A TRADITIONAL owner has outlined the importance of Country as Bendigo rethinks the injustices of the past.

Dja Dja Wurrung elder Aunty Fay Carter said the city is still dealing with the many changes to Country triggered by the gold rush and Bendigo's establishment.

But she said those changes were not necessarily forever and that the Dja Dja Wurrung continue to uphold their cultural obligations to Country across Central Victoria.

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"Dja Dja Wurrung People have lived on our traditional lands and cared for Country over many thousands of years," Aunty Fay said.

"For us, Country is more than just the landscape; it is more than what is visible to the eye - it is a living entity, which holds the stories of creation and histories that cannot be erased. Dja Dja Wurrung Country is a cultural landscape that is more than just tangible objects.

"Imprinted in it are Dja Dja Wurrung dreaming stories, law, totemic relationships, songs, ceremonies, and ancestral spirits, giving it life, and holding significant value to the Traditional Owners."

Aunty Fay said many Djaara (Dja Dja Wurrung People) were dispossessed and dispersed throughout Victoria in the 19^th century, including at Coranderrk, a farming station near Healesville where they lived their final days.

"Over the years, Dja Dja Wurrung lands have been exploited and misused, and Djaara driven off the land and away from Djandak (Country)," she said.

"Unsustainable development changed fire regimes, and gold mining altered the nature of Djandak and caused it harm. Djaara have a duty to care for Djandak and feel sad that it is currently suffering. When Djandak suffers, we suffer.

"I would like the rest of the world to know that Dja Dja Wurrung still exist. We are still here as a people.

"We are proud and value our Culture. We honour our Ancestors, and everything that we do, we are doing on behalf of our Ancestors, who didn't have the voice that we have today."

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In 2013, the Dja Dja Wurrung Clans Aboriginal Corporation, now trading as DJAARA, signed their Recognition and Settlement Agreement with the Victorian government.

It was an important milestone for Dja Dja Wurrung People.

"It recognised us as the Traditional Owners of Central Victoria and acknowledged their history of disbursement and dispossession that has affected our people," DJAARA said in a statement..

"Today, Djaara strive to uphold our cultural obligations to look after Djandak for future generations, to practice and revitalise Cultural traditions and customs, and to develop the expression of these into the future."

That culture is not frozen in time, and neither are its people.

This story is part of a special feature coinciding with the 150th anniversary of Bendigo being declared a city, which takes place on Sunday.

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