Storytelling for children

lovely waterlilies and then there were shrubs and trees. And soon, the birds came and everyone was happy because there was enough water for everyone.

Long ago in the Dreaming there was a cat called Jooteetch who was married to an Emu called Wej. One day, Wardu the wombat paid a visit to Wej while Jooteetch was out hunting. Wardu was secretly in love with Wej and she was tempted by his charms. At sundown, Wej told Wardu to leave before Jooteetch returned as he would kill them both in a jealous rage. However, before Wardu left he painted Wej with a precious red ochre that was used for special ceremonies.

When Jooteetch returned, he asked Wej why she was decorated with this precious ochre and who gave it to her? She told him that she found it but he knew she was lying as he had recognized Wardu's tracks leaving their camp. Jooteetch pretended to believe her and asked her to build a fire for the cold night ahead. When the fire was ablaze he grabbed Wej and threw her into the flames. With the strength of her powerful legs she jumped so high into the sky that she never returned.

Now on a dark night, if you look up at the Milky Way, you can see her as the dark patch between the stars which is known to the Aboriginal people as Wej Mor.

Astronomy plays a big part in Aboriginal culture. Many Aboriginal groups use the movement of the planets and stars as a calendar to calculate the seasons and fix the date of certain tribal activities. They also attribute religious or mythological significance to certain celestial forms. The 'Emu in the Sky' is a spectacle which is visible in the Autumn sky. Dark nebulae (interstellar dust and gases) contrast with the bright stars of the Milky Way to form the shape of an emu.

In the Australian Aboriginal mythology of the Aboriginal people of south-eastern Australian state of Victoria, the Karatgurk were seven sisters who represented the constellation known in western astronomy as the Pleiades. According to a legend told by the Wurundjeri people of the Kulin nation, in the Dreamtime the Karatgurk, seven sisters, alone possessed the secret of fire. Each one of them carried a live coal on the end of her digging stick, allowing them to cook the yams (murnong) which they dug out of the ground. The sisters refused to share their coals with anybody else, however they were ultimately tricked into giving up their secret by Crow. After burying a number of snakes in an ant mound, Crow called the Karatgurk women over, telling them that he had discovered ant larvae which were even tastier than yams. The women began digging, angering the snakes, which Cow had buried there. The snakes attacked the seven sisters. Shrieking, the sisters struck the snakes with their digging sticks, hitting them with such force that the live coals flew off. Crow, who had been waiting for this, picked up the coals and hid them in a kangaroo skin bag. The women soon discovered the theft and chased him, but the bird simply flew out of their reach, and thus fire was brought to mankind This is how we acquired fire in our homes. Afterwards, the Karatgurk sisters were swept into the sky. Their glowing fire sticks became the Pleiades star cluster. In many Australian Aboriginal cultures, the Pleiades are a group of young girls, and are often associated with women’s sacred ceremonies and stories. The Pleiades are also important as an element of Aboriginal calendars and astronomy, and for several groups their first rising at dawn marks the start of winter. Many Aboriginal stories say boys or a man in Orion are chasing the seven sisters –and one of the sisters has died, or is hiding, or is too young, or has been abducted, so again only six are visible.

The writer and anthropologist Daisy Bates reported that people in central Australia regarded Orion as a “hunter of women”, and specifically of the women in the Pleiades.

An Australian Aboriginal interpretation of the constellation of Orion from the Yolngu people of Northern Australia. The three stars of Orion’s belt are three young men who went fishing in a canoe, and caught a forbidden king-fish, represented by the Orion Nebula. Drawing by Ray Norris based on Yolngu oral and written accounts.

From an early age, storytelling plays a crucial role in children’s education.

Dreamtime stories tell about the sacred time when the ancestral spirits created the world. These stories explain how the land was shaped and inhabited, how children and adults should behave and how to use the natural resources like plants and animals and storytelling for survival. Adults use the stories as the initial part of a child's education. Then, as children grow into young adults, they learn more about their history and culture. All parts of Aboriginal Culture are explained through stories, retold over the years, and passed on from generation to generation. These are stories of the history and culture of the people, handed down in this way since the beginning of time, since the Dreamtime.

It is important for educators to understand that Dreaming Stories are not fairy tales; they are not fictions made up to entertain children. One original purpose for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander traditional stories was to lay down rules for living. Dreaming Stories also carry knowledge from one generation to another, about the world, the laws, society and the life and death of people. They are serious moments of communication, with a serious purpose. Accordingly, educators have a responsibility to treat the stories with the same respect that they receive in indigenous communities. Because they are complex vehicles for conveying important messages, the stories can be interpreted at a number of levels (Sveiby & Skunthorpe, 2006).

