Australian Aborigines Dja Dja Wurrung

By: Emily Henderson, Carly Smith, Lauren Spake, Alan Karnofsky, Courtney Harriott,

Sierra Lloyd, and Katie Bowen

History of Australian Aborigines

• Recent archeological finds have found that there has been Aboriginal presence in Australia for at least 40,000 years. Some of the evidence dates to over 60,000 years old.

• The main belief of Aboriginal culture is 'oneness with nature'.

• Environment is the core of what Australian Aborigines hold sacred.

• Nature and landscape in this culture are of comparable importance to the bible in Christianity

“Australian aboriginal culture can claim to be the oldest continuous living culture on the planet”

Settlement and Nomadic Lifestyle

• The first Australian aborigines settled and colonized what is now Papa New Guinea or Indonesia

• Traditional aborigines lived a nomadic lifestyle, following seasons and opportunities for food

• It is said aborigines hunted large game to extinction in the outback

• This is possibly how they learned to take care of their natural resources and move to new hunting grounds before they destroyed all natural environment

The Dja Dja Wurrung/ Jaara People

• Hunting and Gathering Society• Located along the Loddon, Campaspe, and Avoca

Riverine region of central/western Victoria, Australia. Bendigo is the largest city in Dja Dja Wurrung country

• The society has been in existence since at least 1788• This year is marked by when the first European settlers

came to the region • It is likely that they had lived there for sometime before

but there are no existing records that specify the exact time period

Population

Population: Growth & Decline• Total Population: 2,500• Regions with Significant

Populations: Bendigo is the largest city and other ones include Wedderburn, Castlemaine, St. Arnaud, Maryborough, Boort, Heathcote and Maldon.

• Also includes areas of the Loddon, Campaspe and Avoca Rivers in the Riverine region of central/western Victoria, Australia.

Population: Growth & Decline• In 1789 and 1825, evidence has shown that there was

an epidemic of smallpox that would have killed a significant portion of the population.

• From the late 1830s on, the European settlers introduced numerous diseases to the Dja Dja Wurrung population, causing many deaths.

• Mortality rates also worsened during the gold rushes in 1851

• By December 1852 there were only about 142 people left (15 years before there was between one and two thousand)

• In 1864, they resettled elsewhere and at this time there were only 31 adults and 7 children.

Population: Infant Birth & Mortality Rate• Conflict between European settlers and Aborigines

women over sexual relations which was mistaken as prostitution

• Abduction and rape of these women was also very common and led to violence

• The widespread abuse of the women lead directly to an epidemic of venereal disease of syphilis and gonorrhea

• By 1841, it was estimated that 90% of women were suffering from these diseases causing them to become infertile or to infect the newborns leading to a high infant mortality rate and a large decrease in birth rate.

• Birth control was obviously not an issue due to these factors even though rape was very common.

Population: Immigration• Europeans settled in Western Victoria in the 1830s and

1840s • Resistance by the Dja Dja Wurrung people led to conflict• Numerous massacres from 1838 to 1846 in which many of

the Dja Dja Wurrung people died• This conflict with the Europeans caused two waves of

settlement and dispossession: one in 1837 and one in 1845. • Europeans regarded them as heathens and they could not

be protected or testify against themselves in court so most of these massacre cases were dismissed.

• In 1864, the few remaining people at the crown land of Franklinford were forced to resettle at Coranderrk station

• In 2004, the crown land of Franklinford was reoccupied by an elderly Dja Dja Wurrung.

Polity & Conflict

Diplomacy• Unwanted trespassers were subjected to being

attacked with spears• However, when some foreigners passed through a

ceremony was performed• The ceremony of Tanderrum (freedom of the bush)• This allowed safe passage and temporary access/use of

land and resources by foreign people.  

