Native Plants, Foods and Medicinal Elements
Gum Trees in Victoria: Healing, Tools, and Culture
MLA Educational Series — Trees, Country, and Culture
Gum trees (Eucalyptus spp.) are among the most defining features of the Australian landscape — towering guardians of Country whose scent, shade, and spirit shape the identity of the continent. Across Victoria, they hold deep spiritual, medicinal, and practical importance for Indigenous peoples. With more than 700 eucalypt species nationwide and dozens native to Victoria, gums provided medicine, food, tools, shelter, and ceremonial materials for tens of thousands of years (Clarke 2009; Royal Botanic Gardens Victoria 2021).
Beyond their physical uses, gum trees are ancestral beings in songlines and Dreaming stories — living entities that connect sky, soil, and people. Colonisation exploited these trees for timber, oil, and grazing land, yet for Indigenous peoples, they remain essential to healing, law, and renewal.
Deep History of Gum Tree Use
Archaeological and ethnobotanical evidence indicates that Indigenous peoples across south-eastern Australia used eucalypts for medicine, technology, and ceremony for at least 40,000 years (Gott 2019). Every part of the tree was valuable: bark for canoes, leaves for medicine, sap for antiseptic, wood for tools, and smoke for purification.
In Victoria, key species include River Red Gum (Eucalyptus camaldulensis), Manna Gum (E. viminalis), Yellow Box (E. melliodora), Swamp Gum (E. ovata), and Messmate (E. obliqua) — each adapted to particular ecosystems and associated with distinct cultural knowledge.
Food and Drink from the Gums
Gum trees also nourished Indigenous communities through sweet and medicinal substances.
Manna (sugar gum): A crystallised sweet exudate formed when insects fed on Manna Gum (E. viminalis). Gathered from bark and leaves, it was eaten like honey or ground into drinks — a seasonal delicacy especially for children (Clarke 2009).
Nectar: Flowers of Yellow Box and Red Ironbark yielded nectar, sucked directly or mixed with water into a sweet beverage.
Water from roots: In dry regions, large roots of certain eucalypts were tapped for stored water — an essential survival technique during drought (Howitt 1904).
Medicine and Healing
Eucalypts were and remain living pharmacies. Indigenous healers used their parts in a range of treatments:
Leaves: Crushed, boiled, or inhaled to treat coughs, fevers, and congestion. Infusions cleansed wounds and sores; the vapour was inhaled to ease breathing (Clarke 2009).
Kino (sap): The red sap or “gum” of River Red Gums was used as an antiseptic, applied to wounds and mixed in water to treat diarrhoea (Museums Victoria 2023).
Smoke: Burning leaves produced purifying smoke used for both physical and spiritual healing — to cleanse spaces, remove illness, and protect communities.
Modern pharmacology confirms these uses: eucalyptus oil contains cineole (eucalyptol), a compound with strong antibacterial, antiviral, and anti-inflammatory properties (Royal Botanic Gardens Victoria 2021).
Tools, Shelter, and Daily Life
Gum trees provided essential materials for everyday life and survival.
Bark canoes: Large sheets of bark, particularly from River Red Gums, were used to craft lightweight canoes for fishing and transport along the Dhungala (Murray River) and Birrarung (Yarra River) (Howitt 1904).
Containers and coolamons: Curved bark was shaped into dishes, cradles, and water carriers.
Shelter and windbreaks: Bark sheets formed protective shelters across open plains and forest edges.
Weapons and tools: Hardwood from Yellow Box and Ironbark was shaped into boomerangs, clubs, digging sticks, and spear shafts (Gott 2019).
Firewood and fire-starting: Gum timber provided slow-burning coals vital for cooking and heating.
Spiritual and Ceremonial Roles
The gum tree is not only utilitarian but sacred.
Ancestral beings: Many gum trees are understood as embodiments of Ancestors or as markers of creation stories linking people to Country.
Scarred trees: Across Victoria, large scarred gums — where bark was removed for canoes or tools — remain as heritage markers and sacred sites (Museums Victoria 2023).
Smoke ceremonies: Eucalyptus smoke cleanses participants during ceremonies of birth, death, and renewal, and continues today as a symbol of unity and cultural strength.
Totems and story: Certain gum species serve as clan totems, linking people, Country, and spirit through kinship systems.
Seasonal indicators: Flowering cycles of gums guided traditional calendars, signalling when fish were spawning or yam daisies were ready to harvest (Clarke 2009).
Wadawurrung and Victorian Indigenous Examples
In Wadawurrung Country, gums line the Barwon River, Moorabool Valley, and Bellarine Peninsula, providing materials for canoes, shelters, and ceremony. River Red Gums were especially sacred, serving as sites for corroborees and initiation. Smoke from their leaves was used to heal after childbirth and to cleanse newborns (Gott 2019).