Buduk and Bulaytj Bulaytj as told by Alfred Yang ipuy Wanambi from the Marrangu Clan (Arnhem Land in the Northern Territory).

Buduk and his wife Bulaytj Bulaytj lived in Arnhem Land when there was fresh water everywhere, even in the dry season. Bulaytj Bulaytj was a good wife, taking care of Buduk and the camp. One day it was hot and she fell asleep. Buduk was so angry he secreted a liquid that made the fresh water salty. Bulaytj Bulaytj punished Buduk by turning him into a beetle that no-one eats, because it’s too salty. The beetle turned

into a wallaby, a tasty animal that people eat. She managed to create one pool of fresh water that is still used by the people today.

About the story: The story explains how fresh and salt water came to be in Arnhem Land and how the beetle and the wallaby were created. It reminds people which foods are good to eat and which are not, and how sharing the workload makes for more successful communities. Key ideas: Salt and fresh water. Roles of men and women. Work for mutual benefit. Creation of animals.

Related activities: Just like the Ngarntipi, we collected edible seeds. We broke the pods open and ate the seed inside. Children grew seeds and looked for other plants that propagate through seed dispersal. Children talked about and investigated the seasons. They talked about rain and how important it is for growing plants. Children re-told the story in their own words and talked about how things happened.

Tajeer-Tarnium is a mischievous orphan boy who hides the hunters’ waterbags and is turned into a koala. The story explains the Law and what can happen if you break it, because the Law is made to keep society operating safely and in harmony. The story is gently and formally told. The little boy is not judged harshly by the teller. Traditional names and words are well-explained.

How the animal/totem Koala came into being. There are rules for living. Don’t cause harm to others. Water is essential for survival.

This story is told by Josie Boyle from the Wongi people (Western Desert cultures).

Goanna and the Snake were once friends, playing chasing games and looking for food to eat. Snake suggested they find ochre plants and paint themselves to be pretty like birds. Goanna did all the work because she had hands, crushing the ochres and painting Snake. In the end she realised there was no paint left for herself and she would stay mainly brown. So, they fought and Snake bit Goanna; so, she had to go to the medicine tree. Today, snakes and goannas still fight when they meet.

The story explains the differences between snakes and goannas. It emphasises sharing roles and working with members of one’s family and community.

Fairness and sharing work. Selfishness and losing friends. Bush medicine. Camouflage.

During the First Time, when the land had just been made, Caterpillar came upon a small spirit called Birrave, who painted the flowers, trees and grasses. Birrave looked tired, so Caterpillar helped him by carrying the paint pail. Willy Wagtail tried to trick Caterpillar, so he could eat him, but Spider gave Caterpillar beautiful wings so he could fly away. The story explains the natural cycles of birth and death. It encourages children to be kind. It reminds us to attend to the spirits and the natural world. Related activities: Self and social development: talk about friendship, bullying, difference, jealousy and fairness. Understanding the world: investigate the desert and its animals. Compare animals in one environment to those in another. Diversity: Talk about how we are all different and ‘beauty’ doesn’t make you better. Chart different species of snakes and goannas and their locations in Australia. Arts and creativity: put up examples of artwork created by Aboriginal people and discuss the different styles used. Ask children to make and paint a brown goanna, then put colour on a brown snake. Create a red desert backdrop and invite children to make and add animals they know. Health: talk about what to do if you see a snake. Play ‘chasings’ in pairs (one snake and one goanna). Investigate bush medicines. Design and technology: ask children to use computer programs to design their own reptiles. Key ideas: Help each other. Life cycles. Propagation of plants.

5. How the desert came to be as told by Josie Boyle from the Wongi people (Western Desert cultures). This story talks about the earth when dinosaurs and giant animals roamed the land. The animals call a meeting to discuss the problem of over-population and limited food supply, and decide to drain water from their waterholes to make new lands. Then they found that many plants would not grow in the salt water and animals were dying. However, some animals discovered that at certain times the desert blooms and you can gather berries and flowers. They discovered underground sources of fresh water. Explanation: This creation story is poetically told, with great attention to the language of the telling, especially descriptive words, adjectives and adverbs. It explains how the desert came to be and why only certain kinds of animals and birds can live there.

