The Australian Aboriginal Peoples

Aboriginal Peoples of Australia

by

Fr. Piet Korse

February 7, 2022 Oosterbeek, Netherlands

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Contents Introduction

3

Three Immigration Waves

5

Origin of the Aboriginal Peoples

8

Spiritual World

9

Aboriginal search for Respect

15

Comparative Finger counting

19

Dreamtime

21

Creation

25

Digeridoo

26

Totems

28

Body Painting

30

Myths

32

Storytelling for children

46

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Introduction: Aboriginal Australians form the various indigenous peoples of the Australian mainland and many of its islands such as Tasmania, Fraser Island, Hinchinbrook Island, the Tiwi Islands, and Groote Eylandt, but excluding the Torres Strait Islands.

The term Indigenous Australians refers to Aboriginal Australians and Torres Strait Islanders collectively. It is generally used when both groups are included in the topic being addressed. Torres Strait Islanders are ethnically and culturally distinct, despite extensive cultural exchange with some of the Aboriginal groups. The Torres Strait Islands are mostly part of Queensland but have a separate governmental status.

Aboriginal Australians comprise many distinct peoples who have developed across Australia for over 50,000 years. These peoples have a broadly shared, though complex, genetic history, but only in the last 200 years have they been defined and started to self-identify as a single group. Australian Aboriginal identity has changed over time and place, with family lineage, self-identification and community acceptance all being of varying importance. As role models, Aboriginal Australians occupy a full range of positions in society, with an incomplete set of lists of Indigenous Australians.

Before European settlement of Australia, there were around 600 diverse Aboriginal populations, based on language groups. Australian Aboriginals have the longest continuous cultural history of any group of people on earth. Educated estimates date this history around 50,000 years. Tot de ontdekking van Australië door de Europeanen. Op dat moment, in 1770, leefden er naar schatting tussen de 250.000 en 300.000 Aboriginals.

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At the beginning of the twentieth century an Aboriginal man from the Goldfields region in Western Australia gave a lock of hair to a British anthropologist. Now, one century later, researchers isolated his DNA from his hair in order to isolate the genome of the first Australians so as to shine some light on the early spread of the modern man (Homo sapiens) on our planet. The genome, which did not contain any influences of modern European Australians, shows that the ancestors of the Aboriginal man must have split from other human populations between 75.000 and 64.000 years ago. This is to say that the Australian Aboriginals date from the first modern explorers, who via Asia set foot in Australia some 50.000 years ago. This research shows that the Aboriginals are the only population outside Africa which has the longest relation with the land on which they live today.

In the past, Aboriginal Australians lived over large sections of the continental shelf and were isolated on many of the smaller offshore islands and Tasmania when the land was inundated at the start of the Holocene inter-glacial period, about 11,700 years ago. Studies regarding the genetic make-up of Aboriginal groups are still ongoing, but evidence has suggested that they have genetic inheritance from ancient Asian but not more modern peoples, sharing some similarities with Papuans, but have been isolated from Southeast Asia for a very long time In the 2016 Australian Census, indigenous Australians comprised 3.3% of Australia's population, with 91% of these identifying as Aboriginal only, 5% Torres Strait Islander, and 4% both. They also live throughout the world as part of the Australian diaspora.

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Three Immigration Waves: The first wave: Until now people thought that all Aboriginal people stem from one big migration wave away from Africa direction Europe, Asia and Australia. New research shows that the ancestors of the Australian Aboriginals split earlier from these African emigrants and that they hardly mingled with the early Asians. Modern man arrived possibly far into Asia some 125.000 years ago.

Professor and researcher Eske Willerslev of the University of Copenhagen explains: Australian Aboriginals descended from the first human explorers. Whilst the European and Asian ancestors stayed in Africa, the ancestors of the Aboriginals spread out rapidly. They were the first modern people to cross unknown territory towards Asia and to cross the sea to Australia. It must have been an astonishing journey which required exceptional survival techniques and courage.

Aboriginal tribes in the north-west of Australia had little contact with the inhabitants of the islands which now belong to Indonesia. Via the Torres Strait Islands there were progressively contacts with New Guinea. But the Aboriginals have taken over hardly any techniques or customs from other peoples. The Aboriginals did not know the bow and arrow. They used the boomerang and the so-called woomera, an attachment for throwing spears as a weapon. They did not practise agriculture. However, they did have an influence on the environment by burning down the bush in a controlled way.

In this manner a new generation of plants repeatedly had a chance to grow. The first inhabitants of Australia were nomads: hunters and gatherers of what they could find.

They lived in groups of about forty people having their own territory. In barren areas the groups consisted of about twenty people. The different groups did have contacts with one another. Once a year they would gather in New-South-Wales when the moths would appear. These moths were caught and eaten as delicacies. That would be the time for celebrations, rituals and marriages. The Aboriginals used to be called the Moth Hunters.

Aboriginal culture is holistic, defined by its connection to family, community and country. In Australia, the idea of “being on country” is central to the Aboriginal worldview.

Apparently, people were happy enough with fish and shellfish and did not aspire to cultivate crops. The men were professional hunters. The women gathered berries and other plants. The women handed down their knowledge and experiences to their daughters. The men had the task to prepare the food.

The second wave: Researchers from Leipzig and Rotterdam found in the DNA of the Aboriginals of Northern Australia traces of another migration. This was published in the magazine PNAS. A part of the DNA of the aboriginals from the Northern Territories appeared to be the same as that from the Dravidic peoples of Southern India, who are regarded as the eldest peoples of Southern India. On account of the speed of change in the DNA the Indian migration wave must have taken place 141 generations ago. If one counts 30 years for a generation, this migration must have taken place 4230 years

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ago. These Indian genetic traces are not found in other South-east Asiatic peoples.

This implies that the migrants did not stay behind on the intermediate islands.

This immigration wave of 4200 years ago coincides with a change in archaeological finds. In this period, we find microlites: small, very sharp stones, which were used as knives or arrow points. Also, the oldest fossils of the dingo, the Australian wild dog date from the same period. According to their DNA this animal seems to have Southeastern ancestors. It resembles most the Indian dogs. It is quite possible that Indians on their journeys to the south-east took along their pets. Australia is still popular among the Indians; after New-Zealand, China and Great Britain India is the fourth in line of countries who choose Australia as their destination.

The third wave happened when the first colonists arrived at the end of the 18th century. The Aboriginals in Australia must have numbered between 315.000 and 750.000 people. The Australian Bureau of Statistics estimated in 2006 their number to be 517.200. This is 2,5 % of the total Australian population. Their numbers diminished by imported diseases and by murders committed almost with impunity by the British colonists.

The British colonialists took possession of the land and the waterholes thinking that the Aboriginals did not have property rights and therefore could be chased away.

Destruction of the countryside and food resources led to starvation of the local population. The Aboriginals reacted up to the 19th century with armed resistance and guerrilla warfare. The white colonists’ reaction was brutal violence and random slaughter as experienced at Pinjarra (1834), Myall Creek (1838), Battle Mountain (1884) and Coniston (1928). Estimates are that around the year 1900 about 90% of the Aboriginals had been wiped out through land theft (around 1890 the Europeans had appropriated all fertile lands), direct violence and European contagious diseases.

During the Australian frontiers wars (1788-1934) estimates are that the number of victims count 40.000 Aboriginals and 2500 colonists.

Another blow to Aboriginal culture was the shameful forced removal of Aboriginal children from their families and communities as the result of government policies. The children were removed by governments, churches and welfare bodies to be brought up in institutions, fostered out or adopted by white families. Their forced removal broke important cultural, spiritual and family ties and has left a lasting and intergenerational impact on the lives and well-being of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people’. We can and should talk of stolen generations.

In the Northern Territory, the segregation of Indigenous Australians of mixed descent from "full-blood" indigenous people began with the government removing children of mixed descent from their communities and placing them in church-run missions, and later creating segregated reserves and compounds to hold all indigenous Australians.

