Bunurong/ Boonwurrung Place Names
Winds, Waters, and the Kilcunda Stories of Bunurong/ Boonwurrung Country
MLA Educational Series — Country, Language, and Coastal Story
On the wild Bass Strait coast between Wonthaggi and San Remo, the seaside township of Kilcunda rests on the ancient lands of the Bunurong (Boonwurrung) people — saltwater people of the Kulin Nation whose Country extends from the Werribee River in the west to Wilson’s Promontory in the east.
The coastline here is carved by wind and wave: sandstone cliffs, rolling dunes, and tidal creeks that have sustained human life for over 40,000 years. Long before it became a railway stop or surf town, Kilcunda was part of a Bunurong Songline following the coast and the great river systems — the Powlett (Kugerungmome) to the east and the Anderson Inlet wetlands to the west.
Here, water, wind, and spirit converge. The Bunurong gathered shellfish, hunted seabirds, and moved seasonally between inland forests and the ocean, guided by ancestral law and ceremony.
Meaning and Etymology
The name Kilcunda is believed to come from Boonwurrung/Bunurong language, reflecting the power and sound of the coastal winds and sea.
Linguists suggest “Kilcunda” (sometimes written “Kilkunda” in early records) means “place of the sea”, “place of strong wind”, or “surf coast” — derived from kil/kiln (“bay or inlet”) and kunda (“place of”) (Clark & Heydon 2002; Blake 1991).
The term encapsulates the site’s acoustic and physical identity — the roar of surf, the whistle of wind, and the rhythm of tidal movement that defines the Bass Coast.
To the Bunurong, names were never arbitrary; they described function, direction, and spiritual resonance. “Kilcunda” thus speaks of exposure — a place where sea and sky meet without shelter.
The Landscape of Country
Kilcunda lies within a dynamic cultural–ecological corridor shaped by:
Sandstone and limestone cliffs, uplifted and eroded over 20–30 million years (VandenBerg 1999).
Freshwater springs emerging from dunes and gullies, once used as Bunurong camp sites.
Bourne Creek, a short but important coastal stream, feeding small wetlands behind the dunes.
Native coastal heathlands of kangaroo grass, cushion bush, and pigface, maintained by fire and sea spray.
These environments were intricately managed by Bunurong families through cultural fire, seasonal harvesting, and observation of animal migrations (Gott & Zola 1992; Presland 1994).
Powlett River: The Water of the East
East of Kilcunda, the Powlett River forms a wide estuary near Wonthaggi before flowing into the sea. In Bunurong language, it was known as Kugerungmome (also recorded as Kugerungmome Creek) — meaning “the place of the blackfish” or “fish water” (Clark & Heydon 2002; Presland 1994).
The river and its floodplain were vital Bunurong gathering and fishing grounds, abundant with eel (kooyang), blackfish, freshwater mussel, and waterfowl. Seasonal gatherings took place where the river met the sea — sites that also served as ceremonial boundaries and exchange points between eastern and western Bunurong clans.
Archaeological sites along the Powlett and Kilcunda coasts contain stone tools, hearths, and shell middens that date back thousands of years (Broome 2005; Bunurong Land Council 2023).
Bunurong Life and Law along the Coast
For the Bunurong, water and wind were law — natural forces woven into ceremony, food, and identity.
Shell middens at Kilcunda reveal the long use of abalone, mussel, and limpet.
Seal and muttonbird rookeries were harvested seasonally, guided by spiritual and ecological law to prevent overuse.
Coastal fire management kept dunes stable and encouraged the growth of yam daisy (murnong) and native grasses.
Eel traps and brush weirs at the Powlett mouth followed tidal patterns; the catch was smoked and traded inland along Kulin routes (Gott & Zola 1992).
These practices formed a maritime economy that sustained life through seasonal precision and ecological respect.
Truganini and the Bass Coast Connection
One of the most significant historical figures to walk this coast was Truganini (1812–1876), a Nuenonne woman of Bruny Island, Tasmania, who lived for a time among the Bunurong after being brought to the mainland by George Augustus Robinson, the colonial Protector of Aborigines.
In the 1840s, Robinson and his party travelled extensively along the Bass Strait coast, including the Powlett River, Kilcunda, and Western Port regions (Critchett 1990; Broome 2005). Truganini and other Tasmanian Aboriginal women were part of this group, and they maintained close contact with Bunurong families — sharing language, ceremony, and survival skills.
During these years, Truganini witnessed both the devastation of coastal Country and the resilience of the First Peoples who continued to live between frontier settlements. Oral accounts suggest she camped near Kugerungmome (Powlett River) and Anderson Inlet, fishing and travelling with Bunurong women.