Once upon a time there were these two little pigeons, a little pair of Wonga pigeons. Now, when the Wonga pigeons mate, they always mate for life and whatever they do, they always do it together. If they’re building a nest, they build it together. If they’re rearing their young, they do it together too. These two little pigeons decided they wanted to go and gather food that morning and when you see pigeons, you never see them sitting up in the trees eating, you always see them walking around on the ground, picking up things. So these two little Wonga pigeons were walking around on the ground, picking away, picking away, gathering food and they had a rule never to get out of one another’s sight. As they were picking around, the little female looked up and she couldn’t see her mate, but she didn’t take any notice for a little while, so she picked around on the ground by herself. She kept looking up ever so often, then after a while she started worrying about her mate, because there was no sign of him. So she started calling out and still no reply. This went on for a little while and their rule was never to fly up above the canopy of the trees, either, because the hawks would get them. So she flitted around in the lower branches, calling out to her mate and still no reply. She got to the stage where she thought ‘the only thing I can do now is fly up above the top of the trees and have a look up there’. As she flew up above the tree tops, sure enough, the big hawk grabbed her and he grabbed her on the breast. Hawks always have their favourite places to take their food and eat it. So as this big hawk was flying back to his favourite spot to eat this little pigeon, somehow she wriggled and squirmed and broke free of his grip. As she tore away from the hawk, she also tore her breast open too and started bleeding. She couldn’t fly anymore because she was wounded, so she flew downward. The first thing she landed on was the White Waratah. The blood from her wounds started to turn that White Waratah red. So as she went from Waratah to Waratah to White Waratah, they all became red. So that little Wonga never found her mate and she died eventually herself, but that’s how the White Waratah became red.

The Red Waratahs have just finished flowering, but if you go up to a Red Waratah while it is in flower and poke your finger into the flower itself and bring it out, you’ll get a red stain around your finger. That red stain represents the blood from the pigeon.

Gulaga had two sons. The eldest is called Barranguba (Montague Island, that’s what the white people call it) and the youngest is Najanuga. Just like any other older son or older brother who gets sick of living too near his mother, he wanted to move away from his mother. So Barranguba asked his mother: ‘Mum can I move away from your side for a bit?’ His mother agreed. So, he went out into the sea to watch the actions of all the fishes and whales. His little brother, he saw the big brother going out and he asked Gulaga: ‘Mum, mum, can I go out too? I’m big. I’m grown up, can I go out also and watch the fish and the whales?’ She said, ‘No, son. You are too small. If I let you go out there, you’d get swallowed up by Gadu, the sea. I’ll put you down near my foot, so I can watch you and you can watch your brother out in the ocean.’ So, she put him down where he is now and that’s where he stayed, to watch the actions of his brother while under the eye of his mother. We call that little mountain `mummy’s little boy’, because he’s always near his mum.

Koala and Tree-kangaroo were good friends. Koala had a long firry tail. This is the story how Koala received a stumpy tail. One year there was no rain. All the streams dried up. Water could not be found anywhere. Even the leaves on the trees were drying. Koala told the Tree-kangaroo: ‘We will die too if it does not rain soon.’ ‘I have an idea’, said the Kangaroo, ‘when I was little, there was a very dry season. To get water, my mother dug a hole in a dry streambed. She dug and dug for hours. At last, water began to fill the bottom of the hole. There was not a lot of water, but there was enough for both of us to have a good drink.’ Koala said: ‘Let us try that. I cannot wait to tast the cool water.’ Koala and the Tree-kangaroo went to a streambed. It was as dry as the desert. Koala whined: ‘I am tired and thirsty. You start digging, whist I rest in this tree. As soosn as I get my strength back, I’ll dig while you rest.’ Tree-kangaroo began to dig. It was hard work but the thought of the cool water kept him going.

When the Tree-kangaroo took a break and looked up, Koala was sound asleep. Tree kangaroo thought: ‘When Koala wakes up, he will be well rested and then he can take his turn.’ So, the Treekangaroo kept on digging. When Koala woke up, Tree-kangaroo called our: ‘Now it is your turn. You must do your part.’Koala began to climb down from the tree. But then he cried: ‘Outch, I got a thorn in my foot. You keep digging while I take it out.’ So, Tree-kangaroo kept on digging. The hole got deeper and deeper, but still there was no water. ‘Koala,’yelled Tree-kangaroo: ‘I am worn out. I need a break.’ Again Koala began to climb down. But this time Koala called out: ‘I am dizzy for lack of water. I must rest a little longer.’ Tree-kangaroo was getting mad but kept on digging. At last some water appeared. ‘Koala, it worked’, he shouted. ‘Water is slowly filling the hole. Soon there will be enough for both of us.’ When Koala heard this, he jumped down and rushed to the hole and pushed Tree-kangaroo out of the way. Koala stuck his head into the water and began to gulp it down. Tree kangaroo was furious. He called out: ‘Leave some for me!’ But Koala kept on drinking and drinking and drinking. Tree-kangaroo grabbed Koala’s tail and pulled him out of the hole. He yanked and yanked. At last Koala’s tail broke off.

Today Koala’s tail is short and stumpy. And because the Koala was lazy and selfish, he lost a good friend.

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