This was a response to public concern over the increase in the number of mixeddescent children and sexual exploitation of young Aboriginal women by nonIndigenous men, as well as fears among non-indigenous people of being outnumbered by a mixed-descent population.

The removal of Aboriginal children took place from the early days of British colonisation. The Aboriginal Protection Act 1869 (Vic) included the earliest legislation 6

to authorise child removal from Aboriginal parents. The Central Board for the Protection of Aborigines had been advocating such powers since 1860. Passage of the Act gave the colony of Victoria a wide suite of powers over Aboriginal and "halfcaste" persons, including the forcible removal of children, especially "at-risk" girls. Through the late 19th and early 20th century, similar policies and legislation were adopted by other states and territories, such as the Aboriginals Protection and Restriction of the Sale of Opium Act 1897 (Qld), the Aboriginals Ordinance 1918 (NT), the Aborigines Act 1934 (SA), and the 1936 Native Administration Act (WA).

One first-hand account referring to events in 1935 stated: ‘I was at the post office with my Mum and Auntie [and cousin]. They put us in the police car and said they were taking us to Broome. They put the mums in there as well. But when we'd gone about ten miles, they stopped and threw the mothers out of the car. We jumped on our mothers' backs, crying, trying not to be left behind. But the policemen pulled us off and threw us back in the car. They pushed the mothers away and drove off, while our mothers were chasing the car, running and crying after us.

We were screaming in the back of that car. When we got to Broome, they put me and my cousin in the Broome lock-up. We were only ten years old. We were in the lockup for two days waiting for the boat to Perth. ’ The Bringing Them Home report (1997) concluded that: The Australian practice of indigenous child removal involved both systematic racial discrimination and genocide as defined by international law. Yet, it continued to be practised as official policy long after being clearly prohibited by treaties to which Australia had voluntarily subscribed.

On 26 May 1998, the first "National Sorry Day" was held; reconciliation events such as the Walk for Reconciliation across Sydney Harbour Bridge and in other cities were held nationally, and attended by a total of more than one million people. As public pressure continued to increase on the government, Howard drafted a Motion of Reconciliation with Senator Aden Ridgeway, expressing "deep and sincere regret over the removal of Aboriginal children from their parents", which was passed by the federal parliament in August 1999. Howard said that the Stolen Generation represented "the most blemished chapter in the history of this country".

A 2019 study by the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW) found that children living in households as members of the Stolen Generations are more likely "to experience a range of adverse outcomes", including poor health, especially mental health, missing school and living in poverty. There are high incidences of anxiety, depression, post-traumatic stress disorder and suicide, along with alcohol abuse, with this resulting in unstable parenting and family situations.

In 2000, Phillip Knightley summed up the Stolen Generations in these terms: “This cannot be over-emphasized: the Australian government literally kidnapped these children from their parents as a matter of policy. White welfare officers, often supported by police, would descend on Aboriginal camps, round up all the children, separate the ones with light-coloured skin, bundle them into trucks and take them away. If their parents protested, they were held at bay by police.”

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Origin of the Aboriginal Peoples It now seems a nearly impossible trip to travel in primitive boats and cross the sea straits round the present-day Indonesia. During the different ice ages in the Pleistocene, the sea level was considerably lower than it is now, because lots of water were stowed in the ice caps. Java, Sumatra and Borneo were attached to the Asian continent. Australia and New Guinea were one: the Sahul Shelf. When travelling from Asia to the south-east, one needed to cross the full sea over a short distance.

The migrants took their time and left their genetic traces. The genome of the Aboriginals resembles the genome of the inhabitants of New Guinea and the Mamanwa, the original people of the Philippines. This shows that the migrants did not move to Australia in one go, but that on the way some of them stayed behind.

A Wandjira warrior.

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Spiritual World The Dreamtime is a term that describes unique stories and beliefs owned and held by different Australian Aboriginal groups. The history of the Dreamtime, word and its meanings, says something about the development of the ideas held about the Aboriginal world, and how they are expressed through art.

First of all the land (or country) is what defines Aboriginal people. Aboriginal people from the coast describe themselves as “saltwater people”, those from river areas are “freshwater people”, and those from central arid regions are “desert people”.

“Country is not just a beautiful place, to us it is everything,” “It holds out stories, our religion, our customs and our ancestors.”

This is because Aboriginal peoples believe their ancestral spirits emerged from the earth and the sky. These ancestral beings are the hero-creators, and it’s through their journeys that Aboriginal people believe all living things are created. These creation forces are constantly present, hence the strong cultural connection between Aboriginal people, the land and place.

In some places, the spirits who created the world are known as wandjina rain and water spirits. Major ancestral spirits include the Rainbow serpent, Baiame, Dirawong and Bunjil. Similarly, the Arrernte people of central Australia believe that humanity originated from great superhuman ancestors who brought the sun, wind and rain as a result of breaking through the surface of the earth when waking from their slumber.

A. The rainbow serpent: Some people describe the the Rainbow Serpent as an immortal being and creating God. They illustrate the importance and dominance of its presence within Aboriginal traditions. It is said to be the giver of life due to its connection to water; however, it can be a destructive force if enraged.

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It is a timeless classic from the Dreamtime. There are innumerable names and stories associated with the Rainbow Serpent, all of which communicate the significance of this being within Aboriginal traditions. The stories tell how the Rainbow Serpent came from beneath the ground and created huge ridges, mountains and gorges as it pushed upward. The name also reflects the snake-like meandering of water across the landscape and the colour spectrum sometimes caused by sunlight hitting the water. Paintings of the Rainbow Serpent first appeared in art more than 6000 years ago, and perhaps as early as 8000 years before the present, as the seas rose after the last Ice Age. Today the Rainbow Serpent is associated with ceremonies concerning fertility and abundance, as well as the organisation of the community and peace keeping (see two serpent stories below, page 34).

B. Dirawong According to the legend, the Rainbow Snake had been very bad. What he did is secret knowledge. A weeum ("cleverman", "man of high degree of initiation" or "man with great powers") named Nyimbunji from the area known as Bungawalbin called on Dirawong to help protect a yabbra (bird) from the Rainbow Serpent.

Dirawong chased the Rainbow Serpent from inland eastward towards the coast and as they went they formed parts of the Richmond River. At Maniworkan they left the Richmond River and kept on going east. Halfway down the Evans River, Dirawong caught Rainbow Serpent. The Serpent turned around and bit Dirawong on the head.

Dirawong then withdrew from the battle in order to eat some herbs and to recover from the snakebite.

Meanwhile, Rainbow Serpent had reached Evans Head. Dirawong was nowhere to be seen, so Rainbow Serpent decided to go back west. He then went into the Evans River and coiled himself around and created Snake Island. As he turned, his body made a larger island in the river, now known as Pelican Island.

When Rainbow Serpent spotted Dirawong heading towards him, he quickly turned round; and this time he kept going until he reached Burraga (the Tasman Sea), and transformed himself into an island, so Dirawong would not recognise him.

Dirawong reached the coast at Evans Head. Dirawong then laid down next to the coast, facing the Burraga, waiting for Rainbow Serpent to come back. A deposit of red ochre at Goanna Headland originates from the wound where the Rainbow Serpent bit Dirawong.

C. Wandjina The Wandjina are ancestral clan spirits with the Mowanjum, Aboriginals in the neighbourhood of Kimberley in Western Australia. Wandjina images are painted on the rock galleries and in caves throughout the region, marked in red and white ochre.

The Wandjina images are painted in significant ritual sites for Aboriginal people of the region, and the paintings were traditionally repainted each decade to ensure the image was kept fresh and lively. These mythic beings are regarded also as powerful rainmaker spirits; they are held responsible for the formation of the landscape, human beings, animals and plants. They are prayed to and beseeched for an increase of fertility. Together with the Wandjina also the Gyorn Gyorn or pronounced Gwion Gwion are depicted as the ancestors of the Aboriginal people.

(Wandjina: the word djinn is the name for a spirit in the Islamic religion. Any connection)?

