Australia has six seasons — not four. The Djab wurrung people of western Victoria have read the land, the animals, and the sky for sixty thousand years.
Calendar shown for Djab wurrung Country (Gariwerd/Grampians, Victoria)
🌏
Djab wurrung
Season 1
🐍
Iuk
"Eel season"
Late Summer — Autumn (Feb–Apr)
What's happening in nature
Eels migrate through the waterways of Gariwerd. Budj Bim stone traps fill with migrating shortfin eels — one of the world's oldest aquaculture systems. Wattleseed ripens.
Foods available
Shortfin eels (smoked, dried)
Wattleseed
Native grasses
Kangaroo
Stories for this season
The story of Budj Bim and the eel traps. How the waterways were shaped by Bunjil's flight.
Native orchids bloom across the Grampians. Birds return. Yam daisies flower across the plains — marking one of the great staple food sources of Djab wurrung Country.
Foods available
Yam daisy (murnong)
Native orchid roots
Duck eggs
Native bees honey
Stories for this season
Creation stories of the flowering Country. Stories of women's knowledge and plant medicine.
Ducks nest and hatch. Wetlands are full. A time of abundance — the land is generous. Stone fish traps at Lake Condah are most productive in this season.
Foods available
Duck and waterfowl
Duck eggs
Bulrush roots
Freshwater crayfish
Stories for this season
Stories of the wetlands and water Country. The story of how the Brolga came to dance.
The kangaroo apple (Solanum laciniatum) ripens to deep purple. Possums are fat. A time for fire management — cool burns are lit to regenerate the Country.
Foods available
Kangaroo apple (ripe only)
Possum
Native yams
Muntries (native apple)
Stories for this season
Fire stories. How burning Country feeds it. The teaching of the controlled burn.
The high country of Gariwerd receives snow. Communities move to lower, sheltered Country. A time for ceremony, story-telling, and passing on knowledge by firelight.
Foods available
Stored foods from autumn
Root vegetables
Wombat
Bandicoot
Stories for this season
The great winter stories. Creation cycles told by firelight. This is the season when the longest stories are shared.