Buninjon Traditional Cache
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Difficulty:
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Terrain:
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Size: 
(small)
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Quick stop off, a day on the water or independent camping.
Contains log book and pencil.
This freshwater lake is about 6.4 km. south west of Maroona on the west side of the road to Willaura. The surface of the lake is broken by a number of small mud banks on which swans and other water birds build their nests every year, upon which the Tjapwurong people feasted.
The Maroona and surrounding areas Aborigines belonged to the Mara nation, the Tjapwurong tribe, the Pirt-kopen-noot people and the Weneen family. Similar to our belonging to the Australian Nation, the Victorian State, the Rural City of Ararat people and the Maroona and district family.
The Pirt-kopen-noot people believed the lake was inhabited by a bunyip, one more ferocious than most, which was responsible for the disappearance of several men and women. Only the most adventurous of the tribe braved the lake for the bird’s eggs.
One day two brothers went to collect swan’s eggs. They gathered a great number of eggs but the younger brother was not satisfied and returned for more. He found many eggs in a large nest in the middle of the lake and was gathering them when the older brother heard a loud roar. He saw a huge wave then the bunyip appeared and caught the younger brother. He went to the rescue with a lighted brand to scare off the bunyip but he was too late, his brother was dead. Nobody ever again took more eggs than were needed.
Some say the word Maroona means a pine tree so perhaps it comes from the story of how Lake Buninjon (Punnoinjon) came to be formed. Also, Maroo, Marooan and Maroon all mean something ‘good’ and the tree in the following story was a ‘good’ tree.
According to the Wotjobaluk and the Mara nations, at one time there was no lake, in its place was a giant Murray Pine tree by means of which their ancestors were able to climb to the sky and reach a wonderful place above, on which every gum tree was covered with Larp or Manna, a sweet nutritious food loved by the people. Only the older people of the tribes had the job of collecting the manna as sometimes younger people get greedy and might take too much, so the younger members had to remain below and hunt or gather food.
One day a young man called Jiurn broke his wooden club and decided not to go hunting. He would remain in camp all day and make a new one. Since he had no use for his six hunting dogs he lent them to a party of young men, who promised to bring him back a wallaby in return for the loan. However, it turned out to be a bad day for hunting, the party of young men found no game so they blamed the dogs. Having had nothing to eat all day they decided to kill and eat one of the dogs.
When they returned to camp at nightfall they told Jiurn they had been unsuccessful in the hunt and that his dogs had strayed. But Jiurn saw their distended stomachs and knew they were telling lies. He called his dogs but only five came so Jiurn guessed the truth and walked away meditating upon revenge and before long he had devised a plan.
Jiurn walked up to the giant Murray Pine tree and drilled a hole in the main root by twirling the end of his newly made club against it. He then stuffed the hole with hot coals from the fire and covered the hole with the sawdust from the drilling. He went back to the camp and waited.
The next day the hunting was bad again and the young men decided to climb the tree and go to the land above for manna. While they were up there the roots of the tree burnt out and the giant tree came crashing down. The young men were left behind and became stars. Part of the top of the tree remained stuck to the sky and is now the black patch in the Milky Way.
The travertine lumps (a form of limestone) lying around in the Wimmera and Mallee are the seed cones of the giant tree. A depression by the Richardson River is the place where the trunk fell and the great hole that was left when the roots burnt out filled with water and became Lake Buninjon.
Additional Hints
(Decrypt)
Ng onfr bs srapr cbfg
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