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The significance of the Wandjina story is shared by a number of language groups across the west and coastal areas of the Kimberley, including Ngarinyin, Worrorra, and Wunambul people.

Wandjina is the most significant Creation Spirit, associated with rain and therefore the seasonal regeneration of the land and all natural resources. The body of Wandjina is often shown covered with dots that represent the rainfall. The cyclonic wet season brings rain to the Kimberley, and elements of the torrential rains, lightning and thunder are often included in the imagery around the head of the Wandjina. Ceremonial dances that pay homage to the Wandjina Rain Spirit can include headdresses that symbolically refer to lightning and thunder.

The facial characteristics of Wandjina can be seen to represent climatic features. The eyes of the Wandjina can represent thunderstorms and even the line between the eyes resembles a nose, but is actually a power line which is used to transfer energy. Small brush marks on the Wandjina’s body usually represent rain drops. When depicted with only head and shoulders the Wandjina is said to be moving across the sky in a cloud or storm. A full-bodied Wandjina is said to be present walking the earth.

For people of Mowanjum community, near the town of Derby in the Kimberley, the Wandjina brought the law, the culture and the language of their people. Their Dreaming stories tell of the first Wandjina, called Idjair, who lives in the Milky Way and is the father of all Wandjinas. The Wandjina Wallungunder was Idjair's first son and he created the Earth and all life upon it. After that he created the first human beings, the Gyorn Gyorn people. Wallungunder travelled back to Idjair to bring back 11

more Wandjinas to give the Gyorn Gyorn people laws to live by. There are three Wandjinas which represent the three language groups of Mowanjum. They are Namarali for the Worrorra people, Wodjin or Wanalirri for the Ngarinyin people, and Rimijmarra for the Wunambul people.

Some attempts to date the rock paintings of Wandjina in the Kimberley suggest that they may date back 4,000 years. The Wandjina images are often painted alongside much older images of Gwion Gwion (Bradshaw figures), that date back at least 18,000 years. While the Gwion Gwion paintings have been fused into the rock by millennial climate changes, the rock paintings of Wandjina are temporal and will deteriorate with the effects of fire, flooding, rainstorms and human and animal contact. Contemporary Aboriginal artists of the region continue to paint the Wandjina images on canvas, which allows the great Rain Maker image to move beyond his traditional Kimberley sites.

D. Mimis or Mimih spirits are fairy-like beings of Arnhem Land in the folklore of the Aboriginal Australians of northern Australia. They are described as having extremely thin and elongated bodies, so thin as to be in danger of breaking in case of a high wind. To avoid this, they usually spend most of their time living in shady rock crevices.

According to Aboriginal folklore, Mimi had human form and made the first rock paintings before the Aboriginal people came to northern Australia. The Mimi taught the Aboriginal people how to paint, and how to hunt and cook kangaroo meat. The Mimi are considered to be mischievous but generally harmless.

Long ago in the Dreaming a young boy wanted to be a great hunter but he never had any success. Every day he watched enviously as the other tribesmen returned in triumph with their prey. One day he decided to leave camp and hunt for an Echidna, but no matter how hard he tried his efforts always came to nothing. As evening fell he sank wearily to his knees, disheartened by his lack of that moment when the sun went down, the Mimi spirits began to emerge from the shadows and cracks in the rocks. Every night they were busily engaged looking after the land and the animals of the bush.

When the boy first noticed the Mimi spirits he was worried, but he soon realised that they meant him no harm. In fact they were full of merriment and mischief and charmed him into following them back to their magical world among the rocks and 12

shadows. The boy grew to love the life of the fun-filled Mimi and in return they made him one of their own people.

However, back at his camp, the boy's father was sorely missing his son and set out to search for him. He was an experienced hunter who was able to follow the boys tracks but was mystified when they came to a dead end. So, without any other option, he sat down to pray for help from the spirits. He began to chant and chant, hour after hour, day after day, week after week until he was able to hear the Mimi spirits singing inside the rocks. The more he chanted the better he could hear them and what's more, he began to hear the voice of his son among them. With rising hope, he chanted louder and louder and for such a long time that his hair and beard grew and grew, over his shoulders hunting skills. Just at, down his chest, around his ankles, across the ground, and into the rocks where it wrapped tightly around his sons waist.

With a mighty tug the father whipped him out of the Mimi's world like a fish on a line.

Although the boy had enjoyed life with the Mimi, he was so happy to be reunited with his own people. He recognised the great love that his father had shown by tracking him down and now understood that he was loved unconditionally for who he was and not for his skills at hunting or any other activity.

In the bark painting above by Anchor Barrbuwa Wurrkidj, a painter from Western Arnhem Land in the Northern Territory, the white area represents the rock, while the red area represents a chamber inside the rock where the Mimi live.

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Although the Mimi are spirits, they have a human form with matchstick thin bodies, a big head and long spindly arms and legs. They are usually portrayed carrying their weapons and tools, and accompanied by their pets: kangaroos, crocodiles, rock pythons, goannas, echidnas,fish, turtles, butterflies, birds and too many more to mention.

They are very friendly spirits but can become angry if an outsider threatens one of their pets.

The Mimi only come out at night to hunt, fish, cultivate the land and hold their ceremonies. Once the Aboriginal people were born, the Mimi taught them their hunting skills and how to manage fire for cooking and protection against the elements. They also taught them how to dance, sing and paint on rocks or bark. Much of the Aboriginal culture in Northern Australia respects the good example of the Mimi.

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Aboriginal Search for Respect Before extensive European settlement, there were over 250 Aboriginal languages. of which fewer than twenty are still in daily use by all age groups. About 110 others are spoken exclusively by older people. At the time of the 2006 census, 52,000 indigenous Australians, representing 12% of the indigenous population, reported that they spoke an indigenous language at home.

The Wiradjuri people are a group of Aboriginal Australian people from central New South Wales, united by common descent through kinship and shared traditions. The Wiradjuri Nation is geographically the largest indigenous nation within New South Wales and it's probably the largest in terms of population. Its capital is Sydney. Inland are the rugged Blue Mountains, rainforests and outback towns where opals are mined. Along the coastline are long surfing beaches. The Hunter Valley region, in the north, has dozens of wineries.

Stan Grant is a Wiradjuri elder of Australia's second-largest Aboriginal community.

Grant is one of only a handful of people who still speak the tribal language, also called Wiradjuri. The language nearly died out in the 20th century, when Aboriginals could and would be jailed for speaking their native tongue in public.

Stan Grant is a famous Wiradjuri elder of Australia's second-largest Aboriginal community As a child, he scorned his grandfather’s ways. He was embarrassed to be black. By the time he was 17, in 1957, his grandfather had died, and he had already dropped out of school, left home and found a job on the railways. Soon, he moved from a small town to Sydney, where he says he drank a lot, got a tattoo of a roughly drawn dagger and eventually found himself in jail. It was his wife, Betty, now 73, who turned his life around. After marrying in August 1962, they spent several weeks living out of a shell of a car on the Aboriginal Three Ways Mission on the fringe of Griffith, in central New South Wales.

Mr. Grant soon found a job at a sawmill, and although an accident mangled two fingers of his left hand, it was steady work. He and his wife started a family.

Around that time, Aboriginal activists began agitating for civil rights. In 1965, Charles Perkins, the first Aboriginal to attend the University of Sydney, led 35 student protesters on a Freedom Ride bus tour around outback country towns. They were pelted with gravel and harassed as they went from small town to small town, where they called for an end to segregated seating on buses and in theaters. They demanded equal service in shops and hotels, and they wanted Aboriginal children admitted to municipal swimming pools with white children.

Six years later, Neville Bonner, a leader from an Aboriginal rights organization, became the first Aboriginal to gain a seat in Australia’s Parliament, filling a Senate vacancy left by a Queenslander who had resigned.

With the help of these small civic changes, Mr. Grant, whose formal education ended at age 15, managed to navigate a way forward for himself and his family. He first found work in Canberra helping Aboriginal children who had skipped school.

