Swans in Victoria: Cultural Ancestors, Ecological Guardians, and Colonial Disruption
The swan, most notably the black swan (Cygnus atratus), is one of the most iconic birds of Victoria and across Australia. Known for its graceful presence on rivers, lakes, and wetlands, the black swan was deeply significant to Aboriginal peoples long before European colonisation. For the Wadawurrung, Wurundjeri, and other Kulin Nations, swans were more than birds: they were spiritual beings, food sources, and teachers of law (Clark 1990).
Colonisation, however, dramatically reshaped the place of swans in Victorian landscapes. Hunted for food, feathers, and sport, and pressured by wetland destruction, swan populations were destabilised (Rolls 1969). Their cultural roles in song, ceremony, and oral traditions were disrupted, and they became entangled in the symbolic clash between Aboriginal cosmologies and European myths.
Today, swans remain powerful symbols of resilience, identity, and balance in both ecological and cultural life.
Swans Before Colonisation
Ecological Role
Swans inhabited wetlands, rivers, and coastal estuaries across Victoria, grazing on aquatic plants, sedges, and grasses. They played a critical role in wetland health, dispersing seeds, maintaining aquatic vegetation, and influencing nutrient cycling (DELWP 2021).
Their seasonal movements reflected the health of rivers and lakes, making them ecological indicators of abundance.
Cultural Role
For the Wadawurrung and other Kulin Nations, swans were ancestral beings tied to story and law. Their elegant form, cooperative breeding, and presence on wetlands made them symbols of unity and family (Flood 1983).
Swan eggs were a valued food source, collected seasonally with care. Overharvesting was avoided through traditional law, with rules about when and how many could be taken (Clark 1990).
Feathers were used in adornments, ceremony, and ritual.
Wadawurrung Stories and Oral History
On Wadawurrung Country, covering the Barwon River, Lake Connewarre, and the Bellarine wetlands, swans were abundant and deeply woven into oral traditions.
Creation stories: One Wadawurrung oral account recalls that swans were once white birds who were turned black through fire or magic, embodying themes of change and endurance (Flood 1983).
Guardians of wetlands: Swans were described as watchers of water Country, their presence ensuring the fertility of plants, fish, and birdlife. A wetland without swans was considered a sign of imbalance (Clark 1990).
Ceremonial significance: During gatherings, swans were associated with peace and unity. Their pair-bonding behaviour was retold as a lesson in fidelity, cooperation, and shared responsibility.
Food and respect: Eggs and meat were consumed, but always within cultural law. Oral histories recall that to take too many swan eggs was to invite sickness or poor hunting luck (Flood 1983).
The decline of swans after colonisation, especially in Lake Connewarre, became part of Wadawurrung oral history — another marker of Country’s imbalance through overhunting and drainage of wetlands (DELWP 2021).
Case Study: Swans at Lake Connewarre
Lake Connewarre, a large wetland system near Geelong, was once a major gathering place for both Wadawurrung people and swans. Oral histories describe the lake as abundant with birdlife, including vast flocks of black swans. For the Wadawurrung, this wetland was a source of food, ceremony, and cultural law, where swan eggs were gathered under strict seasonal protocols (Clark 1990).
However, with colonisation, Lake Connewarre became a site of intense exploitation:
19th-century hunting: By the 1850s, European settlers were shooting thousands of swans for food and for their feathers, which were exported for bedding and clothing (Rolls 1969). Reports from The Argus noted the large-scale killing of swans around Geelong and the Bellarine wetlands.
Disruption of law: Aboriginal protocols of careful harvesting were ignored, leading to unsustainable exploitation and the collapse of swan populations in the lake.
Wetland drainage: Parts of the Connewarre system were drained or modified for agriculture, reducing habitat and increasing pressure on swan populations (DELWP 2021).
Fox predation: By the early 20th century, the introduction of foxes meant swan eggs and young were further decimated, disrupting recovery.
Today, Lake Connewarre remains an important site for black swans, though in smaller numbers. Conservation programs now recognise the dual ecological and cultural value of swans at the lake, acknowledging their importance to Wadawurrung identity and the broader wetland ecosystem.
Swans in Broader Aboriginal Traditions
Across Australia, swans appear in Dreaming stories as shape-shifters and law-givers. In Noongar stories from Western Australia, the swan is linked with kinship and taboo-breaking, reinforcing the need for balance in human behaviour (Flood 1983).
