As the seasons move from autumn to winter it becomes Dja Dja Wurrung time for Datimdatim (Boomerang) and Wai-kalk (Wattle) so the Dja Dja Wurrung re-established Djandak Wii (Country Fire) at Bush Heritage Australia’s Nardoo Hills.
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The reserve abuts the Whychitella Nature Conservation Reserves and contains extensive and diverse grassy woodlands. This area is important for the Djaara (Dja Dja Wurrung people) in terms of managing staples including food plants like Murnong (yam daisies), Kangaroo Grass and animals like Gurri (kangaroos) to ensure they are healthy and productive on country.
Chief Executive Officer of the Dja Dja Wurrung Clans Aboriginal Corporation, Rodney Carter, said fire management practice is a cultural one that comes with a great obligation to Country, responsibility to Care to Country and respect for ancestors. This is done through ensuring Wii is delivered in the right way, at the right time and in the right place.
“Our fire management practice, which we call Djandak Wii, is an obligation we have to the land, and we love to see the greater biodiversity it brings, and the gradual return to health it brings to Country,” he said. “It’s one of the tools Dja Dja Wurrung have always brought to our role as gardeners of the land, water, plants and animals of this important and beautiful landscape we share.”
Wii also allows the Dja Dja Wurrung with an opportunity to reconnect and actively practice traditions in the same manner as their ancestors had.
