This project honours the Wurundjeri Woi-wurrung people as the Traditional Owners of the lands and waterways of the Merri Merri, and recognises their continuing connection to Country.

Iuk

Eel season

The hot winds cease. The days and nights become equal. The Yarra runs muddier as rains begin. Manna gums come into flower. Eels—sacred spiritual protectors—begin their long migration downstream to the sea to breed.

When

Approximately March

Seasons are marked by ecological events, not fixed dates. These times are approximate for the Merri Creek catchment.

Signs of Iuk

  • Eel migration
  • Manna gum flowering
  • Autumn equinox

In the sky

Canopus · Lo-an-tuka

Waa (Crow)

Canopus—the second brightest star—reaches its highest point in the southern sky. To the Kulin, this star is Waa the Crow, one of the two moiety ancestors. When Lo-an-tuka stands high, the eels run.

Indicator species