“The orchids, that’s those little ones. They grow down on the flat too across Badger Creek – has a little flower like a star. If we had a headache Granny Jemima would pick that and boil it and give you a very little bit to drink.”

– Jessie (Nevin) Hunter, 1999, Wurundjeri woiwurrung and last girl born at Coranderrk.

The Dandenong Ranges have an abundance of native plants and animals that the Wurundjeri woiwurrung people cultivated for food as well as for medicinal purposes. The soft tree ferns associated with the area have edible hearts at their core. Murnong (yam daisies) were a staple food source dug from the ground by the women, the black wattle tree provided gum, and the prickly currant bush offered tiny, sweet berries. Wombats, echidnas, kangaroos, eels, possums and larvae were valuable food sources. But unlike modern-day food chains, Wurundjeri woiwurrung people always used the whole animal, both for food and other uses, like the creation of cloaks and tools. What little was left was reburied in the earth to feed and sustain new generations. Before the food sources in an area were all gone, Wurundjeri woiwurrung would move on, allowing the land to recover and regenerate, to sustain them again another time. 

woiwurrung translations by Wurundjeri woman Brooke Wandin. 

IMAGE:

William Barak

Wurundjeri

Group hunting animals, 1890

watercolour over pencil and charcoal on paper

44.6 x 57.7 cm

National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne

Gift of Michael and Traudl Moon, 1995