TheDjargurd Wurrong (also speltDjargurd Wurrung) areAboriginal Australian people of theWestern district of theState of Victoria, and traditionally occupied the territory betweenMount Emu Creek andLake Corangamite.^[1]

The Djargurd Wurrung people spoke the Djargurd Wurrung dialect of theDhauwurd Wurrung language.

The classification of the Groups on this territory has been subject to controversy.Norman Tindale, referring to the same area, and clans, called them theKirrae, whose lands he stated comprised in his estimate around 1,900 square miles (4,900 km²) of territory fromWarrnambool and theHopkins River down to the coast atPrincetown with the northerly reaches atLake Bolac andDarlington, and extending easterly beyondCamperdown.^[2] The historianIan Clark states that Tindale "failed to acknowledge the existence" of the Djargurd wurrung, while locating them in the same area.^[1] The Djagurd wurrung territory was bordered by theWada wurrung in the north, theDhauwurd wurrung to the west, theGirai wurrung to their south, and theGulidjan in the east.^[3]

The traditional lands of the Djargurd Wurrung and Gulidjan, including theWestern District Lakes, now aRamsar site,^[4] have been used by the indigenous peoples for thousands of years. There are many archaeological sites registered that includefish traps, surface scatters,middens and burial sites.

At the time of European settlement in the 1830s and 1840s the Djargurd suffered frommassacres by European settlers in theAustralian frontier wars, and also from attacks by the neighbouringWada wurrung tribe. Dispossession from their land led to starvation and their theft of sheep resulted in murderous reprisals. In 1839 one clan, theTarnbeere gundidj, was massacred byFrederick Taylor and others in a site that came to be known asMurdering Gully.^[5]

When theAboriginal reserve was established in 1865 atFramlingham, nearWarrnambool, many of the surviving members of the Djargurd wurrung were forcibly relocated. However, a number ofelders refused to abandon their traditional country and stayed eking out a meagre living on the edge of towns likeCamperdown. They were assisted by people such asJames Dawson, a Scotsman, who acted as guardian and supported them with his own money.^{[citation needed]}

In 1883 Wombeetch Puuyuun (also known as Camperdown George) died at the age of 43 and was buried in abog outside the bounds of Camperdown Cemetery. On Dawson's return from a trip to Scotland he was shocked at where his friend had been buried and personally reburied Wombeetch in Camperdown Cemetery. He appealed for money to raise a monument, but with little public support, primarily funded the monument himself. The 7-metre (23 ft)obelisk was erected as a memorial to Wombeetch Puuyuun and the Aboriginal people of the district,^[6] and has been described as still inspiring today.^[7]

The Djargurd wurrung people had 12clans under amatrilineal system with a descent system based on the Gabadj (black cockatoo) and Grugidj (white cockatoo)moieties. The clans intermarried withGulidjan,Girai wurring,Djab wurrung andWada wurrung peoples.The twelve clans are as follows:-

• Aboriginal peoples of Victoria (state)
• History of Victoria (state)

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