The Djab Wurrung, also spelt Djabwurrung, Tjapwurrung, Tjap Wurrung, or Djapwarrung, people are Aboriginal Australians whose country is the volcanic plains of central Victoria from the Mount William Range of Gariwerd in the west to the Pyrenees range in the east encompassing the Wimmera River flowing north and the headwaters of the Hopkins River flowing south. The towns of Ararat, Stawell and Hamilton are within their territory. There were 41 Djab Wurrung clans who formed an alliance with the neighbouring Jardwadjali people through intermarriage, shared culture, trade and moiety system before colonisation. Their lands were conquered but never ceded.
Language
Djab Wurrung, meaning "soft language", belongs to the Western branch of the Kulin languages. It is the southernmost language, with Dja Dja Wurrung spoken to the east/southeast, and Jardwadjali (thought to be a dialect of Wemba Wemba language) spoken in the area from Casterton northwards to Donald.
The Djab Wurrung language shares 85 per cent common vocabulary with Jardwadjali, 82 per cent with Wemba Wemba, 66 per cent with Madhi Madhi and 68 per cent with Letji-Letji.
It is believed that the northern Djab Wurrung dialect Knenknen Wurrung was spoken by a distinct group which "occupied a tract of country from east of the Pyrenees and west across northern Gariwerd" before Knenknen wurrung speakers and their country were absorbed into Djab Wurrung territory sometime in the early nineteenth century.
Country
The anthropologist Norman Tindale observed that the Djab Wurrung's lands extend over , ranging from Mount Rouse westwards to Hamilton. To the east its boundaries end at the Hopkins River and Wickliffe. The northern boundary lays near Mount William, Stawell, Ararat and the Dividing Range.
Parts of Djab Wurrung country include the eastern ranges of Gariwerd and the Grampians National Park. Historian Benjamin Wilkie writes that Gariwerd has been central to Djab Wurrung society and culture, and that their territory extends
from the Serra Range onto the plains to the south and east of the Gariwerd mountains. Along the Serra Range, the Neetsheere balug lived at Mount William, and the Watteneer balug, Yam yam burer balug, Weeripcart balug, Mitteyer balug were nearby. At Mud-dadjug (Mount Abrupt) were a group described as the "Mutterchoke gundij" and at Wurgarri, or Mount Sturgeon, near Dunkeld, were the Wurcurri gundij. Djab wurrung country extended south where the Kolorer gundij lived at Mount Rouse and at Hexham were the Buller buller cote gundij. In the west were the Beeripmo balug at Mount Cole, down to the Bulukbar at Lake Bolac. Back towards Gariwerd, Stawell, Great Western, Ararat, and Halls Gap all fell within Djab wurrung country.
Djab Wurrung country also overlaps with parts of the Newer Volcanics Province of south-east Australia. Along with Girai wurrung, Wada wurrung, Gunditjmara, and other western Kulin Aboriginal people, the Djab Wurrung people have oral traditions relating to volcanoes and volcanism. Mount Rouse, near Penshurst, for example, is an ancient volcano on Djab Wurrung country where the Kolorer gundidj clan lived. The Djab Wurrung name for Mount Rouse is Kolorer, which means "lava". Kolorer, kuulor, Kulurr and other derivatives can be found attached to volcanic landscape features across the region.
Society and culture
The Djab Wurrung were once thought to have had at least eleven bands. Now it is believed that at the time of European contact in the middle of the nineteenth century, there were around 41 clans, bands, or local estate groups. These groups shared the Djab Wurrung language but belonged to their own, smaller tracts of land. Each of these groups had a population of about 40 to 60 people. At the time of European colonisation the total Djab Wurrung population is estimated to have been somewhere between 2460 and 4920 individuals.
At the time of colonisation, the Djab Wurrung language was passed down through fathers, as was an individual clan or local estate group territorial affiliation. Further to this, Ian D. Clark notes that a two class matrilineal system was recorded and maintained, with descent based on the wirran (yellow-tailed black cockatoo) and grugidj (sulphur-crested cockatoo or Long-billed corella white cockatoo) moieties. Grugidj sub-totems included pelican, parrot, mopoke and large kangaroo. Gamadj sub-totems included emu, whip snake, possum, koala, and sparrowhawk. Clans intermarried with the Dja Dja Wurrung, Jardwadjali, Dhauwurd wurrung and Wada wurrung peoples.