Darrwal [Dingo] in Australia's First Nations Peoples cultures: Indigenous archaeological perspectives

I, as a Wadawurrung woman, a First Nations person, in what is now called Victoria, Australia, have always known about the connection and value of the Dingo in Wadawurrung culture. Darrwal [the Dingo] (Canis lupus dingo), as known in Wadawurrung Language is today my kin, companion, and spirit animal. We know that their role was more than just an apex predator species but rather we knew how essential they were for keeping Country and People healthy and balanced. Extensive cultural heritage offers associations with Darrwal but there is insufficient extant archaeological evidence as to our relationships with Darrwal. The latter is in part due to the negative and dramatic impacts of colonialism but is also evidence of deterioration from the passage of time and environmental influences. This article discusses Darrwal from one Wadawurrung woman’s lens, drawing upon historical, ethnographic, and archaeological evidence, with ontologies to appreciate the cultural importance of the Darrwal to Wadawurrung People and their Country, and other First Nations Peoples of southeastern Australia.