Community
14 February, 2025
Learn more about Indigenous seasons
RESIDENTS are being invited to learn more about the six Indigenous seasons through an installation at the Mount Leura and Mount Sugarloaf Information Centre at the base of the two mountains.
The Mount Leura and Mount Sugarloaf Management Committee unveiled the calendar in November last year, with the artwork of the calendar created by Brett Clarke and his mother Pat, who are proud Gunditjmara and Kirrae Wurrung people.
Mr Clarke said the seasons were a central part to local Indigenous knowledge and culture.
“Each season tells a story of what is happening on Country with each offering guidance on when to gather food, conduct ceremonies, or care for specific lands,” he said.
“These seasons reflect not just changes in weather, but shifts in the behaviour of animals, the growth cycles of plants, and the interconnectedness of all living things.
“The significance of the calendar of this area is pretty important because the European four season don’t really give a good scope of the environment.
“The seasons are forever changing – it’s more meaningful and talks more about the native plants and animals and what’s in season at certain times of the year.”
The six seasons consist of:
Weelan (the season of the cockatoo);
Wuurnongh (the season of the nesting birds);
Petyan (the wildflower season);
Paleempeel (the butterfly season);
Kuuyang (the season for eels); and
Moron (the honeybee season).
Mount Leura and Mount Sugarloaf Management Committee chairperson Caroline Duynhoven said the calendar took close to a year to complete and will complement other information signage around the reserves.
“It is another example of the commitment that the management committee has to connect the reserves to First Nations people and continue to create opportunities for visitors to the reserves to learn more about local Indigenous culture,” she said.
“You can find this fantastic new addition on the wall of the Volcanic Education Centre at the base of Mount Leura, with a smaller version eventually located near the Mount Leura summit carpark.
“This installation reflects the positive relationship the management committee has developed with Brett and his family over many years.”
Mr Clarke said it was a “great privilege” to share his people’s cultural history with the community.
“To have it at such a beautiful location with the committee really ties in well with what the group is about,” he said.
“I’d just like to thank Graham (Arkinstall) and the great committee that’s kept me linked into this area – as an Aboriginal family, we have kinship ties to this area way back in time.
“For an outstanding artist like my mum – she’s illustrated her own books – it’s just another leaf off the tree.
“She’s done some great work, and it’s outstanding.
“To be able to merge both of our images into this one image is pretty empowering for us as a mother and son.”
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