An
Aboriginal people of
Victoria, who lived in the area west of where
Melbourne now stands.
The city of Ballarat is said to be a Wathawurung name. It lies near the swampy Lake Wendouree, also a native name, of sorts, except that the story is that when the pastoralist William Yuille (who first established the Ballaarat (sic) station) asked a native woman its name, she told him wendaaree, 'go away'.
They also lived as far south as the coast, present-day Queenscliff, and in 1803 befriended the escaped convict William Buckley, who married a Wathawurung woman and lived among them for many years.
Their Pama-Nyungan language also contributed the slang word borak meaning 'fun' (from Wathawurung burag), as in 'to poke borak at'.
The name is also known in various similar spellings, such as Wada Wurrung, Wadhawurrung, Wathaurung, and a few less accurate such as Wuddyawurru and Woddowro.