Around the same time, there was a push to document Aboriginal culture and language, which was rarely written down. As one of the few who knew Wiradjuri language, he was approached about writing it down. That eventually led him to teaching his language and writing “A New Wiradjuri Dictionary,” published in 2005.

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“I was told when you revive a lost language, you give it back to all mankind,” he said, sitting in his kitchen, not far from where the kingfishers darted across the Murrumbidgee.

“We were a nothing people for a long time. And it is a big movement now, learning Wiradjuri. I’ve done all that work. I’ve done all I can.”

A version of this article appears in print on April 9, 2016, Section A, Page 7 of the New York edition with the headline: I still speak the tribal language called Wiradjuri. The language nearly died out in the 20th century, when Aboriginals could be jailed for speaking their native tongue in public. Lloyd Dolan, a Wiradjuri lecturer who has worked with Mr. Grant, said elders took risks teaching Wiradjuri to their children. Mr. Dolan also learned Wiradjuri from his grandfather. His mother forbade him to speak it at home. “There was a real fear that the children would be taken away if authorities heard kids speaking the language,” Mr. Dolan, 49, said from his office at Charles Sturt University. “The drive to assimilate Aboriginals into white society was systemic.”

Aboriginal people had no right to vote in elections before 1962, and they were counted as wildlife until a change to Australia’s Constitution in 1967.

The Wiradjuri language was effectively extinct, but attempts were made to revive it, with a reconstructed grammar, based on earlier ethnographic materials and wordlists and the memories of Wiradjuri families, which is now used to teach the language in schools. This reclamation work was originally propelled by elder Stan Grant and John Rudder who had previously studied Australian Aboriginal languages in Arnhem Land.

The Wiradjuri language is taught in primary schools, secondary schools and at TAFE in the towns of Parkes and Forbes & Condobolin. Northern Wiradjuri schools such as Peak Hill, Dubbo (several schools), Narromine, Wellington, Gilgandra, Trangie, Geurie are taught Wiradjuri by AECG Language & Culture Educators. All lessons include both indigenous and non-indigenous Australians. As of 2017 the language is also being taught in Young where it has been observed as having a positive impact on the number of pupils who self-identify themselves as Aboriginals.

The Forbes Wiradjuri Dreaming Centre (WDC) is an iconic project initiated by the Forbes Wiradjuri Community to promote Wiradjuri culture and stories.The Centre is a 16

unique hub for educating the community and regularly hosts cultural events, meetings and workshops conducted largely by enthusiastic and dedicated local volunteers. Around the Centre you will find several totem poles telling the cultural stories from this remarkable community and a yarning circle and sand dance ring as well as interpretative signage featuring aspects of Wiradjuri culture. On the shoreline of adjacent Lake Forbes near the WDC is a bronze statue by artist Brett ‘Mon’ Garling entitled “Family Matters”. This breathtaking piece features two local women with child returning from gathering food and is an iconic component of the work undertaken between the Forbes Arts Society and the Wiradjuri Dreaming Centre committee.

Two Wiradjuri women with child coming back from gathering fishshells.

A progressive revival is underway, because the Wiradjuri language is taught in primary schools, secondary schools and at TAFE in the towns of Parkes and Forbes & Condobolin. Northern Wiradjuri schools such as Peak Hill, Dubbo (several schools), Narromine, Wellington, Gilgandra, Trangie, Geurie are taught Wiradjuri by AECG Language & Culture Educators. All lessons are given to both indigenous and non-indigenous Australians. As of 2017 the language is also being taught in Young where it has been observed as having a positive impact on the number of pupils self identifying as Aboriginal.

The process of reclaiming the language was greatly assisted by the publication in 2005 of A First Wiradjuri Dictionary by elder Stan Grant Senior and consultant Dr John Rudder. John Rudder described the dictionary: "The Wiradjuri Dictionary has 17

three main sections in just over 400 B5 pages. The first two sections, English to Wiradjuri, and Wiradjuri to English, have about 5,000 entries each. The third sections lists Names of Things grouped in categories such as animals, birds, plants, climate, body parts, colours. In addition to those main sections the dictionary contains an introduction to accurate pronunciation, a basic grammar of the language and a sample range of sentence types.

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P.S. Comparative Finger Counting: Wiradjuri 1: ngumbaay

Lomongo 1: emoko

2. bula

2: ife

3. bula ngumbaay

3: isato

4. bungu, bula bula

4: inei

5: marra

5: itano

6. marra ngumbaay

6: botoa

7. marra bula

7: nsambo

8. marra bula ngumbaay 9. marra bungu 10. marra marra, dyinang

8: moambi 9: liboa 10: ju(mi)

The numbers are quite different in the different languages: Wiradjuri in Australia and Lomongo in Congo. No similarities can be found.

However, there is another manner of counting: the counting on fingers without speaking the number you want to communicate. The audience has to figure out what you want to say. It may be a sort of politeness: you presume that the person addressed is clever enough to count himself. The speaker will not tell you the number, but will indicate the number with his fingers and his hands. The person addressed has to speak out loud the number indicated.

Counting in Congo (Mongo) on the fingers.

Turn the back of your hands towards the audience and make fists and raise the following fingers: number one: the index finger of the right hand. number two: index + middle finger of the right hand, number three: little finger, ring finger and middle finger of the right hand, number four: index finger, middle finger, ring finger, little finger with the thumb in between the ring finger and the middle finger. number five: the fist of the right hand. number six: the little fingers, ring fingers and middle fingers of both hands. number seven: one hand indicating four and the other hand indicating three. number eight: both hands indicating four; right hand indicating five, the other hand indicating four. number nine: one hand showing the fist with the other hand having the index finger, middle finger, ring finger, little finger stretched with the thumb in between the ring finger and the middle finger. number ten: both hands indicating five: two closed fists facing and touching each other.

Number 2 is 1+ 1.

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Number 4 is 2 + 2.

Number 5 the fist of the whole hand. (All 5 fingers.)

Number 6 is 3 + 3 Number 8 is 4+ 4.

Number 9 is 5 + 4.

Number 10 is 5 + 5.

Counting among the Wiradjuri: Number 3 is 1 + 2 Number 4 is 2 + 2.

Number 6 is 5 + 1.

Number 7 is 5 + 2 Number 8 is 5 + 2 + 3.

Number 9 Is 5 + 4.

Number 10 is 5 + 5.

Similarities between the Mongo and the Wiradjuri: -

4 is 2 + 2.

9 is 5 + 4.

10 is 5 + 5.

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Dreamtime: Dreamtime is the foundation of Aboriginal religion and culture. It dates back some 65,000 years. It is the story of events that have happened, how the universe came into being, how human beings were created and how their Creator intended the humans to function within the world as they knew it. The Dreamtime is a commonly used term for describing important features of Aboriginal spiritual beliefs and existence.

Aboriginals believe that the Dreamtime was way back, at the very beginning. The land and the people were created by the spirits. They made the rivers, streams, water holes, the land, hills, rocks, plants and animals. It is believed that the spirits gave people their hunting tools and each tribe its land, their totems and their Dreaming.

Aboriginal people understand the Dreamtime as a beginning that never ends. They hold the belief that the Dreamtime is a period or a continuum of past, present and future.

The Aboriginals believe that the entire world was made by their Ancestors way back in the very beginning of time, the Dreamtime. The Ancestors made everything. The Aboriginals learned about their beginnings through their Dreamtime creation folklores that tell of the momentous actions of the creators. The myths are the foundation of Aboriginal society and provide certainty about existence.

The Ancestors made particular sites to show the Aboriginal people which places were to be sacred. The Aboriginals perform ritual ceremonies and customary songs near the sacred sites to please the ancestral spirits and to keep themselves alive. Distinct tribes had different philosophies and beliefs about the ancestors who made the world. Some believed that the ancestors were animal-spirits. The Australian aboriginals believe that the land they occupy was once not in existence like it is today. It was free from any form or life, vacuous – empty. They unquestionably believe that this is the way things once were because the ancestors had said so and they will never doubt their word. It was, during what has become known as the Dreamtime, that the land, mountains, hills, rivers, plants, lifeforms both animal and human and the sky above were formed by the actions of mysterious and supernatural spirits.

