VICTORIAN HIGH COUNTRY - NORTH EAST VICTORIA
These mountains, rivers, and high plains carry names, stories, and knowledge that predate colonial record-keeping by thousands of years.
Traditional Lands of the Yaithmathang People · Mitta Mitta · Tambo · Upper Murray
We acknowledge the Yaithmathang people as the Traditional Custodians of this country — the alpine high country of north-east Victoria. We pay respect to Elders past and present, and to all First Nations peoples who continue to care for this land, waters, and knowledge. This website exists to honour and share that connection.
The Yaithmathang — known also as the Omeo people — are an Indigenous Australian nation whose country spans the alpine ranges of Victoria. Their name may mean "yes-speakers" — from Ya-yau (yes) and thang (tongue, speech). For thousands of years they followed the seasons: cold months on the lower plateaus, then up to the high plains each summer to gather the Bogong Moth sustenance, and the reason for great inter-nation gatherings.
WESTERN EDGE · 1,986 M
HIGHEST PEAK IN VICTORIA
Autumn / Winter camps Omeo & the Mitta Mitta.
Bogong High Plains
JUN - AUG
Lower country camps
Sep – Nov
Snow melts · journey to the plains
DEC – FEB
Bogong gathering & ceremony
MAR – MAY
Return to the lowlands
"In autumn and winter, families moved down from the high country to shelter among the lower plateaus and river valleys around Omeo and the Mitta Mitta, waiting for the return of warmer months."
"Come spring and summer, the high plains around Mount Bogong, Cope, Jim, and Bundara drew people back up for gathering, ceremony, and the Bogong moth harvest."
"When the high country turned to frost, families moved down to the lower plateaus and river camps, waiting out the cold before the climb back to the plains."
"As the snow melted, the rivers swelled and the first travellers set out along the old routes, retracing the journey up to the high plains."
"When the snow melted and the moths arrived, the mountains became a meeting place. The Bogong Moth was the rhythm by which the Yaithmathang marked time, built relationships, and held their connection to country above the snowline."
"When the moths departed and the cold began to return, people made their way back down from the high plains to the shelter of the lowlands."
Bimble
Tribal lands / Country
Local group / clan suffix
Mittong
Yes
Ya-yau
Tongue / speech
Thang
Sorcery / spiritual power
Buckin
Name of the plains
Omeo
An ethnohistorical investigation by Dr. Jacqui Durrant Ph.D — restructured for reading.
Jump to Section
The earliest European reference to the location of the Yaitmathang, distinguishing the 'Omeo tribe' near Lake Omeo.
Chief Protector of Aborigines — field journals, census, and recorded First Nations voices from Omeo.
Evidence to the Victorian Legislative Council; the 'Gundanora' assembling on the elevated plain of Omeo.
"The Native Tribes of South-East Australia" — the most pervasive description of Yaitmathang country.
Contextual routes up to the Bogong High Plains, supporting the country's western extent.
The country reveals itself.
The Jaithmathang AR app overlays cultural knowledge, language and history directly onto the Victorian high country. Standing on the Bogong High Plains? The app tells you who gathered here, what they called this place, and why it matters.
Place names
Species guide
Language layer
This project exists to make Jaithmathang cultural knowledge accessible — to visitors, to students, to the broader community, and above all, to Yaithmathang people themselves.
Ethnohistorical research and documentation of Jaithmathang Country boundaries.
Developed in consultation with Yaithmathang Elders and descendants.
Building the augmented reality experience that brings country to life.
