First Nations people have historically been highly attuned to seasonal nuances, intricately tied to knowing about and feeling country, place and connection to it.
On the land of the Kulin Nation, this accommodates for a calendar of seven seasons.
Discover more details about the seven seasons in the following sections.
- Hot and dry weather, low rainfall.
- Tussock grass is long and dry.
- Southern Cross high in the south at sunrise.
- Female common brown butterflies flying.
The dry season of Biderap features hot temperatures and low rainfall.
This is the time when people, advised by their elders, started burning parts of the land where the tussock grass or scrub had become too dense. It was important to clear the undergrowth and provide fertilising ash for tuberous food plants.
Poa grass is long and dry, cherry ballart is fruiting, and prickly current bush and kangaroo apples ripen. Djaak (wattle gum), warrak (banksia), silver-leaf stringybark, and long-leaf box provide sweet nectar.
Birds flock to feed on the blossoms before migrating north. Female common brown butterflies are plentiful, and bats are busy. Lizards and snakes are active, as are wombats at night, and kangaroos begin their breeding season, with males fighting.
People used fish and eel traps while gathering at billabongs and creeks where there was ample food, eating fish and shellfish. Women would dig for tubers and roots, while kangaroos and emus were hunted.
Our night sky is bright with stars, and the Southern Cross is high in the south at sunrise.
- Cooler temperatures.
- Eels are fat and ready to harvest.
- Manna gum is flowering.
- Days and nights equal length.
As the hot winds stop blowing and temperatures cool, we enter the season of Luk.
This is when eels migrate downstream, fat and ready to harvest. Female short-finned eels move down the streams to the sea, after male eels started leaving in smaller numbers during spring and summer. These were an important food to the Kulin people.
This is breeding time for cheeky brushtail possums. Manna gum, banksia and stringybark are flowering. Among vegetables, starchy roots of water plants start to die down after their summer growth. Late-summer fruits such as mistletoe berries are also bountiful.
Birds flock before heading north for the winter, to be replaced by others that will soon arrive from Tasmania. Scrub and grass are burnt to fertilise plants and help catch animals.
This is a good time for celebrations and gatherings, to trade, and to share food and stories. Days and nights are of equal length, and we see Canopus high in the sky, almost directly due south at sunrise.
- Misty mornings and cold, rainy days.
- Days are short and nights are long.
- Wombats seen during day seeking sunshine.
- Moth and fungi but the creek.
Waring is the coldest and wettest season, with misty mornings, high rainfall and low temperatures. Days are short and nights are long. Valleys see morning mist and cool, rainy days fill bolin bolin (billabongs).
Hearts of the soft tree fern are a major food source when no fruits are available. Small tuberous plants grow well after rain, as do all sorts of fungi, while the ground is still warm. Beautiful casuarinas flower.
At this time of year, Waring (wombats) bask and forage in the sunshine while bulen-bulen (superb lyrebirds) perform magnificent courtship displays. Brush-tail and ringtail possums mate.
The rain moth emerges after living underground for years as a grub eating tree roots. Many different moths are eaten by birds during the day, and by sugar and feathertail gliders at night. Eastern grey kangaroos and wallabies feed on new growth. Bunjil (eagles) build their nests and migrating birds arrive from Tasmania.
This is when the people of the Kulin nation moved to higher areas, away from low-level flooding. They kept warm by fires and with possum skins, enjoying all Waring has to offer.
- Cold weather eases.
- Wattle and orchids blooming.
- Common brown butterfly caterpillars feed at night.
- Male Koalas bellow at night.
The transition from Waring (wombat season) to Guling (orchid season) brings cool, rainy days that follow misty mornings. Days are short, nights are long, and the cold weather slowly eases.
Muyan (silver wattle) is the first wattle to flower. Urah (yellow box) also blossoms, providing highly prized nectar. Early Nancy is the first of the small food plants to bloom, and by late August the yam daisy murnong will be budding. Across the forest floor, beautiful orchids burst into colour.
In preparation for breeding, many bird species begin nesting. Joeys start to emerge from the pouch and learn from their mothers. At night, common brown butterfly caterpillars feed and male koalas bellow to advertise their presence, seeking a mate and fighting with rival males to establish dominance.
In the past, the Wurundjeri people moved slowly towards the lower lands as temperatures rose. There, they were able to snare ducks, catch other wild fowl and, as the season went on, get eggs from the nests of all kinds of birds. Hearts of kombadik (soft tree ferns) and murnong yams comprised a major part of their diet.
The constellation Sagittarius rises in the south-east after sunset, indicating the mid-point of cold weather.
- Temperatures rise but rain continues.
- Pied currawongs calling.
- Yam daisies flowering.
- Days and nights are of equal length.
As temperatures rise, we welcome the warm, wet and windy days of Poorneet.
The river, fed by melting snows from the mountains, flowed into floodplains and replenished the billabongs. This was a time of plenty; flowers such as wattles, hop goodenia, burgan, murrnong, kangaroo apple, orchids, and small lilies were everywhere, having built their tubers over winter. Water plants put on green leaves. Greens were consumed in large quantities, as were water-plants and tubers.
Pied currawongs call loudly and often. Frogs call and produce tadpoles. Young joeys venture out of the pouch and many bird species start nesting. Insects, snakes and lizards become active and migrant birds return from the north.
Days and nights are of equal length.
- Weather is warm and rainy.
- Kangaroo grass flowers.
- Bats catch insects in flight.
- Male common brown butterflies flying.
Buath Garru is a time when temperatures rise noticeably and much rain falls.
Flourishing native grasses such as kangaroo grass bloom, and the delightful coranderrk (Victorian Christmas bush) starts budding and flowering.
We observe finely patterned common brown butterflies in the air – however, these are usually males. Females rest in cool, shady places, waiting for mates to come to them.
Buliyong (bats) feed avidly on unsuspecting males and other flying insects. The creation being Balayang (brother to Bunjil the eagle) is referred to as the bat. If we pay close attention, we can hear the echolocation of certain microbats at night.
In our stars, the constellation Orion moves across the skies.
- Changeable, thundery weather.
- Goannas are active.
- Kangaroo apple fruit appears.
- Longer days, shorter nights.
This is when we experience unpredictable, thundery weather, with nights getting shorter and days lasting longer.
For the Kulin people, Gunyang was an abundant season. In warm weather, big shelters were not needed unless it rained.
As the land began to dry out, people would congregate around reliable water sources such as billabongs, creeks and rivers. Food was abundant here, with fish traps catching freshwater creatures, and larger animals such as kangaroos and emus coming to the edge of the water to drink. Reptiles such as Dhuling (goannas) were notably active and busy in the warm weather, while the creation being Bunjil (wedge-tailed eagle) began to breed and build large nests.
Gunyang was a time to harvest many plants; ripening fruit included gunyang (kangaroo apple), morr (currant bush), garrawang (apple berry), bali (cherry ballart) and white elderberry.
Under manna gums, small tuberous laap plants would die back, a signal for people to dig up their sweet roots. Striking grasses – such as wallaby grass, spear grass, tussock grass, and the common reed – came into flower. When people went into the mountain gullies to get firedrills, they ate the pith from the centre of tree ferns.
The Kulin people made the most of the land’s resources in this season of abundance, harvesting food, gathering materials and preparing for the months ahead.
Woiwurrung used the kangaroo apple as a contraceptive. When green it is toxic, but when red ripe in December and January it is harmless.