Dhelk Djuwima | Our Services

WELCOME TO COUNTRY

A Welcome to Country is a ceremony performed by Traditional Owners. When you are on Djandak this must be performed by a Djaara Traditional Owner to welcome you, and any visitors to Djandak.

A Welcome can include singing, dancing, a talk and a Smoking Ceremony.

Protocols for welcoming visitors to Djandak have been a part of Djaara and other Aboriginal Cultures for thousands of years. Despite the absence of fences or visible borders, Djaara and other Aboriginal tribes had clear boundaries separating their Djandak from that of other groups.

Crossing onto another group’s Djandak required a request for permission to enter—like gaining a visa—and when that permission had been granted the hosting group would welcome the visitors, offering them safe passage.

SMOKING CEREMONIES

In Dja Dja Wurrung Culture, participating in a Smoking Ceremony is a sign of good intentions and respect. The purpose of a Smoking Ceremony is to cleanse – we cleanse ourselves of the bad spirits and open up to good spirit, or murrup.

The smoke is a symbol of water; when you pass through the smoke, we ask that you imagine the smoke passing over you is like running water from head to toe. We use three plants to perform our Smoking Ceremony: Cherry Ballart, Wattle and Gum.

To fill in our booking form correctly, please download the form, save it to your computer, fill in all relevant fields, and then submit it to culture@djadjawurrung.com.au.

We are currently refining our booking system to ensure a more straightforward process when engaging our services.

Please direct any questions to our Cultural Bookings Team on 0438 210 709 or email culture@djadjawurrung.com.au

Prices are GST exclusive

We recognise the importance of our Malamiya (Cultural Heritage) – our significant places and landscapes, our stories and language, our customs and practices and our responsibilities for looking after Country. We take our role as the Registered Aboriginal Party seriously.

We continue to share our understanding and promote awareness and respect of Dja Dja Wurrung Culture through managing and protecting Malamiya.

Through our management of Djandak we provide Malamiya assessments, inductions, management plans, compliance, and Land Use Activity Agreement (LUAA) site meetings. Booking forms are available below.

Should you have any questions, please direct them to our Malamiya Team on 0438 210 709 or email: culture@djadjawurrung.com.au

Booking form – Effective 1^st July 2023 – New fee structure

Prices are GST exclusive

Dja Dja Wurrung language connects us to water, land, animals, spirits, and People, calling our Martinga kuli to ceremony and strengthening our identity.

Our language and elements of it, were shared between clans and with our Eastern Kulin Nation neighbours and visiting mobs who travelled long distances to gather together.

Through the years, Dja Dja Wurrung language, words, and traditions have survived through our dynamic and determined connection to Culture and Djandak.

Contemporary renewal, reclaiming and rematriation of our language is an extension and continuation of our traditional practice of sharing knowledge.

We continue to share our language with those that reside in Central Victoria to ensure it remains in the landscape it belongs.

To fill in our booking form correctly, please download the form, save it to your computer, fill in all relevant fields, and then submit it to language@djadjawurrung.com.au.

We are currently refining our booking system to ensure a more straightforward process when engaging our services.

Please direct any questions to our Language Team via email language@djadjawurrung.com.au