The Grange - Human History (Bunurong)

The Grange Human History Bunurong

Bunurong Daily Life

The Bunurong were hunters and gatherers. Many early settlers considered this to be a time-consuming and unproductive way of life. Contrary to this, studies showed people who lived this way only needed to work for about thirty hours a week, and so much time was probably spent in leisure, undertaking tool maintenance, and attending to spiritual and tribal business.

(Picture: N. Day)
Sacred Ibis

Australian White Ibis (Threskiornis molucca)
Once Hunted by the Bunurong

Hunting and Fire Stick Farming

The Bunurong lands were abundant in resources. There were few animals and birds within the region that were not hunted. Grey kangaroos, wallabies and emus would have been numerous. These animals were valued for their skins for bags and clothes, as well as their bones for needles. Kangaroo sinew was used for binding points on spears.

Possum skin cloaks were highly valued. The Bunurong also hunted for fish, eels and shellfish as well as water fowl including ducks, ibis and heron.

To aid hunting the Bunurong men used fire. This encouraged fresh new plant growth, which attracted game, and could also drive large animals into groups of waiting hunters or traps. Bunurong men also used different kinds of hides and lures to capture prey. Small live birds were used as bait to attract hawks, which were snared with a noose on a stick.

Club

Bunurong Spears
Spears

Bunurong Shield
Shield

Implement Plants in The Grange

Plants found in The Grange which could have been used in tool making include: The stems of Grass trees Xanthorrhoea sp. were used as shafts for small spears. Its leaves produced resin used to bind stone spear-heads Blackwood Wattle: Acacia melanoxylon. The wood of this tree was used for shields and spear throwers. Blackwood Wattle (A. melanoxylon)		Grass Tree Flower Spike Spears, Boomerang, and Shield

Boomerangs

Gathering

Bunurong women collected a huge variety of food plants and small animals. What was collected depended on what part of their lands they were in, and on the season. Each woman would probably have had a digging stick for roots, tubers and for digging small animals out of their burrows. When collecting from dense patches of food plants, Bunurong women left some of the root in the soil, so that the plant would regenerate and feed them again in years to come.

Edible Root Structures

Many indigenous plants have adapted to fire and drought conditions in Australia by producing underground storage structures such as tubers, corms, and rhizomes.

When the season and conditions are favourable, plants store energy in the form of starch in their tubers. Some of these roots are edible, and are eaten raw or cooked. Others, such as the Bracken fern (Pteridium esculatum) found in The Grange, were roasted by the Bunurong in fire and then beaten with a stone to form a paste.

Frond of Bracken Fern (Pteridium esculatum)

Edible Plants

All plants in The Grange are protected, and some are poisonous. Please do not remove plants or parts of plants.

Orchid Tubers
Many orchid species that are found in The Grange have edible tubers. The tubers were both cooked and eaten raw by the Bunurong people. Some examples are the Greenhoods, (Pterostylis species) and the Donkey orchids, (Diuris species) have as their name suggests, petals which look like donkey ears.

Patch of Greenwoods

The patch of Greenhood Orchids (above) found in The Grange is an example of what Bunurong women would have searched for and dug up the tubers, as part of a meal for their family. It is believed that the harvesting of tubers helped the soil by aerating it, and by adding organic matter such as leaf litter into it. Today these orchids are too precious to be spared for a feast.

Donkey Orchid
(Diuris sp.)

Close Up of Greenhood Orchid Flower
(Pterostylis sp.)

Lily Tubers
There are types of several Lily plants found in The Grange that have edible tubers.

The Fringe Lily has purple flowers with fringed petals. It flowers from November to January

(Photo: Ilma Dunn)

Fringe Lily
(Thysanotus tuberosus)

The vanilla lily has white to pale pink flowers. It flowers from September to March. The Bunurong people roasted the tubers

(Photo: Ilma Dunn)

Vanilla Lily
(Arthropodium milleflorum)

Fibre Plants

Bunurong women had string bags and baskets to carry the food they had collected. These were made from fibrous plants, or string made from animal hair. Water was carried in tarnuks, which were buckets made from hollowed tree burls. Many plants found in The Grange were used for their fibrous properties.

Plants used in basket and bag making include:

Kangaroo Grass (Themeda triandra)
String from the Stringybark (Eucalyptus cephalocarpa)
Common Reed (Phragmites australis)

The Sword Sedge (Ghania radula) was also used, but this required great skill, because, as its name suggests, it has very sharp leaves.

The soft bark of some of the paperbarks was used to wrap babies. The Swamp Paperbark (Melaleuca ericifolia) dominates the wetter plant community in The Grange. The nectar from its flowers also made a sweet drink.

References and Further Reading:

Gott, B. & Conran, J (1998) Victorian Koorie Plants Monash Print Services, Monash

Parks Vic, (2001) Koorie Use of Natural Materials Greening Australia Victoria, Heidelburg.

Coil Basket used to carry food, for example, tubers

Kangaroo Grass Seed Head
(Themeda triandra)

The Swamp Paperbark
(Melaleuca ericifolia)