During the Dreamtime the creators made men, women and animals, declared the laws of the land and how people were to behave to one another, the customs of food supply and distribution, the rituals of initiation, the laws of marriage and the death ceremonies which must be performed so that the spirit of the dead travels peacefully to his or her spirit-place. Others in parts of Arnhem Land in the Northern Territory believed the Ancestors were huge snakes. In other places the spirits who created the world were believed to be the Wandjina. Some dreamings tell of the mythical creators disappearing. They believe that the creators disappeared from the sight of mere mortals, but continue to live in secret places. Some live in the tribe’s territory in rock crevices, trees and water holes. Others went up into the sky above as heavenly bodies. Others changed into (or perhaps became) natural forces such as wind, rain, thunder and lightning.

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That is why it is believed that many of the creators continue to live on the land or in the sky above watching over them. These supernatural enigmatic creators were often referred to as men and women who had the ability to change shape into animals and other creatures such as the Rainbow Serpent. There are also stories of heroes and heroines and Father and Mother figures.

The Dreamtime may be difficult to understand fully but it is part of who the Aboriginal people are, the very essence and reason for being here. It is all encompassing and will forever be at the centre of their existence as a people. Dreamtime or Dreaming for the aboriginal people represents the time when the Ancestral Spirits progressed over the land and created life and important physical geographic formations and sites. Aboriginal philosophy is known as the Dreaming and is based on the interrelation of all people and all things. The past of the Spirit Ancestors which live on in the legends are handed down through stories, art, ceremony and songs. The Dreaming explains the origin of the universe and workings of nature and humanity. It shapes and structures life through the regulation and understanding of family life, the relations between the sexes and obligations to people, land and spirits.

Aboriginal people disclose their Dreaming stories to pass on imperative knowledge, cultural values, traditions and law to future generations. Their Dreamings are passed on through various customs such as ceremonial body painting, storytelling song and dance. The Australian indigenous people have over thousands of years maintained a link with the Dreamtime and dreaming stories of the past to the present. Due to their customs and beliefs, they have sustained a rich cultural heritage. It conveys better the timeless concept of moving from ‘dream’ to reality which in itself is an act of creation and the basis of many aboriginal creation myths. Aboriginal spirituality does not think about the ‘Dreaming’ as a time past, in fact not as a time at all. Time refers to past, present and future but the ‘Dreaming’ is none of these. Because the ancestors did not disappear at the end of the Dreaming, but remained and still remain in these sacred sites, the Dreaming is never-ending, linking the past to the present, the people and the land. Dreamings allow aboriginal people to understand their place in traditional society and nature and connects their spiritual world of the past with the present and the future. None of the hundreds of aboriginal languages have a word for time. When we try to explain in English their philosophy, we had better not use the term ‘Dreamtime’ but use the word ‘Dreaming’ instead. It conveys better the timeless concept of moving from ‘dream’ to reality which in itself is an act of creation.

The ‘Dreaming’ “is there with them, it is not a long way off. The Dreaming is the environment that the Aboriginals live in. It is important to note that the Dreaming always comprises the significance of place.

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Songlines Songlines trace the journeys of ancestral spirits as they created the land, animals and lore. Integral to Aboriginal spirituality, songlines are deeply tied to the Australian landscape and provide important knowledge, cultural values and wisdom to Indigenous people.

'They can be about creation stories, and they can be contemporary stories as well,' says Adams.

'It's quite complex, but those land markers are very, very important, hence the importance of land claims and acknowledgement of traditional owners.'

Using songlines, indigenous Australians have acquired an encyclopedic memory of the thousands of species of plants and animals across Australia.

'They wouldn't have survived if they didn't have all this practical knowledge and handed down generation after generation,' says Monash University researcher Lynne Kelly.

Kelly has collaborated with Aboriginals to gain an insight into their oral tradition and memory, and its deep connections to the landscape. 'Songlines are known as navigational tracks, in that the elders or the trained Indigenous people will sing the landscape and therefore be able to move from location to location through it, and teach each other,' says Kelly.

'At every location, each sacred site within that sung track, they perform rituals. Those rituals are repeated songs, and those songs encode the information.'

According to Kelly, research has shown that up to 70 per cent of Indigenous songs is knowledge about animals, plants and seasonality—'the sort of information you need to survive and know that environment backwards'.

'They are singing the information in songs that tell stories because song, story, mythology, is so much more memorable than a list of facts.

'By describing a plant and giving it characteristics and behaviour, you're actually making the information much more memorable.'

The role of songlines in memory In 2014, the Nobel Prize for Medicine established how closely memory and spatial awareness are intertwined in the hippocampus. The finding confirmed the pairing of place and memory seen in many of the world's indigenous cultures. 'Songlines link positions in landscape. Each location in the landscape acts as a memory aid to a particular part of the information system, so the knowledge is literally grounded in the landscape,' says Kelly.

The technique is reinforced by the use of portable devices, such as message sticks.

'Using these devices, and the landscape, song and dance and story and mythology— that combination is an extraordinarily powerful memory technique that reinforces itself,' Kelly says.

Kelly says evidence has emerged of a cultural knowledge of landscape changes dating back 7,000 years.

'The mechanisms are so robust that things like formation of islands around the coast of Australia and sea level rises are accurately recorded in [the] oral tradition,' she says.

The practical uses of the memory code 23

Australia is home to an extensive network of traditional songlines, some of which traverse hundreds of kilometres through lands of many different Indigenous peoples.

Songlines offer rich explanations of land formations, plant remedies and animal behaviour. Before Indigenous hunters head out, they will perform rituals and repeated acts to improve the success of their hunt.

'If they are hunting kangaroos, for example, dancers will demonstrate the way the ears move if they have detected movement. That sort of information is hugely helpful to get close enough in order to hunt a kangaroo.'

Though deeply tied to the landscape, Kelly has discovered how memory codes like songlines can be used in everyday life. Like many oral cultures, Kelly used the environment around her to create her own songline, through it, she's been able to memorise all 242 countries by population order.

'I've got Brazil linked to a window in my study. I always know Brazil is number five,' says Kelly.

'I was blessed with a terrible memory, and now I can memorise all this stuff, but it's so much fun and so vivid… I'll just create stories.'

The importance of caring for songlines Given the significance of the Australian landscape to Indigenous people's cultural heritage, Karen Adams says it is important the land is cared for and respected.

'A lot of the ceremonies and rituals and continuing stories reinforce belonging and social connection and strength of identity and who you are, your confidence and how you travel in the world, and that has an enormous impact on mental health,' she says.

Lynne Kelly agrees, and says the 'invigorated' Australian landscape is an encyclopedia 'embedded' with Aboriginal history, culture and knowledge.

'I had no concept of the depth of knowledge, the absolutely critical nature of the songs and stories, and in particular the landscape, and the bonds between people.'

'The thought now of what the colonisers did to Indigenous people is just horrendous.'

Adams says Australia's long Indigenous history is something all Australians should 'take a great deal of pride in'.

'Because of Aboriginal culture, we have these continuing stories to our country that other countries actually don't have. And I think that that's something to be really proud of.'

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Creation: In most stories of the Dreaming, the ancestor spirits came to the earth in human form and as they moved through the land, they created the animals, plants, rocks, rivers, mountains and other forms of land that we know today. Once the ancestor spirits created the world, they transformed it into trees, stars, rocks, watering holes and so on. These are the sacred places of Aboriginal culture and have a special meaning.

“Stories of the Dreaming” have been handed down through the generations, they are not owned by individuals but belong to a group. The Dreaming or ‘Tjukurrpa’ also means to ‘see and understand the law’ as it is translated from the Arrernte language (Frank Gillen with Baldwin Spencer, translating an Arrernte word Altyerrenge).

