Eastern Maar Aboriginal Corporation

Welcome to Country

The following statement (in Maar language and in English) is from the Eastern Maar— ‘watnanda koong meerreeng, tyama-ngan malayeetoo’

Ngatanwarr

Ngeerang meerreeng-an

Peepay meerreeng-an

Kakayee meerreeng-an

Wartee meerreeng-an

Maara-wanoong, laka. Wanga-kee-ngeeye

Meereeng-ngeeye, pareeyt, nganpeeyan, weeyn, wooroot, poondeeya-teeyt

Meerreeng-ngeeye, nhakateeyt, woorroong, leehnan, mooroop, keerray

Meerreeng-ngeeye, thookay-ngeeye, pareeyt pareeyt ba waran waran-ngeeye, wangeeyarr ba wangeet – ngeeye, maar ba thanampool-ngeeye, Ngalam Meen-ngeeye, mooroop-ngeeye

Meerreeng-ngeeye Maar, Maar meerreeng

Wamba-wanoong yaapteeyt-oo, leerpeeneeyt-ngeeye, kooweekoowee-ngeeye nhakapooreepooree-ngeeye, keeyan-ngeeye Wamba-wanoong nhoonpee yaapteeyt-oo, tyama-takoort meerreeng  

Peetyawan weeyn Meerreeng, nhaka Meerreeng, keeyan Meerreeng, nganto-pay ngootyoonayt meerreeng

Kooweeya-wanoong takoort meerreeng-ee ba watanoo Meerreng-ngeeye, yana-thalap-ee ba wanga-kee Meerreeng laka

Ngeetoong keeyan-ngeen Meerreeng, Meerreeng keeyan ngooteen

Together body and Country, we know long time. 

(We see all of you), greeting.

Mother my Country.

Father my Country.

Sister my Country.

Brother my Country.

We are the Maar speaking Peoples. Hear us.

Our Country is water, air, fire, trees, life.

Our Country is thought, language, heart, soul, blood.

Our Country is our Children, our youth, our Elders, our men and women, our Ancestors, our spirit.

Our Country is Maar, Maar is Country.

We bring to the light our songs, our stories, our vision, our love.

We bring these things to the light so All can know Country.

To care for Country. To think about Country. To love Country. To protect Country.

We invite all that choose to live on or visit our Country to slow down. To tread softly and listen to Country speak. 

If you love Country, Country will love you.

Eastern Maar people doing traditional dance
Photo courtesy of Eastern Maar

The Eastern Maar are Traditional Owners in south-western Victoria. Our land extends as far north as Ararat and encompasses the Warrnambool, Port Fairy and Great Ocean Road areas. It also stretches 100m out to sea from low tide (see map 1 below).

Eastern Maar is a name adopted by the people who identify as Maar, Eastern Gunditjmara, Tjap Wurrung, Peek Whurrong, Kirrae Whurrung, Kuurn Kopan Noot and/or Yarro waetch (Tooram Tribe) amongst others, who are Aboriginal people and who are:

  • descendants, including by adoption, of the identified ancestors
  • who are members of families who have an association with the former Framlingham Aboriginal Mission Station
  • who are recognised by other members of the Eastern Maar People as members of the group.

Eastern Maar Aboriginal Corporation (EMAC) is the professional organisation that represents the Eastern Maar People of South West Victoria and manages their Native Title rights and interests. EMAC has a board of directors of Traditional Owners and is a registered organisation under the Corporations (Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander) Act 2006. (EMAC Website)

EMAC is governed by a 12 member Board – each member represents a defined family grouping which is linked to a referenced ancestor who occupied territory at the time of European settlement. Up to 60% of its 12-member board is represented by proud Eastern Maar women, some of whom are senior Elders and applicants to EMAC’s Native Title claim. EMAC operates as a society that has a unique decision-making structure – one which is committed to collectivism and inclusion, and which values common goals over individual pursuits.

The contemporary Eastern Maar nation traces an unbroken line of descent back to our ancestors over many thousands of years. We have survived as our Country’s First People and, despite the well documented colonial history, continue to maintain economic, traditional, cultural, familial and spiritual ties to our homeland. Through the leadership and authority of our Elders, we are practising our laws and customs, strengthening our system of governance and nurturing our connection to Country.

We continue to pass on our traditional knowledge from generation to generation, inducting our young people into Maar society as a cultural practice initiated by our Ancestors. It is a process that keeps customs and stories alive and ensures we are able to maintain Maar culture, language and society. Drawing strength from our identity and past, we are able to live our culture as a set of attitudes, customs, and beliefs; helping us to be resilient and adaptable in changing circumstances.

We are the eastern landholding group of a larger Aboriginal nation – the Maar Nation. The western landholding group of this Maar nation are the Gunditjmara, with whom we share the lands and waters between the Eumeralla and Shaw Rivers. The Country to the east of the Shaw River to the Leigh and the Barwon catchment basins, and the area from the sea in the south to the Great Dividing Range in the north belongs to Eastern Maar.

Before the arrival of Europeans, with their diseases and ambition to take over our Country, there were over 200 clan groups belonging to the Maar nation. This number diminished quickly to just a fraction of the original population, with small groups coalescing into larger ones, and yet larger ones still until there were only two Maar landholding groups left, each covering a large area of land and water.

In accordance with our law and custom, clans that became incapacitated were superseded by others who remained strong, handing on their sanctioned place in the landscape and responsibilities for looking after the clan estate. This process ensured that the cultural values and practices of Maar citizens remained intact.

Today some of our citizens continue to identify with the respective Maar clan groups of their ancestors, including Peek Whurrong, Chap Whurrong (Tjap Wurrung or Djab Wurrung), Kirrae Whurrong, Kuurn Kopan Noot and Yarro Waetch (Tooram Tribe). Other citizens comfortably identify as part of the broader Eastern Maar group without identifying with a particular clan. (From Eastern Maar Country Plan: Meerreengeeye ngakeepoorryeey, p6.)

Map of Eastern Maar traditional land
Eastern Maar Country

The Creation story of Warrion, the bandicoot, is centered around Mount Warrion and its lava flow. The story tells of how Warrion’s ancestor, a megafauna predecessor of the modern-day bandicoot, created the many small water holes East and South of Warrion hill by using his tail as a club. Warrion did this in order to change the direction of water flow away from Koorrang Koorrang, a saline lake to the west of Mount Warrion, toward Lake Colac. Koorrang Koorrang (Lake Corangamite), is Koorrang Meerreeng (Snake Country), and if too much water flows into the lake the sleeping woman will wake, flooding all the surrounding lands with her tears.

The story above is an example of a rich Maar cultural mosaic landscape that is now part of south west Victoria. Pang-ngooteekeeya weeng malangeepa ngeeye is a project that will examine and reintroduce the cultural land and water management practices of the Maar nation. It will use the creation stories such as the one above to inform EMAC of the management objectives of each Country and how to implement them. (“Pang-ngooteekeeya weeng malangeepa ngeeye, Remembering our Future – Bringing old ideas to the new” project plan; 2020)