Kurung people facts for kids
The Kurung were an Indigenous Australian group from the area now known as Victoria. For a long time, people debated if they were a separate tribe or a smaller group (a clan) connected to bigger tribes. Their language is not fully known today.
Who Were the Kurung?
A researcher named Norman Tindale thought the Kurung were a distinct tribe. He looked at old documents from 1856. These papers suggested the Kurung were one of five main Indigenous groups living around Melbourne. The other groups were the Taungurung, the Wurundjeri, the Boonwurrung, and the Wathaurong.
However, other experts, like Diane Barwick, have different ideas. She suggests that the Kurung might have been a clan (a smaller family group) within the larger Wurundjeri tribe. This idea comes from looking at notes made by an early settler, William Thomas, who was a Protector of Aborigines.
Where Did They Live?
Tindale believed the Kurung lived on a large area of land, about 1,300 square miles (3,400 km²). This land stretched from the western side of Port Phillip Bay. It was located between the Werribee River and Geelong. Their territory also went inland along the Moorabool River up to the Great Dividing Range.
He also thought they lived as far west as Ballarat and Ballan. Other researchers, Canning and Thiele, suggest their land didn't go further north than Sunbury.
Other Names for the Kurung
The Kurung were known by several other names, including:
- Kurunjang
- Kurung-jang-baluk
- Coorong
- Jibberin (a name for people speaking a certain dialect near Bacchus Marsh)
- Barabal (sometimes used for the Kurung, but also for a main clan near Werribee)
- Barrabool
- Barabull
- Yawangi (a name they might have used for themselves, linked to the You Yangs area)
