Indigenous Knowledge, Stories, and Culture
Stories of Wadawurrung Country and the Impact of Colonisation
MLA Educational Series — Story, Law/Lore, and Country
The Wadawurrung people, part of the Kulin Nations, have carried stories across their Country for thousands of years. These stories explain the creation of landscapes, the behaviour of animals, and the rules of kinship. They are teaching tools for children, embedding Law/Lore in song, dance, and performance. This article surveys stories known on Wadawurrung land—including narratives of Bunjil and Waa, the Three Sisters, animal teachers, and landscape creation—before addressing the profound disruptions caused by colonisation. While many stories were suppressed, misinterpreted, or silenced, Wadawurrung Traditional Owners continue to revitalise and protect these narratives so they remain central to community life today.
The Role of Story in Wadawurrung Culture
For the Wadawurrung, storytelling is a practice of survival and belonging. Stories are inseparable from the rivers, coasts, volcanic plains, and granite peaks of their Country. Children learn through listening, singing, dancing, and drawing symbols. Narratives carry ethical lessons about respect, sharing, and protection of kin, and they encode ecological knowledge about seasons, animals, burning practices, and water (Deadly Story n.d.; WTOAC 2025; Broome 2005). Country itself is a storybook: stones, rivers, and headlands are physical manifestations of ancestral actions and responsibilities (Rose 1996).
Key Stories of Wadawurrung Country
Bunjil the Creator
Bunjil, the wedge-tailed eagle, is central across the Kulin Nations. On Wadawurrung land, Bunjil is remembered as the creator and lawgiver who shaped mountains, rivers, and coastlines. He gave Law/Lore and divided people into two moieties—Bunjil (Eagle) and Waa (Crow)—to guide kinship and marriage (Deadly Story n.d.; VACL & Creative Victoria 2014; Broome 2005).
Waa the Protector
Waa the Crow complements Bunjil’s role as a clever, watchful protector. Wadawurrung stories about Waa teach sharing, the proper use of fire, and looking after one another—reminding children that wit and care sustain community (Taungurung LWC n.d.; Deadly Story n.d.).
The Three Sisters
The Three Sisters story tells of three women transformed into stone to protect them from danger and forbidden unions. Their figures are held in Country—evoked in volcanic forms and coastal outcrops—teaching kinship rules, women’s protection, and how land holds ancestral memory (Eccles 2017; State Library Victoria n.d.).
Tales of Animals and Birds
Magpie, Kookaburra, Pelican and other animal beings act as teachers. Performed with children, these stories model song, community, generosity, and respect for waters—embedding ecological knowledge through play and performance (Museums Victoria n.d.; GORCC & Wadawurrung 2020).
Stories of the Landscape
Volcanic plains, lava flows, stony rises, and the granite peaks of the You Yangs (Anakie Hills) are explained through story. These places are not only geology but traces of ancestral transformations and resting places of beings, affirming that Country is alive and spirited (WTOAC 2025; State Library Victoria n.d.; Rose 1996).
The Impact of Colonisation
Disruption of Story Transmission
From the early nineteenth century, violent dispossession removed Wadawurrung people from their lands. Frontier conflict, forced removals, and missions interrupted cycles of ceremony and on-Country teaching; many children were separated from Elders and from the oral tradition (Clark 1995; VAEAI 2024; Broome 2005).
Silencing and Misrepresentation
Settler accounts often misunderstood or simplified Wadawurrung stories. Narratives recorded through William Buckley and other intermediaries preserved fragments yet reframed them within European expectations (Morgan [ed.] 1852; State Library Victoria n.d.).
Loss of Language
Language is inseparable from story. Suppression of Wadawurrung language in schools, missions and government policy muted many narratives or altered meanings. Revitalisation programs now restore language alongside story and ceremony (VACL & Creative Victoria 2014; WTOAC 2025).
Survival and Adaptation
Despite disruption, stories persisted through resilience and careful custodianship. Families continued teaching in private—sometimes embedding teachings in songs, games, or adapted forms—maintaining continuity through difficult times (Rose 1996; Broome 2005).
Contemporary Revitalisation
Wadawurrung stories are now actively taught through:
On-Country learning and cultural tours led by Wadawurrung Traditional Owners Aboriginal Corporation.
Wadawurrung Way: Symbol Stories resources used in schools to introduce local narratives (GORCC & Wadawurrung 2020).
Language programs embedding Wadawurrung words and place-names back into community use (VACL & Creative Victoria 2014).
Creative projects—visual art, theatre, and digital storytelling—that honour cultural authority while engaging new audiences (WTOAC 2025; State Library Victoria n.d.).
These initiatives strengthen Wadawurrung identity and educate the wider Victorian community about the depth of cultural history embedded in the land.
Conclusion
Stories of Wadawurrung Country—Bunjil and Waa, the Three Sisters, animal teachers, and the shaping of volcanic landscapes—are threads in a living cultural web. Colonisation brought profound disruption, but community leadership and revitalisation are returning story, language, and ceremony to Country. Wadawurrung land is not only a physical environment; it is a living library of ancestral memory and Law/Lore that continues to guide ethics, identity, and care for place.
References
Barwick, D. (1998). Rebellion at Coranderrk. Canberra: Aboriginal History Monograph.
Broome, R. (2005). Aboriginal Victorians: A History Since 1800. Sydney: Allen & Unwin.
Clark, I. D. (1995). Scars in the Landscape: A Register of Massacre Sites in Western Victoria 1803–1859. Canberra: Aboriginal Studies Press.
Deadly Story (n.d.). Wadawurrung: Stories & Totems. Available at: https://www.deadlystory.com
Eccles, C. (2017). “Corrina Eccles – a Wadawurrung Traditional Owner.” Otway Life Magazine.
GORCC & Wadawurrung (2020). Wadawurrung Way: Symbol Stories (F–3 resource).
Morgan, J. (ed.) (1852). The Life and Adventures of William Buckley, Thirty-Two Years a Wanderer Amongst the Aborigines of the Then Port Phillip District.
Museums Victoria (n.d.). Creation Stories: Tiddalik the Frog.
Rose, D. B. (1996). Nourishing Terrains: Australian Aboriginal Views of Landscape and Wilderness. Canberra: Australian Heritage Commission.
State Library Victoria (n.d.). William Buckley—Reminiscences (1837), MS 13483.
Taungurung Land & Waters Council (n.d.). Creation Stories.
VACL & Creative Victoria (2014). Nyernila: Listen Continuously – Aboriginal Creation Stories of Victoria. Melbourne: VACL.
VAEAI (2024). Koorie Education Resources.
Wadawurrung Traditional Owners Aboriginal Corporation (WTOAC) (2025). About Us.
Written, Researched and Directed by James Vegter (22 September 2025)
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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. We pay respect 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 their respective communities.