Politics• No set “ruler” or king in Dja Dja Wurrung clans• Not structured in a hierarchy• Older men and women held the greatest authority

• People worked in groups and shared leadership• If there was an issue between clans then an informative

council (consisting of elder men) would be put together to solve the conflict

• Legal System: explained through The Dreaming• Establishes social, moral, and religious values, which were

taught daily through the use of music, song, dance, and storytelling.  • If a law was broken, “The Dreaming” would seek revenge on

you.• Fear of The Dreaming

Social Stratification• Aboriginal society was not structured in a

hierarchy• People worked in groups and shared the

leadership• When disagreements arose, a headman sorted it

out• The headman position was passed down from

father to son as they shared a link to a common ancestor

• If there was an issue concerning the general community an informal council was formed and usually consisted of only men

• The Kulin society was made up of 16 clans, each with their own headman• The Jaara are one of these clans

European Settlement• Began in 1788

• Thomas Mitchell was probably the first white man to be seen in Dja Dja wurrung country

• European settlement of western Victoria in the 1830s in 1840s was marked by resistance

• Led to massive massacres as well as the emergence of new diseases brought by the Europeans which decimated the Aborigines’ population

• By 1940s almost all aborigine groups were assimilated into Australian urban society as low-paid workers

• In 1976 and 1993 the government passed legislation returning a certain degree of aborigine autonomy and native title rights

• However, their life expectancy and standard of living is not even comparable with the average Australian

Technology & Economy

Technology• The Dja Dja Wurrung were a

hunting and gathering society therefore technology consisted of man made items using natural resources for food gathering• Evidence through scarred trees

shows that the Jaara fashioned canoes from the bark of trees so to go and raid duck and other birds nests along the Loddon River

• Tree bark was also used to make shelters, shields, and coolamons

• Also it is likely that other weapons like spears and bow and arrows were used to hunt as well

Economy• The Dja Dja Wurrung clan was located near the

Loddon, Avoca, and Campaspe rivers• These rivers provided much of their food sources• Diversity of foods: birds, other animals as well as plants • Plants were a mainstay because of so many different

types• Myrmong, Cumbungi, Wardoo

• These rivers were part of established trade networks set up by the Europeans which allowed goods and information to travel over substantial distances

• Therefore, the Jaara was influenced by these routes as well as the Europeans themselves

Victorian Gold Rush• The emergence of gold exploration in 1851 heavily

impacted the Dja Dja Wurrung as well as the rest of the world

• Bendigo was “center of the world” at the time due to many settlers aspirations to make it big off the gold rush

• The gold rush placed more pressure on the Jaara• 10,000 diggers were occupying their native lands and turning

sacred ground into gold digging sites• The gold rush also caused a crisis in agricultural labor because so

many squatters were hiring the Jaara as servants• In the end many were forced to move north because they were

against living on the margin of white society and the disrespectful thing like drinking and prostitution that resulted

• Some forced to resettle at Coranderrk Reserve

Ideologies

Ideology• Australian aboriginal mythology and Christianity• Totemism

• System of belief in which humans are said to have kinship or a mystical relationship with a spirit-being, such as an animal or plant

• The spiritual being is symbolized in a totem through which the people can show their respect

• Sex Totemism• Characterized by the belief that a natural species is associated with

each sex • Eg. Bat for men/ wren for women

• But they believe that a common life is shared by both men and women and natural species

• The Jaara place a lot of emphasis on their cultural and religious beliefs, many of which overlap each other • These beliefs govern relationships among people, marriage systems,

and religious practices

The Dreaming• States that:• There is a belief in powerful beings who arouse from the

land to create people, plants, and animals• Totemism- the belief that there is a genealogical

relationship between people and species of plants and animals• Aspects of the Dreaming were passed on through the use

of music, song, dance, and storytelling.   • This was a common belief system amongst many

aborigine tribes

Kinship

Kinship • The Jaara People strongly believed in working together as a tribe• Elders of the tribe were held in high esteem and were very

respected • The elders were also the leaders more or less

• The Jaara used a different system for names, like when referring to your grandfather, in comparison to the names we use today• Aunty/uncle: address for older people, to whom the speaker may not be

related. • Brother /sister : children of ones mother's sister and of father's brother• Cousin-brother / cousin-sister: children of ones mother's sister and father's

brother • Cousin: any relative of one's own generation. • Father and mother: any relative of one's parents' generation, such as uncles,

aunts, and in-laws. • Grandfather and grandmother: anyone of one's grandparents' generation. Grandfather can also refer to any respected elderly man, to whom the speaker may not be related.

