Kulin
:
This article is about an Australian Aboriginal nation. For other meanings see Kulin (disambiguation).The
Kulin alliance is one of the
Indigenous Australian nations of
Australia who lived in central
Victoria, Australia, around
Port Phillip and
Western Port, up into the
Great Dividing Range and the Loddon and
Goulburn River valleys. To their east lived the
Gunai/Kurnai people of Gippsland.
Five distinct languages were spoken in two groups. The Eastern Kulin group includes Woiwurrung, Bunurong, Taungurong, Ngurai-illam-wurrung. The western language group included just Wathaurung.
*
Woiwurrung: spoken from
Mount Baw Baw in the east to
Mount Macedon, Sunbury and Gisborne in the west. The
Wurrundjeri-willam were a clan who occupied the
Yarra River and its tributaries. Referred to initially by Europeans as the
Yarra tribe. Other Woiwurrung clans include the
Marin-Bulluk,
Kurung-Jang-Bulluk,
Wurundjeri-Balluk,
Balluk-willam.
Wurundjeri is now the common term for descendants of all the Woiwurrung clans.
*
Bunurong: spoken by six clans along the coast from the Werribee River, across the
Mornington Peninsula,
Western Port Bay to
Wilsons Promontory. Referred to by Europeans as the
Western Port or
Port Philip tribe. The Yalukit-willam clan occupied the thin coastal strip from Werribee, to Williamstown.
Bunurong is now the common term used to describe all the people of this language group.
*
Taungurong: spoken north of the Great Dividing Range in the
Goulburn River Valley around Mansfield, Benalla and Heathcote. Referred to by Europeans as the
Goulburn River tribe.
Taungurong is now the common term used to describe all the people of this language group.
*
Ngurai-illam-wurrung: spoken by the 16 clans of the
Jaara or Jajowrong people around
Murchison, the central highlands region, east to Kyneton, west to the Pyrenees, north to Boort and south to the Great Dividing Range. Referred to by Europeans as the
Broken River tribe or
Loddon Aborigines.
*
Wathaurung: spoken by 15 clans south of the Werribee River and the
Bellarine Peninsula to Streatham. Referred to by Europeans as the
Barrabool people. The escaped convict,
William Buckley lived with this community for 32 years, between 1803 and 1835, before being found by
John Batman on 6 July 1835.
* People of the Merri Merri. The Wurundjeri in Colonial Days. By Isabel Ellender and Peter Christiansen ISBN 0957772807
* The First Residents of Melbourne's Western Region. By Gary Presland ISBN 0646331507
* Wauthaurong Too Bloody Strong: Stories and life journeys of people from Wauthaurong, By Bruce Pascoe (ed.), Pascoe Publishing Pty Ltd, Apollo Bay, Victoria, Australia.
*
Kulin nation*
The Loddon Aboriginals
