The History of the Kulin Nation: Culture, Country, and Colonisation
The Kulin Nation is a confederacy of Aboriginal peoples whose lands cover much of central Victoria, including Melbourne (Narrm), the Yarra and Maribyrnong River valleys, and the surrounding plains and ranges. For tens of thousands of years before colonisation, the Kulin shared cultural law, ceremony, and kinship ties while managing Country sustainably through fire, seasonal movement, and complex governance systems (Broome, 2005; Clark, 1990).
The word Kulin comes from local Aboriginal languages meaning “man” or “people” (Clark & Heydon, 2002). The use of the word Nation to describe this confederacy is a later colonial and English framing. Aboriginal communities described themselves through clan, moiety, and language groups, but Europeans used the term “nation” to describe the collective alliance of the five groups.
With the arrival of Europeans in the 1830s, the Kulin were among the first Aboriginal peoples in Victoria to experience colonisation. They faced violence, dispossession, and population collapse (Critchett, 1990), yet their cultural identity endures and continues to shape Victoria today.
The Peoples of the Kulin Nation
The Kulin Nation is made up of five closely related language groups (Clark, 1990):
Woiwurrung (Wurundjeri people) — upper Yarra and Plenty River valleys, around present-day Melbourne.
Boonwurrung — coastal areas around Port Phillip Bay and Western Port.
Taungurung — the Goulburn River valley and surrounding highlands.
Wadawurrung (Wathaurong) — Geelong, Ballarat, and the Bellarine Peninsula.
Dja Dja Wurrung — the Loddon River valley and central Victorian goldfields.
Together, these peoples formed a confederacy bound by shared cultural law and intermarriage, while maintaining distinct identities and Country (Broome, 2005).
Culture and Law
Moieties and Kinship
Kulin society was organised into two main moieties: Bunjil (the wedge-tailed eagle) and Waa (the crow).
Every person belonged to one moiety, and marriage had to occur across moieties, ensuring balance and interconnection between clans (Broome, 2005).
Ceremony and Corroboree
Large inter-clan gatherings took place at sites such as Merri Creek and Mount William (Barwick, 1998).
Corroborees, songlines, and dances reaffirmed law and kinship ties across the confederacy.
Country and Fire Management
Kulin peoples practised seasonal burning to encourage grass growth, attract kangaroos, and maintain biodiversity (Gammage, 2011; Reynolds, 1987).
Staple foods included murnong (yam daisy), hunted game, fish, and eels (Clarke & Heydon, 2002).
Spiritual and Ecological Worldview
Bunjil, the creator and lawgiver, and Waa, his counterpart, shaped the laws of society and balance in Country (Broome, 2005).
Songlines connected sacred sites across Kulin Country, linking people spiritually to land and sky.
Waterways such as the Birrarung (Yarra River) were central to both cultural and physical life (Clark & Heydon, 2002).
First Encounters with Colonisation
Early Contact
European ships entered Port Phillip Bay in 1802–03, but permanent settlement began in 1835 with John Batman and John Pascoe Fawkner’s rival expeditions (Broome, 2005).
Batman’s so-called “treaties” involved meetings with both Wurundjeri Elders of the Woiwurrung at Merri Creek and Wadawurrung Elders near Geelong, exchanging goods for vast tracts of land.
However, these interactions were likely understood by the Kulin as tanderrum — ceremonial welcomes allowing safe passage and shared use of resources — not permanent land sales (Reynolds, 1987).
Case Study: The Batman “Treaties” (1835)
In June 1835, John Batman, representing the Port Phillip Association, claimed to have made two separate treaties with Aboriginal Elders in central and western Victoria.
The first was with Wurundjeri Elders of the Woiwurrung at Merri Creek near present-day Melbourne, and the second with Wadawurrung Elders near Indented Head and the Barrabool Hills on the Bellarine Peninsula.
The Merri Creek (Wurundjeri) Treaty
Exchange: Batman offered blankets, tomahawks, mirrors, knives, and flour in exchange for a signed document granting him over 200,000 hectares of land (Reynolds, 1987).
Wurundjeri Understanding: Oral histories and later records suggest this exchange was a tanderrum — a ceremonial welcome granting temporary access to land and resources, not ownership (Broome, 2005).
Location and Context: Merri Creek was a long-used gathering site for the Kulin, where ceremony, trade, and law had been upheld for generations.
The Wadawurrung Treaty
Location: Shortly after Merri Creek, Batman sailed southwest to Wadawurrung Country, near present-day Geelong and Indented Head.