The Dreamings explain the creation process. Ancestral beings rose from the earth and seas and roamed the initially barren land, created the land’s features and then returned to the land to become part of its features in the form of rocks, waterholes, ad trees. These became sacred places, to be visited only by initiated men. These ancestral spirits formed the relationships between Aboriginal people, the land and all living beings. The ancestral spirits are passed onto their descendants, e.g., shark, kangaroo, honey ant, snake and so on and hundreds of others which have become totems within the diverse indigenous groups across the continent.

Dreaming exists before the life of the individual begins, and continues to exist when the life of the individual ends. Both before and after life, it is believed that this spiritchild exists in the Dreaming and is only initiated into life by being born through a mother. The spirit of the child is culturally understood to enter the developing fetus during the fifth month of pregnancy. When the mother felt the child move in the womb for the first time, it was thought that this was the work of the spirit of the land in which the mother then stood. Upon birth, the child is considered to be a special custodian of that part of their country and is taught the stories and songlines of that place. As Wolf (1994: p. 14) states: "A 'black fella' may regard his totem or the place from which his spirit came as his Dreaming. He may also regard tribal law as his Dreaming."

In the Wangga genre, the songs and dances express themes related to death and regeneration. They are performed publicly with the singer composing from their daily lives or while Dreaming of a nyuidj (dead spirit).

Aboriginal families and individuals identify with a specific Dreamings. It gives them identity, dictates how they express their spirituality and tells them which other aboriginal people are related to them in a close family. They can share the same Dreamings. This means that one person can have multiple Dreamings. The storytellers are chosen by the elders and they have the duty to pass the stories on, ensuring that young people build and retain a sense of who they are.

The journey of the Spirit Ancestors across the land are recorded in Dreaming tracks.

A Dreaming track joins a number of sites which trace the path of an Ancestral Being as it moved through the landscape, forming its features, creating its flora and fauna and laying down the Laws. These spirit ancestors include the Rainbow Serpent, Wandjinas, Mimi Spirits – fairy-like beings of Arnhem Land, Karatgurk – Seven

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sisters who represent the Pleiades star cluster. These Dreamings are passed on and shared by many Aboriginal communities across Australia.

Traditionally, Dreaming stories are told through media such as the haunting sound of the didgeridoo with songs and dances and also by symbolic drawings. These designs were used as body paint decorations for corroborees (Aboriginal dance ceremony which may take the form of a sacred ritual or an informal gathering) and as sand paintings for ceremonies. Today paintings are created using traditional ochre and modern-day materials, but the use of traditional symbols and art styles keeps this ancient culture alive. The symbols used in contemporary Aboriginal paintings are the same as those found on cave paintings and rock Art. The same obligations to pass on their own Aboriginal cultural dreaming story is depicted in Aboriginal Art. It is a visual expression of these beliefs and a way to preserve their culture, beliefs and history.

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Didgeridoo A didgeridoo is an Australian Aboriginal wind instrument in the form of a long wooden tube, traditionally made from a hollow branch, which is blown to produce a deep, resonant sound, varied by rhythmic accents of timbre and volume.

The didgeridoo is a music instrument, important in Aboriginal ceremonies. Today it is used to play contemporary music, but traditionally this was not the role of the didgeridoo. The voice of the didgeridoo was part of story-telling and teaching. The didgeridoo was traditionally used as an accompaniment along with chants, singers with ‘bilma’ (Tapping sticks) and dancers, often in ceremonies. In a few aboriginal groups in certain ceremonies men only played the didgeridoo, but in many groups, outside of ceremony, men, women and children played it. The word didgeridoo can be spelt many different ways, none of which are Aboriginal names for the instrument.

The word "didgeridoo" was a western word given to the instrument around 100 years ago. For more info see 'The Word Didgeridoo'.

The Didgeridoo is a wooden instrument thought to have originated in Arnhem Land, Northern Territory, Australia. Researchers have suggested it may be the world's oldest musical instrument, The oldest cave paintings were dated 3000 to 5000 years old. It can be over 40,000 years old. There is a little evidence of the didgeridoo being used as far south as the Alice Springs region of Australia, but traditionally never in the southern three quarters of the country. It has been suggested that the Didgeridoo was an adaptation of traded instruments from India and/or Asia, this is possibly why it was mainly used by coastal tribes of the far North of Australia.

Traditionally didgeridoos were made from eucalyptus tree trunks and limbs hollowed out, while still living, by termites, or from bamboo in the far north of Australia. Traditionally the termite hollowed Didgeridoo was cut to an average length of 130 to 160 cm and cleaned out with a stick or sapling. Today didgeridoos are made from a large variety of materials such as Glass, Leather, Hemp Fibre, Ceramic, Plastic, Fibreglass, Carbon Fibre, solid timbers carved out, logs drilled out, dried/hollowed Agave cactus stems, Aluminium and other metals and just about any material which can be formed into a hollow tube!

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Today the didgeridoo is heard in almost every style of music, rock, jazz, blues, pop, hip hop, electronic, techno, funk, punk, rap etc. There are truly no limits to the use of this awesome instrument. In the same way the guitar originating in Europe, is now owned, made and played by people across the world, the Australian didgeridoo is now owned, made and played by many people all around the globe.

In the same way guitars and some drums were originally shaped in the form of the female body and were for men to play only in those cultures, often only men in certain ceremonies would play the Didgeridoo. Today it would be illegal (and ridiculous) in most countries to even suggest that the guitar, the drums or the Didgeridoo were not to be played anywhere in the world by one sex or another.

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Totems Depending on where a person is from, a person can have three or more totems which represent their Nation, Clan and family group, as well as a personal totem. Nation, clan and family totems are predetermined; however personal totems are individually appointed.

What roles do totems play?

A totem links the person directly with creation time and the spiritual world (sometimes referred to as The Dreaming), and with all living creatures and the land of the Gamilaraay peoples. Totems define people's relationships to each other and give them particular rights and roles within the language group. People who share the same totem have a special relationship with each other. Knowing a person’s totem means understanding a person’s relationship to the language group and to other people.

Birth ceremonies, totems and rites in Aboriginal society In their communities there are particular ceremonies associated with the birth of a child. These ceremonies usually involve a feast and gift exchanging. In historical times, “birthdays” (as an annual recognition of birth) were not generally celebrated; however, today many Aboriginal people enjoy birthday celebrations in the same way as other Australians.

The particular ceremonies associated with the birth of a child create the tapestry for how a child will live and interact within the world. Ceremonies and birth rights cannot be seen in isolation as they are intrinsically linked to totems, kinship lores, marriage rules, social cohesion and environmental sustainability.

It is important to recognise that there is a diverse range of Aboriginal birth ceremonies throughout Australia. Local cultural practices and lores are unique to each language group. The examples presented below are generalisations only.

Specific information on birthing ceremonies should be sought from Aboriginal people.

Roles and rites associated with totems. Some Aboriginal people may have several totems and these come from animals, plants, landscape features and the weather.

The traditional knowledge or belief laid down by the Dreaming (or within creation time) affect the relationships people have with their environment, each other and their totems. The types of food eaten and by whom, who gathered or hunted what type of food, eating habits and the way in which food is prepared or stored, are all traditional knowledges passed down from generation to generation. Rules and lores differ from one language group to another, depending on the environment and Dreaming stories or lore stories that belong to that area. There are many lores and rules associated with totems: In many language groups the men and women eat meals separately. In some seasons when food is short, some people are given preference over others for various types of foods. • Heart, liver, kidneys and other animal organs are often saved for the elders and leaders in the language groups. Some foods have spiritual significance.

These totem animals and plants need to be protected and are often not eaten or only eaten during ceremonies.

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Totems play an integral role in Aboriginal identity within the Kamilaroi nation. At birth, each child is associated with a totem which remains with the person for life. A totem holds significant importance for each individual, as he/she holds the important responsibility of supporting the identifies species for generations to come. Links between the spiritual world, creation time and the living world (land and creatures) are associated with totems which are passed down from mother or father, given by a spiritual sign linked to the ancestral spirit that the totem represents.

