Scarlett, N.H.;

Local groups belonging to three distinct “tribes” (language units) occupied the Otway Region: Djargurd. west of Cape Otway and Pirron Yaloak, Gulidjan, around Colac. and Wadjawuru, cast of Birregurra. These languages belong to three different sub-groups of the Kulinic Language Group, but Gulidjan and Wadjawuru arc more closely related to each other than to Djargurd. Paradoxically, the Djargurd and Gulidjan were organised into maui-moieties, in contrast to the Wadjawuru with patri-moieties. There was some degree of marriage across linguistic and social-system boundaries.
The bulk of the small population probably occupied the coast, relying on marine and estuarine protein resources. The main inland population centres were around the lakes and swamps of the Basalt Plains region, but swamps and river-flats within the foothill forests of the Otway Region may have provided limited food resources for seasonal occupation. The forest areas were also a source of raw materials for important trade items.
The occupation of aboriginal territory by European pastoral interests between 1836 and 1847 shattered the indigenous socio-economic system. Massacres, introduced diseases and the forcible abduction of aboriginal women quickly decimated the aboriginal people of both the Otway and Basalt Plains regions.

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