Belgrave Survival Day

The land that Belgrave Survival Day falls upon is part of the Wurundjeri nation that lived here for tens of thousands of years before the colonial settlers re-named the area Belgrave in the 19th century.

The Wurundjeri country covered a huge expanse of what is now metropolitan Melbourne: from the inner city to the Werribee river; south east as far as Mordialloc creek and over to Healesville. The Wurundjeri nation spoke Woi-worrung language and were part of the wider Kulin nation comprising five language groups. Two social totems governed Wurundjeri: the Crow (in Woiwurrung Waang) and Bunjil the Eagle Hawk.

Many Aboriginal nations were named after specific geographical features of their land. The word Wurundjeri is derived from the Woiwurrung word Wurun referring to the river white gum (Eucalyptus viminalis) and Jeri is the grub that resides within that specific (ribbon gum) tree.

The Wurundjeri clan that inhabited the Melbourne area would often spend the summer months upon the banks of the Yarra and its tributaries. In winter, they would often head to the Dandenong Ranges (known as Banyenong) to make use of its timber for firewood and shelter. Wurundjeri divided their year into seven seasons rather than the familiar four. The arrival of a new season was based on the onset of a natural event such as the blooming of wattle or the first appearance of the blue wren.