In 2008, the Queensland Studies Authority, a division of the Queensland Government, released a detailed report explaining the rites and customs of indigenous populations. The document uses the following example of a totem birth rite: ‘A goanna may cross the mother’s path during her pregnancy. He future child is then seen to be linked to the goanna dreaming or the ancestor Uudinaddalli and as such has a special relationship with the goanna and with the physical location where the mother saw the sign.’

A totem can be either an animal, a component of a natural landscape, a plant or even a weather pattern. Knowing one’s totem allows an individual to understand one’s relationship within a language group or to other Aboriginal people, giving them a connection with one’s sacred country. Individuals having the same totem share a special bond “Kamilaroi totems include Dilby the Crow and Kaputhin the Eagle.

Kaputhin the Eagle associates itself with the following spiritual concepts: - Celebration of the blue skies.

- Upperworld Messenger.

- Soaring over obstacles.

- The value of the Ego and Transcending the Ego - Heat and wind wisdom - Flight of the Spirit Within the totems subtotem groupings exist. These are derived as a social class system from matriarchal lines of descent allowing marriage and relationships to take place from other parts of the Kamilaroi nation. The subtotem groupings are aligned with animal totems (examples stated below) within the Kamilaroi nation. These are represented as followed: Kaputhin Moiety-Yibaay/Gambuu (Ringtail possum, red kangaroo, quoll, wallaroo, platypus, quail, barking owl, emu, brolga and death adder) Dilby Moiety- Marrii/Gabbi (Brush-tailed possum, bandicoot, echidna, pademelon, eastern grey kangaroo, pelican, white cockatoo and kookaburra) in Totem totem (ma)

marries Totem (F)

producing

Children

Two examples of a union of two Gamilaraay people from the Kamilaroi nation

1.Blacksnake Yibaay clan– Emu Yibaadha - blacksnake Gambuu (m) Buudhaa (f) 2.Goanna Marri clan - Kangaroo Maadha clan – Goanna Gabii (m) Gabuudha (f)

Your totem determines whom you can marry and whom you cannot marry.

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Body Painting Aboriginal body painting or art and personal ornamentation is an ancient tradition which carries deep spiritual significance for the Australian Indigenous People. Their cultural rituals including body painting differ between Aboriginal Tribes and topographic location. It is related to spiritual matters and is very creative in character.

The specific designs and motifs used by the Aboriginals reveal their relationships to their family group, social position, tribe, precise ancestors, totemic fauna and tracts of land.

There are very strict guidelines to how the body painting and adornment is carried out and an Aboriginal person is not allowed to just use any motives or adornment in their transformation. They must follow traditional, respected patterns. The person adorned with the body paint often takes on the spiritual part of their ancestor dancing, immersed in their character.

In Arnhem Land the people decorate the bodies of young boys for initiation ceremonies. They are painted in tribe/clan totems to the upper body and thighs.

In Eastern Arnhem Land (Yolngu) the men are painted according to their Moiety (Clan/blood line) either Dhuwa or Yirritia. Women of the desert painted their upper chest, shoulders and breasts for communal women’s ceremonies. Moiety is a form of social organisation in which most people and, indeed, most natural phenomena are divided into two classes or categories for intermarrying so as to ensure that a person does not marry within his/her own family.

In art, moiety can play an important role in determining the subjects (Dreamings) which an artist may paint.

Colour varies between different regions of Australia and tribes. Clay is often used as a colour source, as is as ochre, when at hand. Many tribes use precise colour pairing such as pink and red or yellow and white. Feathers, leaves and plant materials are also used to add colour to arm and leg ornaments.

Animal fat is often mixed with paint so that they stay longer on the body because most ceremonies last for days. Ceremonies include storytelling, singing and dancing.

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The Tiwi on Bathurst and Melville Islands also have a thriving tradition of body art.

They decorate face and body in particularly strong designs for both Pukumani (funeral) and Kulama (yam) ceremonies.

In northwest Queensland, men rub their foreheads with charcoal and paint a white band from either eyebrow down the front of the ear and along the shoulders and arms. White and red bands are painted across the chest and the rest of the body is covered in red.

Aboriginals use different items and ways to decorate the body include scars, feathers, shells, teeth, ornaments, face paint, and body paint. Symbols are greatly used and can represent many things about the person who uses it. It is often used to tell a spiritual story.

Scarring used to be common practice done by males to denote their social status.

Sharp shells or rocks were used to cut the skin and then rubbed with ash or other irritating material to inflict a permanent scar and skin discoloration.

Only specific relatives are given the right to paint another woman’s body. It is not appropriate for women to paint themselves for ceremony. The long communal painting and decorating process is part of the entire ritual right through to the dance and main singing. At the end of each performance the body painting is smeared and disguised or obliterated, just as the stamping feet of performers ultimately destroys the design on the ground.

Every type of painting and decoration corresponds to Aboriginal laws, regulations or convention, as well as religious functions. They also represent a particular region or tribe. Symbols are used to communicate the social status of a person, his or her age, totemic duties, and the role he or she plays within the family group. Hunting ceremonies, circumcision ceremonies for boys, as well as ceremonies that involve women undertakings are classic examples that involve body painting. For instance, boys from Arnhem Land display specific painting on their chests and the men who perform their rite-of-passage ceremony are also painted. When painting young girls, specific symbols are displayed on their body to encourage the growth of breasts.

Despite social and environmental issues concerning the survival of Aboriginal culture, all indications point to the unceasing strong existence and perpetuation of their unique way of life. Aboriginal body art has revealed that their culture has flourished for thousands of years and will continue in the long, indefinite future.

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Myths 1. Rainbow serpent At the beginning of the Dreamtime, the earth was flat and dry and empty. There were no trees, no rivers, no animals and no grass. It was a dry and flat land. One day, Goorialla, the rainbow serpent, woke from his sleep and set off to find his tribe.

One day, Goorialla, the rainbow serpent woke from his sleep and set off to find his tribe. He crossed Australia from east to west and north to south, stopping to listen for his people. He crossed every part of the dry, flat Australia but found nothing. After searching for a long time, he grew tired and lay down to sleep.

The land he lay down to sleep on was not the same land he had set out to search for his people on, though. As he had looked for his people, his big, long body had cut great gouges into the land. Goorialla lay in the sand all alone until he decided to create more life in the world. He called “Frogs, come out!” and frogs rose out of the ground with their bellies full of the water they stored. He tickled the frogs until the water burst from their mouth and filled the gouges in the land. These gouges made the rivers and streams we see today.

As the water flowed over the land, grass and trees began to grow and fill the land with colour. Now that there was grass to eat and water to drink, Goorialla woke the animals. The kookaburra laughed, the goanna walked, and the wombat climbed out of her burrow, all for the first time. Some animals lived in the sea, swimming back and forward. Some animals lived in the sky, flying with their friends to distant places.

Some animals lived on the land, digging and playing in the sand. They were happy and gathered food and water to bring back to their own tribes.

2. Rainbow serpent (2) The Rainbow Serpent made rules that all animals had to obey. He said “All animals that obey the rules will be rewarded by becoming humans. The animals that disobey the rules will be punished.”

Some animals followed the rules and were rewarded by being turned into humans.

Other animals disobeyed the rules and were turned into the stone that makes the mountains. One day, it started to rain. And it rained like it had never rained before.

Rain fell for days and days, and the world was flooded by water. Two young men, Bilbil, or the Rainbow Lorikeet brothers had no shelter and they came to the Rainbow Serpent. They asked for help sheltering from the rain. The rainbow serpent was hungry and tricked the young men “I have no shelter, but you can hide in my mouth.

You’ll be safe from the rain in there.” The young men climbed into Goorialla’s mouth 34

and he closed it shut, swallowing both men. He soon realised that people would notice the young men missing and come looking for them. He knew they would find their track leading right into his mouth. He didn’t want to be caught and so decided to hide in the only place he knew he would be safe: the sky. He hid in the sky away from the people chasing him and he saw their sadness at losing these two young men. He decided to try and make them happy again so turned his body into a big arc of beautiful colours. Now, every time, just after it rains, you can see the Rainbow Serpent sharing his beautiful colours with the people on the ground as his way of saying sorry for taking those Rainbow Lorikeet brothers.

