic landscapes structured Indigenous trade economies, linking geology, ecology, and culture (Gammage, 2011).
Networks Beyond Victoria
Victorian trade routes formed part of continental systems of exchange:
South Australia: Pipi shells, resin, and ochre moved eastward along the coast.
New South Wales: Stone, grinding tools, and ceremonial songs travelled south.
Murray–Darling Basin: Food resources, weaving materials, and law stories were shared along river corridors.
These interlinked systems demonstrate the scientific and logistical sophistication of Indigenous trade long before colonisation — supported by precise ecological knowledge, navigation, and diplomacy (Pascoe, 2014; Broome, 2005).
Science and Ecology of Indigenous Trade
Trade systems in Victoria were built on a profound understanding of environmental science and resource sustainability:
Geology: Knowledge of stone types (such as Mount William greenstone and volcanic basalt) reflected advanced geological observation and selective extraction.
Hydrology and Ecology: The eel aquaculture at Budj Bim represents one of the world’s earliest examples of sustainable engineering and hydrological design (UNESCO, 2019).
Botany and Agriculture: The cultivation of murnong and other root vegetables shows Indigenous expertise in soil, seed, and seasonal cycles (Pascoe, 2014).
Trade was therefore not simply economic — it was ecological science in action, integrating environment, engineering, and ethics.
Psychology and Social Meaning of Exchange
Trade meets also fulfilled psychological and social functions within Indigenous societies:
Trust and Reciprocity: Exchanges reinforced emotional bonds and collective identity across language groups.
Collective Memory: The repetition of trade gatherings strengthened shared memory and intergenerational continuity.
Symbolic Exchange: Items like greenstone axes or ochre symbolised respect, alliance, and law — functioning as psychological anchors of belonging (Neal & Chartrand, 2011).
Ceremonial Emotion: Singing, dance, and shared feasting during trade meets created emotional cohesion — what social psychologists call collective effervescence (Durkheim, 1912).
Trade was therefore an act of both economy and empathy, creating social harmony through shared exchange.
Impact of Colonisation on Trade Meets
Disruption of Networks
Colonisation severed long-standing trade routes as lands were seized for farming and towns.
Sites like Mount William, Budj Bim, and Mount Noorat were occupied or altered by pastoral activities (Broome, 2005).
Suppression of Ceremony
Colonial authorities banned large gatherings, fearing them as threats to control.
Tanderrum ceremonies and intergroup meetings were discouraged or criminalised.
Loss and Survival
Despite disruption, trade knowledge survived through oral history and revival movements, carried by Elders who preserved stories of Country and exchange (Clark, 1990).
Legacy and Revival
Today, Indigenous communities in Victoria are actively reviving tanderrum ceremonies and trade traditions:
Tanderrum ceremonies now open major public and cultural events in Melbourne as acts of welcome, sovereignty, and renewal.
Sites such as Mount William quarry, Budj Bim, and Mount Noorat are protected as World Heritage or cultural landscapes, recognising their economic and spiritual importance (UNESCO, 2019).
Cultural festivals and Indigenous markets reimagine ancient trade meets, restoring the practice of exchange, storytelling, and unity across Country.
Conclusion
Trade meets among Victoria’s Indigenous peoples reveal a history of science, diplomacy, and ecological intelligence. Exchanges of greenstone, ochre, eels, and cloaks formed part of a deeply connected system linking environment, economy, and ceremony. Sites like Mount William, Budj Bim, and Mount Noorat stand as living testaments to the sophistication of Indigenous engineering, law, and social psychology.
Though colonisation disrupted these networks, their spirit endures — in ceremony, education, and renewed connection to Country.
References
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.
Clark, I. & Heydon, T. (2002) Dictionary of Aboriginal Placenames of Victoria. Melbourne: Victorian Aboriginal Corporation for Languages.
Durkheim, É. (1912) The Elementary Forms of Religious Life. New York: Free Press.
Gammage, B. (2011) The Biggest Estate on Earth: How Aborigines Made Australia. Sydney: Allen & Unwin.
Isaacs, J. (1987) Australian Dreaming: 40,000 Years of Aboriginal History. Sydney: Lansdowne Press.
Neal, D. & Chartrand, T. (2011) ‘Embodied Emotion and Social Connection.’ Psychological Science Review, 22(3), pp. 273–290.
Pascoe, B. (2014) Dark Emu: Black Seeds – Agriculture or Accident? Broome: Magabala Books.
UNESCO (2019) Budj Bim Cultural Landscape World Heritage Listing. Paris: UNESCO World Heritage Centre.
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.