Among Wurundjeri and Taungurung peoples of the Kulin Nation, gum trees formed part of the Birrarung ecosystem, connecting forest, water, and sky. Scarred trees still mark traditional travel routes and tool-making sites.
On Gunditjmara Country near Budj Bim, gums supported eel-fishing systems by stabilising banks and providing bark for smoking and preserving eels. Dja Dja Wurrung and Gunaikurnai peoples used Manna and Swamp Gums for medicine and tool handles, and their woodlands remain vital cultural landscapes.
Across Victoria, these communities share a common truth — that the gum tree is not a resource but a relative, woven into the stories of people and Country alike.
Australia-Wide Indigenous Uses
Eucalypt knowledge extends across the continent, each region adapting its uses to local ecology.
Noongar (south-west WA): Gum leaves and resin were used to treat wounds, coughs, and sore throats. Smoke purified camps and was believed to ward off spirits (Clarke 2009).
Kaurna (Adelaide Plains): Red Gum kino treated infections and diarrhoea; timber was carved into implements and shields.
Palawa (Tasmania): Bark was used for huts and cradles, while gum ash was mixed into poultices for burns.
Yuin and Dharawal (NSW south coast): Eucalyptus leaves and flowers featured in ceremonies of healing, death, and renewal.
These examples reveal that gum trees sustained Indigenous societies nationwide, forming one of the oldest continuing relationships between humans and plants in the world.
Impacts of Colonisation
European colonisation brought extensive environmental and cultural disruption.
Deforestation: Old-growth gum forests were felled for grazing, farming, and timber, erasing sacred sites and traditional harvesting grounds.
Industrial exploitation: Gums became central to settler economies — cut for railway sleepers, mining supports, and eucalyptus oil production (Pascoe 2014).
Cultural loss: Many scarred trees were destroyed, erasing physical traces of Indigenous craftsmanship and ceremony.
River changes: Dams and channel regulation degraded Red Gum wetlands, breaking ecological and spiritual cycles tied to fish, eels, and water systems (DEECA 2021).
Contemporary Revival and Cultural Renewal
Today, gum trees remain symbols of healing and resilience.
Cultural heritage protection: Scarred trees and sacred gums are protected under the Aboriginal Heritage Act 2006 (Vic) and related state legislation.
Healing and ceremony: Indigenous healers and Elders continue to use eucalyptus leaves in smoking ceremonies for cultural, emotional, and spiritual wellbeing.
Education and gardens: Cultural centres and botanic gardens — such as the Royal Botanic Gardens Victoria and the Narana Aboriginal Cultural Centre (Geelong) — teach gum tree uses through interactive bush medicine programs.
Art and identity: Gum leaves, seeds, and scar motifs appear throughout Indigenous art, symbolising resilience, cleansing, and ancestral strength.
The Future of Gum Trees in Victoria
The survival of gum trees — and the knowledge they embody — depends on collaborative management that recognises Indigenous authority.
Protecting River Red Gum forests, restoring native woodlands, and involving Traditional Owners in decision-making ensures both ecological and cultural regeneration. Teaching younger generations how gums provided food, tools, medicine, and law strengthens the connection between people and Country.
For Indigenous communities, gum trees are living ancestors — bearers of memory, healing, and responsibility.
Conclusion
For Indigenous peoples of Victoria, gum trees are not mere resources but kin — living beings that breathe with the land. They have provided sustenance, shelter, medicine, and guidance for tens of thousands of years. Though colonisation scarred forests and severed cultural ties, the gum tree endures as a teacher of balance, resilience, and renewal. Protecting and revitalising this relationship today is both environmental care and cultural justice — an act of healing for Country and for future generations.
References
Clarke, PA 2009, Australian Aboriginal Ethnobotany: An Overview, CSIRO Publishing, Melbourne.
Gott, B 2019, The Yam Daisy: A History of Aboriginal Plant Use in Victoria, Aboriginal Studies Press, Canberra.
Howitt, AW 1904, The Native Tribes of South-East Australia, Macmillan, London.
Museums Victoria 2023, Indigenous Scar Trees and Plant Use Collections, Museums Victoria, Melbourne.
Pascoe, B 2014, Dark Emu: Aboriginal Australia and the Birth of Agriculture, Magabala Books, Broome.
Royal Botanic Gardens Victoria 2021, Eucalyptus and Indigenous Knowledge in Victoria, RBGV, Melbourne.
Department of Energy, Environment and Climate Action (DEECA) 2021, River Red Gum Forests of Victoria: Ecological and Cultural Significance, State of Victoria.
Written, Researched and Directed by James Vegter (22 October 2025)
MLA
Sharing the truth of Indigenous and colonial history through film, education, land, and community.
www.magiclandsalliance.org
Copyright MLA – 2025
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.