goranwarrabil is the woiwurrung name for the Dandenong Ranges. While providing many resources, the high country and goranwarrabil can be an unstable landscape with changeable weather, landslides and wiinj (fire). Wurundjeri woiwurrung people understood and worked with the landscape, caring for biik (Country). They travelled and hunted along the ridgelines, navigating along yaluk (the waterways). Living areas and resting places were carefully chosen lower down the ngarabul (ridgeline) but also close to yaluk. The location that became Coranderrk Aboriginal Reserve was once one of these traditional living areas.

The Bulleen-Banyule flats have been identified as another key living area for Wurundjeri woiwurrung people after bullen bullen (lyrebird) hunting expeditions in goranwarrabil (the Dandenong Ranges). As our climate changes and population grows, being able to understand the landscape and our surrounding environment becomes more and more important. 

woiwurrung translations by Wurundjeri woman Brooke Wandin. 

IMAGE:

Cain

Yorta Yorta/Wurundjeri people

Family, 2022

acrylic on canvas

39 x 59 cm

This artwork was created through The Torch, a not-for-profit organisation that provides art, cultural and arts industry support to First Nations people currently in, or recently released, from Victorian prisons.

ARTWORK STORY:

The background represents my mum, and the two other flags are me and my brother.