Snapshots of Aboriginal Fitzroy

How the Yarra was Created

Once the water of the Yarra was locked in the mountains. This great expanse of water was called Moorool, or Great Water. It was so large that the Woiwurong had little hunting ground. This was in contrast with the Wothowurungs and the Bunurongs, whose hunting ground was the lovely flat which is now Port Phillip Bay.

Mo-yarra, slow-and-fast-running, was the headman of the Woiwurong. He decided to free the country of the water. He, therefore, cut a channel through the hills, in a southerly direction, and reached Western Port. However, only a little water followed him, and the path cut for it gradually closed up, and the water again covered the land of the Woiwurong.

At a later time the headman of the tribe was Bar-wool. He remembered Mo-yarra's attempt to free the land. He knew that Mo-yarra still lived on the swamps beside Western Port (Koo-wee-rup). Each winter he saw the hill tops covered with the feather down which Mo-yarra plucked from the water birds sheltering on the swamps.

Bar-wool resolved to free the land. He cut a channel up the valley with his stone axe. But he was stopped by Baw-baw, the Mountain. He decided to go northwards, but was stopped by Donna Buang and his brothers. Then he went westwards, and cut through the hills to Warr-an-dyte. There he met Yan-yan, another Woiwurong, who was busily engaged in cutting a channel for the Plenty River in order to drain Morang, the place where he lived. They joined forces, and the waters of Moorool and Morang became Moo-rool-bark, the Place-where-the-wide-waters-were. They continued their work, and reached the Heidelberg-Templestowe Flats, or Warringal, Dingo-jump-up, and there they rested while the waters formed another Moorool.

Bar-wool and Yan-yan again set to work, but this time they had to go much slower, because the ground was much harder, and they were using up too many stone axes. Between the Darebin and the Merri Creeks they cut a narrow, twisting track, looking for softer ground. At last they reached Port Phillip. The waters of Moorool and Morang rushed out. The country of the Woiwurong was freed from water but Port Phillip was inundated.

Aldo Massola, Bunjil's Cave, 58.

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Further information

Community Advocacy
c/o Richmond Town Hall,
333 Bridge Rd, Richmond
Telephone 9205 5160
Email info@yarracity.vic.gov.au

Links

Within this site
Snapshots of Aboriginal Fitzroy home
Snapshots of Aboriginal Fitzroy

External sites (Yarra City Council accepts no responsibility for the information or opinions contained within external sites)
Dictionary of Aboriginal place names of Victoria
Indigenous Online Network
Gary Foley's Koori History Website
Aboriginal Housing Board of Victoria
Aboriginal Health Service

Information supplied by: Electronic communications & design officer - 9205 5214

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