Kinship System• Patrilineal System• System in which one belongs to the father’s lineage; involves

heritage of property, names/titles through the male line

• The Jaara people have two moieties: Bunjil, the eagle, and Waa, the crow• Moieties are the division of society into groups based on

decent• The moieties define how society relates to one another,

practices religion, and sets up rules for marrying

• Language groups• The Aboriginal society is broken into individual clans/ tribes

within a society• For example, the Dja Dja Wurrung is a specific language group

within the Kulin society

Marriage System• A skin group is a section that is determined by the skin of

a person's parents, and determine who a person is eligible to marry

• Every member of society is assigned a skin group even if one is not of blood relation they are assigned a group based on which group they have spent the most time with

• These groups define not only the rules for marriage but also how daily relations are to be handled within the clan• For example, some clan members can not talk to others as a sign

of respect (often refers to elders) and if something must be relayed to a member that one could not approach a third party would have to mediate

• Children are taught these rules so that when they become adults they will know how to handle situations

Education

Protectorate Station at Franklinford• Founded by Edward Stone Parker to protect

aborigines from oppression, violations on their land, and acts of cruelty

• The Franklinford Common School:• Built in mid 1860s as a mud hut• Later used for children of settlers & renovated into brick• Ruled unfit for teaching • Forced to close in February 1848

• Children relocated to Coranderrk

Education of the Jaara • Were not believed to be capable of the same

educational standards as the children of European settlers

• Only taught the first half of primary-school curriculum

• Poorly trained teachers who did not know of the cultural and environmental differences between the Europeans and the Aborigines

• Parents of Aborigine children were not supportive

Change in Education

• In response to sociological research and enlightened public opinion• properly trained teachers • public or independent schools • same curriculum as other schools• Goal: prepare children for association

(assimilation) • Taught English

Change in Education

• Opportunities have greatly improved• More Aborigines going to school and

staying for longer• More universities, vocational training• The Jaara have a Catholic secondary

school on their territory: The Catholic College Bendigo

Status of Women

Women

• Restrictions •Patriarchal System

• Married women were required to live with their husbands family. • Relationships and obligations were

structured around Kinship System.

Women

• Families •Usually Consisted of a man his wife/wives and children. • Kinship system required that parents

provide food for children and supplying their personal needs.• Uncles and Aunts were responsible for

children's punishment and education.

Women• Marriage • “A family group can be quite large, consisting of a man

and his wives, the children from each wife, and sometimes his parents or in-laws. A man often had from two to four wives, ranging form one to more than ten”

- Aboriginalculture.com • After colonization men seemed to only have one wife. • Ceremonies and exchange of goods. • Bride and groom are required to purchase gifts and give

one to every person that attends wedding.

Questions1. Who was in charge of sorting out disagreements within the tribe?

a. The Womenb. The Headmanc. The Europeansd. The Chief

2. The Jaara use a specific kinship system where one’s lineage is traced through the father’s line. What is this system called?

e. Patrilineal Systemf. Matrilineal Systemg. Ambilineal Systemh. Unilineal System

Questions3. Why did the Jaara people quit attending the Franklinford Common School?

a. It burned down in a fire and was not rebuiltb. It was converted into a church to be used by the European settlersc. The school was forced to close because it was deemed unfit for

teachingd. A nearby school was opened and they went there instead

4. What was the main factor that led to the population decline of the Dja Dja Wurrung people?

e. An epidemic of venereal disease causing women to become infertilef. Epidemics of smallpoxg. Introduction of new diseases by European settlersh. Gold rushesi. All of the above

Questions5. What is the main belief of Aboriginal culture?

a. Oneness with landb. Oneness with your soulc. Oneness with natured. Oneness with one’s tribee. Oneness with Europeans

Answer Key: 1. B2. A3. C4. E5. C

Bibliography • http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dja_Dja_Wurrung• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coranderrk• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Franklinford,_Victoria• http://www.onmydoorstep.com.au/heritage-

listing/507/former-franklinford-common-school• http://www.ccb.vic.edu.au/home/about/• Berndt, Catherine and Ronald. The Aboriginal

Australians. Pitman Publishing, Victoria: 1983.• The Australian Aborigines. The Department of

Territories, Sydney: 1967.

Bibliography• http://www.indigenousaustralia.info/social-structur

e/kinship.html

• http://gamahucherpress.yellowgum.com/books/religion/pre_contact_aborigines.pdf

• http://austhrutime.com/kinship_systems.htm • http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dja_Dja_Wurrung• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Australian_Aboriginal_

kinship

Bibliography• www.absoluteastronomy.com/topics/Dja_Dja_Wurr

ung• www.nccma.vic.gov.au/library/scripts/objectifyMed

ia.aspx• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scarred_tree