Her story here is one of cultural continuity across Bass Strait — a bridge between Tasmanian and Victorian Aboriginal worlds at a time of upheaval. Truganini’s journey along the Kilcunda–Wonthaggi coast remains a symbol of survival, identity, and unbroken connection to sea Country (Broome 2005; Critchett 1990).
Colonisation and Dispossession
The 1840s brought rapid colonial expansion across the Bass Coast.
Pastoral leases and coal exploration around Powlett River and Wonthaggi displaced Bunurong families from their camps and food grounds.
Violence and disease reduced populations dramatically (Clark 1995).
Bunurong survivors were moved to Mordialloc and later to Coranderrk, though some continued to return to their coastal lands into the 1860s (Barwick 1998).
The lime-burning industry destroyed many ancient shell middens at Kilcunda and Cape Paterson.
Despite these pressures, Bunurong people preserved their spiritual and kinship ties to the Bass Coast, passing oral histories and place names through generations.
Ecology and Hydrology of Country
The Kilcunda–Powlett system exemplifies Bunurong environmental engineering and balance:
Freshwater and saltwater confluence at the Powlett estuary formed rich feeding zones for migratory fish and birds.
Springs and soak lines along the dunes were protected as sacred water sources, never to be polluted.
Dune fires and seasonal harvesting maintained ecological succession and prevented erosion long before European coastal management (DEECA 2023; Bunurong Land Council 2023).
Today, many of these same natural processes — freshwater inflow, tidal flushing, wind-driven dune dynamics — are recognised by modern hydrologists as essential to wetland stability and biodiversity. The Bunurong understanding of “living water” anticipated contemporary ecological science by millennia.
Cultural Renewal and Country Today
Today, the Bunurong Land Council Aboriginal Corporation (BLCAC) leads cultural and environmental management across the Bass Coast, including Kilcunda, Powlett River, and Bunurong Marine National Park. Their work includes:
Recording and protecting midden and burial sites endangered by erosion.
Integrating Bunurong language and naming into parks and signage.
Teaching coastal cultural heritage and sea Country law through school and community programs.
Replanting coastal heath and grasslands to stabilise dunes and restore biodiversity.
Continuing truth-telling about the lives of Bunurong people and figures like Truganini, whose legacy belongs as much to Victoria as to Tasmania.
Symbolism and Legacy
The word Kilcunda, meaning “place of the sea and wind,” captures both the physical power and spiritual depth of this coastline.
Here, Bunurong law lives in the tides, ancestral story rides the wind, and the voices of people like Truganini remind us that this is not a lost landscape, but a continuing one.
The cliffs, the rivers, and the sea remain as teachers — guardians of a Country that speaks in the sound of surf and the cry of seabirds: the living law of Bunurong Biik (Country).
References
Barwick, D. (1998) Rebellion at Coranderrk. Canberra: Aboriginal History Monograph.
Blake, B. (1991) Wathawurrung and the Colac Language of Southern Victoria. Canberra: Pacific Linguistics.
Broome, R. (2005) Aboriginal Victorians: A History Since 1800. Sydney: Allen & Unwin.
Bunurong Land Council Aboriginal Corporation (2023) Caring for Sea Country: Bunurong Coastal Management Plan. Melbourne: BLCAC.
Cannon, M. (1981) Life in the Country: Australia in the Victorian Age, 1840–1890. Melbourne: Nelson.
Clark, I. D. (1990) Aboriginal Languages and Clans: An Historical Atlas of Western and Central Victoria, 1800–1900. Clayton: Monash Publications in Geography.
Clark, I. D. & Heydon, T. (2002) Dictionary of Aboriginal Placenames of Victoria. Melbourne: Victorian Aboriginal Corporation for Languages.
Clark, I. D. (1995) Scars in the Landscape: A Register of Massacre Sites in Western Victoria 1803–1859. Canberra: Aboriginal Studies Press.
Critchett, J. (1990) A Distant Field of Murder: Western District Frontiers, 1834–1848. Melbourne: Melbourne University Press.
DEECA Victoria (2023) Victorian Coastal Strategy and Cultural Fire Policy. Melbourne: Department of Energy, Environment and Climate Action.
Gott, B. & Zola, N. (1992) Koorie Plants, Koorie People: Traditional Aboriginal Food, Fibre and Healing Plants of Victoria. Melbourne: Koorie Heritage Trust.
Presland, G. (1994) Aboriginal Melbourne: The Lost Land of the Kulin People. Melbourne: Harriland Press.
Shaw, A. (1966) A History of the Port Phillip District: Victoria Before Separation. Melbourne: Melbourne University Press.
VandenBerg, A. H. M. (1999) Geology of Victoria. Geological Society of Australia, Special Publication 10.
Written, Researched and Directed by James Vegter (22 September 2025)
MLA
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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.