While most people know the mountain range as the Grampians, Aboriginal people have always known this place as Gariwerd.
Gariwerd is a special place, central to the dreaming of Aboriginal people, particularly the Djab Wurrung and the Jardwadjali, the traditional people of this area. Their descendants are still at Gariwerd, where they maintain the culture and stories of the land.
Gariwerd is a very spiritual place for Aboriginal people because of the dreaming stories and the abundance of food, water, and shelter it provides. The evidence lies in the number of occupation sites found in Gariwerd and that Aboriginal people are still drawn to this place today. Further evidence of the Aboriginal presence in the area lies in the fact that Gariwerd contains 90% of the rock art sites in Victoria.
Traditional Owners of Gariwerd
Before European settlement, Aboriginal people occupied all
aspects of the Victorian landscape, governed by a distinct system of land ownership. Aboriginal social organisation was highly complex, with marriage, social, and inter-group relationships based on tribe (or language group), descent, clan and moiety.
The tribe was the largest division unit, consisting of people who shared a common language. Members of the same language group also shared the same rules of descent (either matrilineal or patrilineal) and claimed ownership of a particular region. Clans claimed common descent from ancestors (individual branches of a family tree), with smaller groups holding tracts of land.
Moieties divided the entire language group into complimentary social groups, governing individuals’ social and ceremonial status and marriageability. Intermarriage of people from the same moiety was not allowed (Coutts 1981:viii, after Howitt 1904; Bell 2000).
Gariwerd Creation – A Dreamtime Story
In the time before, the Great Ancestor Spirit, Bunjil, began to create the world around us: the mountains, the lakes, the forests, the rivers, the plains, and the seas. He also made all the plants and all the animals.
When he had created the beautiful sandstone ranges of Gariwerd, he often took the form of Werpil the Eagle to view his work. He looked over the cliffs and the mountains. He listened to the sound of water, dripping after rain and thundering over waterfalls. He watched the plants and animals grow – From moss and tiny blades of grass to tall,
sturdy gums, from birds that flew to animals that burrowed through the soil. Bunjil had a special place near Gariwerd. From there, he could look out over the ranges. He is pictured above in Bunjils Shelter with his two helpers, two Wirringan, or dingoes. Bunjil appointed two brothers, the Bram-bram-bult brothers, sons of Druk the Frog, to finish the task he had set himself. Their job was to bring order to the new world, name the animals and creatures, make the languages, and give the laws.
Bunjil rose into the sky and became a star at the end of his life on Earth. He remains there today, protecting the natural world, his people, and their beliefs. Meanwhile, the Bram-bram-bult brothers had a big job sorting things out here. A vast, ferocious emu called Tchingal lived on the flesh of people and animals. His home was in the Malee scrub. He was hatching an enormous egg.
One day, while Tchingal was away from the nest, Waa the Crow flew past. Feeling hungry, Waa decided to peck at the egg. He was pecking away quite happily when Tchingal returned. The monster emu was furious. Waa fled across the country towards Gariwerd, with Tchingal right behind him.
Waa approached the ranges and saw a crack in the mountains ahead. He flew into it, thinking he would be safe from Tchingal there. But Tchingal rushed at the hill and struck it a mighty blow with his foot.
The mountain split open under the force of the impact, releasing a mountain stream and creating a gap, Barigar, also known as Rose’s Gap. The emu could now see Waa flying off towards the west. He chased him through Barigar, right to the other side of the range. Waa spotted another crack in the rockface. He desperately tried to hide in it, but again, Tchingal delivered a mighty kick to the rock and split it right open. This is how Jananginj Njaui (Victoria Gap) was formed, where Bugara (Glenelg River) passes out onto the western plains. With the sun low on the horizon, Tchingal decided to camp at the foot of the new gap. This is why the place is called Jananginj Njaui, which means ‘the sun will go’.
The following day, Waa rose early and escaped to the nearby Moora Moora swamp. As this was his totem site and, therefore, sacred territory, Tchingal was forbidden to follow him there.
Tchingal was angry and very hungry. Just then, he spied a man, Bunya, out hunting in the distance. He decided to make a meal of him. When Bunya, who was not very brave, realised the emu was after him, he took off as fast as possible. Instead of using his spears to protect himself, as a warrior should, he threw them to the ground and scrambled up a large tree. Tchingal, not being able to climb, decided to wait. He knew that Bunya would have to come down sometime.
Meanwhile, Waa the Crow had flown north to where the Bram-bram-bult brothers were staying. He told them of his narrow escape and Tchingal’s ferociousness. Already angry at the emu for his evil deeds, the two brothers decided to punish him.
They came down to the mountains and saw what they thought was a bright star shining – it was Tchingal’s eye. Approaching the bird from different directions, the brothers crept up and threw their spears. One struck the emu in the chest, one in the rump, and one in the neck. Tchingal raged and stormed at the brothers, but he was fatally wounded. He ran off towards the northern plains, losing blood all the time. Soon, he died, and the trail of blood he left behind him turned into the Wimmera River.
The Bram-Bram-bult now approached the tree where Bunya had hidden. They told him to come down, but Bunya was too scared and called back that he would stay there until they made sure Tchingal was dead.
The elder brother was angry at such cowardice. He waved his spear and caused Bunya to become a possum, telling him to always stay in the treetops and to hunt for his food only at night.
Reaching the spot where Tchingal had died, the brothers plucked all the feathers from his body. Splitting each feather down the centre, they threw one half to the left and the other to the right, making two piles of emu feathers, each the size of a present-day emu. The splitting of the feathers can still be seen in all emus. Their feathers are double, with two separate halves.
After feasting on Tchingal’s flesh, everyone travelled to collect his egg. It was so big and heavy that no one could lift it until Babimbal the Wattlebird came along. He was solid and carried the egg to Horsham, where it was cooked and made into a great feast. Babimbal had the honour of dishing it out, and in so doing, he splashed himself with some of the yolks, creating the wattles on the side of his head.
Before leaving, Bram-Bram-bult ordered the two emus to divide their large egg into several smaller ones in the future so they wouldn’t be as jealous of their one egg as Tchingal had been. In this way, they hoped to keep the peace.
Looking at the Southern Cross, you can see the story in the stars. At the head of the Cross is Bunya, the timid possum. Three of the stars are the spears hurled by the Bram-bram-bult. The sizeable western star is the spear that struck Tchingal in the chest, the smaller star next to it is the spear that passed through his neck, and the star at the bottom of the Cross is the spear that struck him in the rump.
Tchingal himself is the dark shape that lies next to the Southern Cross. The eastern star of the Cross is Druk, the mother of the Bram-bram-bult, and the two brothers are the Pointers of the Southern Cross. Waa the Crow is at a safe distance on the other side of the sky, as the star we know as Canopus.
Source: Edited version of a film script written by Martin Gordon from website:
brambuk.com.au