Eastern Maar Place Names and Meaning
Introduction
Across Eastern Maar Country in south-western Victoria, mountains, volcanic cones, crater lakes, and rocky uplands form one of the most significant cultural and geological landscapes in Australia. Long before colonial mapping and naming systems, these volcanic mountains carried Indigenous names connected to ancestral beings, ceremony, navigation, ecology, and spiritual lore. For Eastern Maar peoples and neighbouring Nations including Djab Wurrung, Peek Whurrong, Kirrae Whurrong, Kuurn Kopan Noot, Gulidjan, and Djargurd Wurrung communities, mountains were not merely landforms — they were living presences within Country.
Western Victoria contains one of the largest volcanic plains on Earth, with more than 400 volcanic features stretching across south-west Victoria. Indigenous communities lived alongside these formations for thousands of years, developing sophisticated ecological and cultural knowledge systems tied to fire, water, stone, seasonal movement, and sky observation (Clark 1990; Gammage 2011).
Many colonial mountain names introduced during the nineteenth century replaced older Indigenous names and meanings. Yet despite colonisation, numerous Indigenous names survived through oral tradition, local town names, language records, and contemporary cultural revitalisation. Today, many Traditional Owner organisations across western Victoria are restoring and strengthening the use of traditional mountain names as part of broader truth-telling and language renewal initiatives.
Mountains, Volcanoes, and Country
For Indigenous communities across south-west Victoria, mountains and volcanic landscapes carried deep spiritual and ecological significance.
These elevated landscapes often functioned as:
Ceremony grounds
Navigational landmarks
Story and lore sites
Seasonal gathering places
Trade route markers
Fire and creation landscapes
Spiritual observation points
Volcanic cones and crater lakes also shaped surrounding ecosystems, influencing:
Water flow
Wetlands
Grasslands
Animal migration
Food abundance
Fire management systems
Many mountains were associated with ancestral creator beings and transformation stories connected to fire, earth, and water.
Major Indigenous Mountain Names in Eastern Maar Country
Kolorer / Kolor
Colonial Name: Mount Rouse
Context: Large volcanic cone near Penshurst.
Significance: One of the most culturally significant volcanic mountains in western Victoria. The mountain sits within an extensive lava flow system connected to wetlands, eel habitats, and seasonal movement routes. The volcanic plains surrounding Kolorer supported sophisticated Indigenous ecological management systems including cultural burning and wetland harvesting (Clark 1990).
Noorat / Nurat
Colonial Name: Mount Noorat
Context: Circular scoria cone volcano.
Significance: One of the most visually distinctive volcanic formations in south-west Victoria. The crater and surrounding plains formed important travel and ceremony corridors connected to nearby lakes and wetlands. The colonial name itself derives from the Indigenous word, preserving part of its original linguistic history.
The grasslands surrounding Noorat supported:
Kangaroo populations
Murnong harvesting
Seasonal fire management
Waterbird migration systems
Budj Bim
Former Colonial Name: Mount Eccles
Meaning: “High Head.”
Context: Sacred volcanic landscape and creator-being site.
Significance: Budj Bim is among the most important Indigenous cultural landscapes in Australia. The mountain is associated with ancestral creation stories and the shaping of lava flows that later became sophisticated eel aquaculture systems developed over thousands of years.
Today, Budj Bim is internationally recognised through UNESCO World Heritage listing and represents one of the strongest examples of Indigenous engineering and land management globally (UNESCO 2019).
Mud-Dadjug
Colonial Name: Mount Abrupt
Context: Mountain formation connected to Gariwerd ranges.
Significance: Important spiritual and ceremonial mountain associated with Djab Wurrung and neighbouring western Victorian Nations. The mountain formed part of broader travel and trade systems through Gariwerd.
Wurgarri
Colonial Name: Mount Sturgeon
Context: Volcanic and mountain landscape within Gariwerd region.
Significance: Significant cultural landmark associated with movement corridors, ceremony, and mountain lore. The area connected plains Country to mountain ecosystems and stone resources.
Gariwerd
Colonial Name: The Grampians
Meaning: “Mountain range” or “high Country.”
Context: Extensive western Victorian mountain system.
Significance: Gariwerd remains one of the most culturally important mountain landscapes in south-eastern Australia. The ranges contain rock shelters, water systems, ochre sites, ceremonial grounds, and ancient travel pathways maintained for thousands of years.
The restoration of the name Gariwerd represents one of Victoria’s most visible Indigenous place-name revitalisation movements (Clark & Heydon 2002).
Corong / Corangamite Region
Colonial Name: Mount Elephant
Context: Large volcanic cone within volcanic plains region.
Significance: The volcanic cone and surrounding plains formed part of interconnected crater lake systems and movement pathways. Colonial settlers later named the mountain “Mount Elephant” due to its shape, replacing older Indigenous naming systems.
The nearby name Djerrinallum survives through the township Derrinallum and is often interpreted as “home of the emu.”
Wingeen
Colonial Name: Mount Leura
Context: Volcanic cone within western plains landscape.
Significance: The area formed part of seasonal movement and trade systems between volcanic lakes, wetlands, and grasslands. Elevated peaks such as Wingeen acted as visual navigation points across the plains.