In New South Wales, stories recall the swan’s feathers as gifts of transformation, warning against arrogance and selfishness.
Totemic connections: In many nations, swans were clan totems, embodying obligations of protection and respect (Clark 1990).
Impacts of Colonisation
Ecological Impacts
Overhunting: European settlers shot swans for meat, feathers, and sport. Swan feathers became a commodity in the 19th century, exported for bedding and fashion (Rolls 1969).
Wetland destruction: Drainage of swamps and rivers for farming reduced swan habitats, especially around the Western District and Bellarine Peninsula (DELWP 2021).
Predation on eggs: Introduced foxes, cats, and dogs preyed heavily on swan nests, leading to declines in breeding success (Saunders et al. 1995).
Cultural Impacts
Disrupted harvesting law: Colonial overhunting ignored Aboriginal seasonal laws, leading to the collapse of sustainable egg gathering practices (Clark 1990).
Symbolic inversion: While Aboriginal peoples saw the swan as sacred and ancestral, European colonists sometimes treated them as vermin, while at the same time co-opting them as emblems of colonial “possession” of the land (Rolls 1969).
Loss of ceremony: As swans disappeared from key wetlands, their ceremonial roles were diminished, disrupting cycles of story and law (Flood 1983).
The Science of Swans
Biology: The black swan is one of the few swan species endemic to the Southern Hemisphere. Adults are almost entirely black with red bills and white flight feathers.
Behaviour: They are monogamous, forming lifelong pairs. Nests are large reed mounds, with clutches of 4–8 eggs (Olsen 1995).
Adaptability: Swans remain common in some areas but are vulnerable to habitat degradation, fox predation, and water pollution.
Conservation: In Victoria, they are protected under the Wildlife Act, though habitat loss remains a key threat (DELWP 2021).
Symbolism and Meaning
Aboriginal Communities
Swans symbolise unity, balance, and guardianship of water Country.
Their black feathers carry lessons about transformation and resilience, often interpreted as reminders of survival through hardship (Flood 1983).
Their cooperative behaviour symbolises family and community strength.
Globally
Greek and Roman traditions: Swans were linked to Apollo, representing beauty, music, and prophecy.
Celtic traditions: Swans symbolised love, transformation, and the soul’s journey.
European myth: The rarity of black swans in Europe made them symbols of the “impossible” — an idea overturned by their presence in Australia (Rolls 1969).
Today
Swans are enduring symbols of Victoria, featured on flags, coats of arms, and sporting teams, but they remain strongest as emblems of Aboriginal cultural survival and ecological resilience.
Conclusion
The history of swans in Victoria is one of deep cultural reverence, ecological importance, and colonial disruption. For Aboriginal peoples, swans were not only food sources but spiritual guardians, woven into law, ceremony, and story. Colonisation brought hunting, wetland destruction, and ecological imbalance, silencing swan voices in many places.
The Lake Connewarre case shows how colonial exploitation devastated both swan populations and Aboriginal cultural practice. Yet swans endure — as symbols of unity, resilience, and transformation. Watching swans glide across a Victorian wetland today is to glimpse both ancient cultural continuity and ecological survival, reminding us of the need to restore balance between people, animals, and Country.
References
Clark, ID 1990, Aboriginal Languages and Clans: An Historical Atlas of Western and Central Victoria, 1800–1900, Monash University, Melbourne.
Coman, BJ 1999, Tooth and Nail: The Story of the Rabbit in Australia, Text Publishing, Melbourne.
Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning (DELWP) 2021, Wetland Birds in Victoria, Victorian Government, Melbourne.
Flood, J 1983, Archaeology of the Dreamtime, Collins, Sydney.
Olsen, P 1995, Australian Birds of Prey: The Biology and Ecology of Raptors, UNSW Press, Sydney.
Rolls, EC 1969, They All Ran Wild: The Animals and Plants that Plague Australia, Angus & Robertson, Sydney.
Saunders, G, Coman, B, Kinnear, J & Braysher, M 1995, Managing Vertebrate Pests: Foxes, Bureau of Resource Sciences/CSIRO, Canberra.
Written, Researched and Directed by James Vegter 16/09/2025
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.