There are Whale Peoples around Australia, often where the whales gather to give birth, to rest on their migration or to pass on.
SEA LAW Custodian Alliance
Southern Elders Alliance of the Lineages of Ancestral Whales is a Custodian alliance spanning Point Culver in Western Australia to Nelson in Victoria; recognising the ancient connection of deep-sea whale peoples of the whale songlines of the Great Australian Bight.
The Custodians are led by Bunna Lawrie, Senior Elder and Whale Songman of the Yerkala Mirning, and Irene Watson, Senior Elder of the Meintangk, Bunganditj and Tanganekald. Both have been nationally and internationally acknowledged for their tireless work over many decades protecting culture and Country.
The SEA LAW Custodians continue the work of their ancestors, carrying the cultural authority for respective land-sea-sky Countries and will work collaboratively to protect this globally significant legacy for future generations.
There is currently a project supporting the recording of stories off Whale Peoples off Southern Australia. Please visit the Southern Stories pages to read and hear stories of Jeedara, Kondoli, Kanterbul and Guramul and to journey along pathways that carry the songs of our ancestors, all the way back to our Creator whales.
Australia Whale Peoples
Following the Western Migration path, Jeedara, the great Creation whale of the Yerkala Mirning, continues creating the cliffs along the Great Australian Bight. At Point Culver he turned and then returning he blew a rainbow to protect the Country and beings he had created.
West, along the South Coast of Western Australia, there is the great whale Mammung. To hear more, please visit their site Wirlomin Noongar sharing their story of Mammung. For children, you can also listen to Whale in Noongar on Little Yarns and their “Mammung Dreaming, Whale Dreaming” as family.
Turning north, along the west coast of Western Australia is the Wadandi Mammung biddi-wah, Whales’ path Story. When the Wandandi ‘read’ their landscape, the flowering of the wattle blossom is as the whales arrive and then the ripening of the seed as the calves are born and nurtured in waters far to the north. The opening of the seed as they travel by on their migration South.
There are many stories of ‘reading ‘ the landscape connected to the Whale Migration. Following the Eastern Migration path, there is the migration past the Worimi People’s Sea Country and this happens when the gymea lily flowers.
The migration paths and songlines continue around Australia. Our Elders hold knowledge of the migrations and songlines of our ancestors and our connected First Nations Whale Peoples. Please join us in celebrating this and contact us for more details.
Global First Nations Whale Peoples
In the 1990s, a gathering of Whale Peoples from around the world was realised on Yerkala Mirning Country. Each with our own stories, there was a deep recognition of coming together as family to the whales. Julian Lennon brought his support and this became to multi-award-winning film Whaledreamers.
Links to global Whale Peoples’ stories will be on the whaledreaming.org website.