Exchange: He met with Wadawurrung Elders, again exchanging European goods and engaging in ceremony.
Wadawurrung Understanding: These actions were consistent with tanderrum, expressing hospitality and agreement to coexist temporarily, not permanent cession of land (Clark, 1990).
Significance: This second treaty expanded Batman’s claims across the Bellarine Peninsula, Werribee Plains, and Barwon River region, establishing the first major colonial incursion into Wadawurrung Country.
Colonial Response and Consequences
Governor Bourke’s Proclamation: In August 1835, Governor Bourke declared both treaties invalid, affirming Crown ownership of all land under the doctrine of Terra Nullius (Critchett, 1990).
Cultural Misunderstanding: Batman interpreted the events as real estate transactions; the Wurundjeri and Wadawurrung saw them as ceremonies of diplomacy and mutual respect (Reynolds, 1987).
Aftermath: Within a year, Crown settlers occupied both lands, disregarding tanderrum’s meaning. This marked the beginning of large-scale dispossession in Victoria.
Legacy
The Batman “treaties” remain the only recorded attempts at treaty-making between colonists and Aboriginal peoples in mainland Australia before the modern era.
They symbolise both a moment of cross-cultural diplomacy and a profound misunderstanding of law, sovereignty, and land.
Dispossession and Conflict
Within a decade, most Kulin lands were seized for sheep and cattle grazing (Critchett, 1990).
The destruction of murnong fields caused widespread hunger (Broome, 2005).
Violence followed, with massacres at Mt Cottrell (1836) and throughout the Western District (Critchett, 1990).
Population Collapse
In 1835, the Kulin population was estimated at 10,000–15,000 (Broome, 2005).
By 1850, fewer than 2,000 remained, due to introduced diseases, killings, and displacement (Clark, 1990). Survivors were forced onto missions such as Nerre Nerre Warren and later Coranderrk, where they maintained cultural life under immense hardship.
Case Study: Coranderrk — Survival and Resistance
Foundation: Established in 1863 as a multi-clan refuge for Kulin survivors (Barwick, 1998).
Economic Success: Residents farmed hops and livestock, supplying Melbourne markets (Broome, 2005).
Political Activism: Leaders such as William Barak and Simon Wonga petitioned for self-governance, pioneering Indigenous rights activism (Barwick, 1998).
Government Retaliation: The Half-Caste Acts (1869, 1886) were used to undermine Coranderrk’s autonomy (Reynolds, 1987).
Legacy: Coranderrk remains a symbol of resilience and the ongoing Kulin fight for justice.
Modern Kulin Nation
Today, Kulin descendants continue to guide land, water, and cultural management through organisations including:
Wurundjeri Woi Wurrung Cultural Heritage Aboriginal Corporation
Bunurong Land Council Aboriginal Corporation
Taungurung Land and Waters Council
Wadawurrung Traditional Owners Aboriginal Corporation
Dja Dja Wurrung Clans Aboriginal Corporation
These groups lead language revival, education, environmental stewardship, and truth-telling through the Yoorrook Justice Commission and Treaty process (Broome, 2005).
Conclusion
The history of the Kulin Nation reveals deep cultural continuity amid colonisation and loss.
The Batman treaties — at Merri Creek with the Wurundjeri and at Geelong with the Wadawurrung — represent the first and only moments of formal engagement between settlers and First Nations peoples in Victoria.
Though misinterpreted and invalidated, these events reflect an early offering of peace and diplomacy by the Kulin, met with colonial exploitation.
Despite the devastation that followed, the Kulin peoples continue to uphold law, ceremony, and connection to Country, ensuring that their voices guide Victoria’s future of truth and reconciliation.
Reference List
Barwick, D. (1998). Rebellion at Coranderrk. Canberra: Aboriginal History Monograph.
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.
Critchett, J. (1990). A Distant Field of Murder: Western District Frontiers, 1834–1848. Melbourne: Melbourne University Press.
Gammage, B. (2011). The Biggest Estate on Earth: How Aborigines Made Australia. Sydney: Allen & Unwin.
Reynolds, H. (1987). The Law of the Land. Ringwood: Penguin.
Written, Researched and Directed by James Vegter 16/09/2025 amnd Uncle Reg Abrahams
Magic Lands Alliance
Sharing the truth of Indigenous and colonial history through film, education, land and community.
Copyright of MLA – 2025
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.