Aboriginal Culture and Heritage
Nature & People
Many Australian Aboriginal people have cultural associations with the landscapes of the Great Eastern Ranges. These associations have a history extending back more than 22,000 years, through the period of contact with non-indigenous settlers (after 1788), and continue to the present day. A map showing the Country of different Aboriginal language, tribal or nation groups along the Great Eastern Ranges can be found at www.aboriginaleducation.sa.edu.au/files/pages/aboriginal_aust/ab_aust_full.pdf.
The landscapes of the Great Eastern Ranges are, and were, used by Aboriginal people in a number of ways. Trading routes and Aboriginal pathways were formed over generations as Aboriginal groups from along the coast and the western plains came together for meetings and ceremonies.
Major economic and spiritual events, involving multiple groups, were connected with the Great Eastern Ranges and to the seasonally abundant and reliable resources. A much celebrated Aboriginal association with the high country of the Australian Alps relates to the annual gathering of Bogong moths. Bogong moths (Agrotis infusa) migrate annually to the Southern Alps during summer, where they aestivate in the caves and crevices of the highest mountains. Each year, large numbers of Aboriginal people would make their way to the high country to feast on the moths, as well as gather for large ceremonies. In a similar way, large numbers of Aboriginal people travelled to the Bunya Mountains and Blackall Ranges (in southern Queensland) to participate in ceremonies. Bunya nuts provided a rich food source and were an important reason why the large gatherings took place in these mountains.
Many mountains in the high country are important Aboriginal story places. For example, Gulaga (Mount Dromedary), near Tilba Tilba, and Bulgaan (Pigeon House Mountain), near Ulladulla, are important mythological sites for Yuin people and for people of the south coast of NSW. Dreaming stories and tracks often connect the mountains with other landscape features. Trading routes and Aboriginal pathways were formed over generations as Aboriginal groups from along the coast and the western plains came together.
Plants specific to the high country have a variety of uses as food and medicine, as well as in ceremonial and spiritual activities. For example, the Bangalow Palm, found on the Illawarra Escarpment, was used for making water carriers and for thatching shelters, and was also an indicator of the presence of swamp wallabies. The ranges also provided rock used for making tools, such as stone axes or hatchets. The Mount William stone hatchet quarry in central Victoria is a well known example of this type of place (visit www.environment.gov.au/heritage/places/national/mount-william/information.html).
The Great Eastern Ranges continue to be a landscape in which Aboriginal people live and retain deep-time cultural and spiritual connections.
References and further reading
Arder, Jason, 2003. Rocks are Rocks, Mountains are Mountains: Aboriginal values of mountains. In Janet Mackay and Associates (ed.) Proceedings of an International Year of Mountains Conference, Jindabyne, Australia. Canberra: Australian Alps Liaison Committee.
Flood, Josephine, 1980. The Moth Hunters. Canberra: Australian Institute of Aboriginal Studies.
