Gunditjmara

Gunditjmara country in southwestern Victoria contains the volcanic landscape of Budj Bim, where ancient lava flows shaped wetlands and waterways. Gunditjmara people built stone channels, weirs and ponds to direct water and catch kooyang, the short-finned eel. This extensive system supported food production and exchange over thousands of years. Woven baskets were set in the weirs, while eels could be held in ponds. Stone-walled houses also stood within the landscape, whose waters and ancestral stories remained central to Gunditjmara life.