Murdeduke / Murdeduk
Colonial Name: Mount Gellibrand region
Context: Otway foothills and forested upland systems.
Significance: Associated with Gulidjan and Eastern Maar boundary regions. Forested mountain areas provided timber, medicinal plants, freshwater systems, possum habitat, and seasonal shelter routes.
Pirre Warrong Region
Colonial Name: Mount Richmond
Context: Granite mountain landscape near Portland.
Significance: Ancient trade and travel area associated with coastal movement routes and stone resources. Mountain systems near the coast also connected marine and inland cultural exchange networks.
Ngan-a-na
Colonial Name: Mount William
Context: Highest peak within Gariwerd region.
Significance: The mountain carried different names and meanings across neighbouring Nations depending on language boundaries and ceremonial relationships. Elevated peaks such as Mount William were important observational points connected to weather, seasonal change, and movement through Country.
Additional Indigenous Mountain and Volcanic Names
Other important volcanic and mountain landscapes connected to Eastern Maar and neighbouring western Victorian Countries include:
Mount Porndon
Mount Emu
Mount Buninyong
Mount Leura
Mount Sugarloaf
Mount Shadwell
Mount Eeles
Tower Hill volcanic crater
Cororooke volcanic district
Mepunga region volcanic landscapes
Yambuk coastal rises
Many Indigenous names survive today through nearby towns and districts even where the original mountain names were replaced during colonisation.
Mountains as Ecological and Spiritual Knowledge Systems
Indigenous mountain names across western Victoria encoded detailed environmental knowledge relating to:
Water systems
Volcanic activity
Fire ecology
Seasonal change
Navigation routes
Animal movement
Ceremony and gathering
Resource zones
Mountains and volcanic cones were often understood as living ancestral presences connected to transformation and creation. Oral traditions linked mountains with:
Fire beings
Creator spirits
Sky lore
Water systems
Lava and earth formation stories
These landscapes formed part of broader cultural networks connecting rivers, wetlands, forests, coastlines, and plains into one interconnected system of Country.
Colonisation and Name Replacement
During the nineteenth century, many Indigenous mountain names across western Victoria were replaced with colonial names honouring British military officers, governors, surveyors, and settlers.
Examples include:
Budj Bim → Mount Eccles
Gariwerd → The Grampians
Mud-Dadjug → Mount Abrupt
Wurgarri → Mount Sturgeon
This renaming process formed part of broader colonial systems attempting to erase Indigenous sovereignty and cultural continuity (Broome 2005).
However, many Indigenous names survived through:
Oral tradition
Local language memory
Town names
Historical language records
Contemporary revitalisation movements
Today, the restoration of traditional mountain names has become an important aspect of cultural renewal and truth-telling across Victoria.
Contemporary Revitalisation
Traditional Owner organisations including the Eastern Maar Aboriginal Corporation, Gunditj Mirring Traditional Owners Aboriginal Corporation, and neighbouring western Victorian Nations continue to strengthen language and place-name restoration through:
Dual-language signage
Cultural mapping projects
On-Country education
Protection of sacred mountain landscapes
Language reconstruction programs
Youth cultural learning initiatives
The growing recognition of Indigenous mountain names reflects broader public understanding that these landscapes hold thousands of years of continuous cultural history.
Conclusion
Indigenous mountain names across Eastern Maar Country preserve deep histories of volcanic landscapes, ancestral lore, ecological knowledge, and cultural continuity. From Kolorer and Noorat to Budj Bim, Gariwerd, Mud-Dadjug, and Wurgarri, these names reveal a sophisticated understanding of mountains as living parts of Country connected to spirit, water, fire, and community. Although many names were replaced during colonisation, their restoration today represents far more than historical recognition. It reflects the continuing survival of Indigenous language, sovereignty, memory, and connection to one of the world’s most remarkable volcanic cultural landscapes.
References
Blake, B 1991, Wathawurrung and the Colac Language of Southern Victoria, Pacific Linguistics, Canberra.
Broome, R 2005, Aboriginal Victorians: A History Since 1800, Allen & Unwin, Sydney.
Clark, ID 1990, Aboriginal Languages and Clans: An Historical Atlas of Western and Central Victoria, 1800–1900, Monash Publications in Geography, Melbourne.
Clark, ID & Heydon, T 2002, Dictionary of Aboriginal Placenames of Victoria, Victorian Aboriginal Corporation for Languages, Melbourne.
Eastern Maar Aboriginal Corporation 2024, Culture and Country Resources, Eastern Maar Aboriginal Corporation, viewed 7 May 2026, https://easternmaar.com.au/.
Gammage, B 2011, The Biggest Estate on Earth: How Aborigines Made Australia, Allen & Unwin, Sydney.
Presland, G 1994, Aboriginal Melbourne: The Lost Land of the Kulin People, Harriland Press, Melbourne.
UNESCO World Heritage Centre 2019, Budj Bim Cultural Landscape, UNESCO, Paris.
Source material provided by user and expanded into MLA educational format.
Written, Researched and Directed by James Vegter (22 September 2025)
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