3. Bunjil: In the Kulin nation in central Victoria Bunjil was regarded as one of two moiety (each of two social or ritual groups into which a people is divided) ancestors, the other being Waa the crow. Bunjil has two wives and a son, Binbeal the rainbow. His brother is Palian the bat. He is assisted by six wirmums or shamans who represent the clans of the Eaglehawk moiety: Djart-djart, the nankeen kestrel, Thara the quail hawk, Yukope the parakeet, Lar-guk the parrot, Walert the brushtail possum and Yurran the gliding possum.

According to one legend, after creating the mountains, rivers, flora, fauna, and laws for humans to live by, Bunjil gathered his wives and sons then asked Crow, who had charge of the winds, to open his bags and let out some wind. Crow opened a bag in which he kept his whirlwinds, creating a cyclone which uprooted trees. Bunjil asked for a stronger wind. Crow complied, and Bunjil and his people were blown upwards into the sky. Bunjil himself became the star Altair and his two wives, the black swans, became stars on either side.

A Boonwurrung story tells of a time of conflict among the Kulin nations, when people argued and fought with one another, neglecting their families and the land. The mounting chaos and disunity angered the sea, which began to rise until it had covered the plains and threatened to flood the entire country. People went to Bunjil and asked him to help them stop the sea from rising; Bunjil agreed to do so, but only if the people would change their ways and respect the laws and each other. He then walked out to the sea, raised his spear and ordered the water to stop rising.

It is believed by the Kulin and other Aboriginal peoples that, in the Dreamtime, Bunjil took shelter in a cave located in the part of Gariwerd that is now known as the Black Range Scenic Reserve, not far from Stawell. Bunjil's Shelter is today a popular tourist attraction and one of the most important Aboriginal rock art sites in the region. Many years ago this land that we now call Melbourne extended right out to the ocean.The country will always be protected by the creator, Bunjil, who travels as an eagle.

4. Thukeri as told by Veena Gollan, from the Yara ldi clan of the Ngarrindjeri people (River Murray and Coorong region of South Australia).

Two tribal men lived on the shores of Lake Alexandrina. They caught many breams, called ‘thukeri’, but refused to share them with a stranger. The stranger put many bones in the thukeri, so they could not be eaten. The men felt ashamed because they were punished.

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About the story: The traditional practices of Indigenous peoples model a balanced way of living with the land. They did not deplete the breeding stock and their harvesting practices supported conservation. When the men broke this eco-farming rule, they had to be punished under the Law. Key ideas: We can live off the land. We should take only what we need. We should share. Everyone in your group feels ashamed when doing the wrong thing.

5. Guth-guthi This is the creation story of Ngiyaampaa country, as well as the land belonging to Eaglehawk and Crow.

Now long, long time ago of course, in the beginning, when there were no people, no trees, no plants whatever on this land, “Guthi-guthi”, the spirit of our ancestral being, he lived up in the sky.

So, he came down and he wanted to create the special land for people and animals and birds to live in.

So Guthi-guthi came down and he went on creating the land for the people, after he had set the borders in place and the sacred sights, the birthing places of all the Dreamings, where all our Dreamings were to come out of. Guthi-guthi put one foot on Gunderbooka Mountain and another one on Mount Grenfell.

And he looked out over the land and he could see that the land was bare. There was no water in sight, there was nothing growing. So Guthi-guthi knew that trapped in a mountain - Mount Minara - was the water serpent, Weowie; he was trapped in the mountain. So Guthi-guthi called out to him, “Weowie, Weowie”, but because Weowie was trapped right in the middle of the mountain, he couldn’t hear him. Guthi-guthi went back up into the sky and he called out once more, “Weowie”, but once again Weowie didn’t respond. So Guthi-guthi came down with a roar like thunder and banged on the mountain and the mountain split open. Weowie, the water serpent, came out. And where the water serpent travelled, he made waterholes, streams and depressions in the land.

So once all that was finished, of course, Weowie went back into the mountain to live and that’s where Weowie lives now, in Mount Minara. The Cod, it was his duty to drag and create the river known as the Darling River. So, Cod came out with Mudlark, his little mate, and they set off from the north and they created the big river.

It flows right down, water flows right throughout our country, right into the sea.

And of course, this country was also created. The first two tribes put in our country were Eaglehawk and Crow. And from these two tribes came many tribal people, many tribes, and we call them sub-groups today. So, the Ngiyaampaa and the Barkandji peoples living downstream are descendants of Eaglehawk and Crow.

6. Baiame Baiame (Biame, Baayami, Baayama or Byamee) is the creator god and sky father in the Dreaming of several Aboriginal peoples of south-eastern Australia, such as the Wonnarua, Kamilaroi, Eora, Darkinjung, and Wiradjuri peoples.

The Baiame story tells how Baiame came down from the sky to the land and created rivers, mountains, and forests. He then gave the people their laws of life, traditions, 36

songs, and culture. He also created the first initiation site. This is known as a bora; a place where boys were initiated into manhood. When he had finished, he returned to the sky and people called him the Sky Hero or All Father or Sky Father.

He is said to have two wives, Ganhanbili and Birrangulu, the latter often being identified with an emu, and with whom he has a son Dharramalan. In other stories Dharramalan is said to be brother to Baiame.

It was forbidden to mention or talk about the name of Baiame publicly. Women were not allowed to see drawings of Baiame nor approach Baiame sites—which are often male initiation sites (boras).

In rock paintings Baiame is often depicted as a human figure with a large head-dress or hairstyle, with lines of footsteps nearby. He is always painted in front view; Dharramalan is drawn in profile. Baiame is often shown with decorations such as waistbands, vertical lines running down the body, bands and dots.

7. Three Sisters

There’s another legend that is connected to the formation of the Blue Mountains Three Sisters and offers up an explanation of how the rocks came to be.

Tyawan, a witch doctor had three daughters: Meenhi, Wimlah and Gunnedoo.

Whenever Tyawan had to pass by a hole to get food, he would leave his three daughters behind a rocky wall on a cliff. He did this because down this deep, dark hole there lived a Bunyip who was the most feared creature on the land.

One day as Tyawan passed by the hole to get food, a large centipede crawled next to the girls and scared Meenhi so much that she threw a rock at it. The rock then fell down into the valley and angered the Bunyip. He came up to face the girls, and Tyawan who saw this from a distance turned his daughters into stones to protect them from the Bunyip with his magic bone. After he had done this, the Bunyip began chasing him so he turned himself into a lyrebird. All was well and everyone safe, however in the scuffle Tyawan had dropped his magic bone somewhere, leaving him a bird and his three daughters into the rock formations we see today. It’s said that you can still hear the call of the lyrebird around the rocks even now. It is Tyawan searching his magic bone.

A Tale of Love Yet it’s not only the wonder of the landscape that captures the hearts of many travellers who sojourn to the Blue Mountains but the story behind the three rocks that stand tall.

The ancient aboriginal legend tells the tale of three sisters – ‘Meehni’, ‘Wimlah’ and Gunnedoo’. These three enchanting girls lived in the heart of the Jamison Valley as part of the Katoomba tribe. Yet the girls were young and their hearts were captured by three brothers from a neighbouring tribe. However the law of the land forbid the girls from following their desires and marrying outside their own people.

A Tale of Blood The brothers decided to capture the girls and carry them away to be wed, a major battle ensued as the two tribes clashed and the blood ran thick. An elderly witchdoctor from the Katoomba tribe feared for the safety of the beautiful sisters and cast a spell to turn them to stone to keep them safe from harm. Yet during the raging battle the witchdoctor was killed and unable to reverse the spell.

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A Tale of Magic The sisters stand mournfully high above the Jamison Valley, doused in glory, bewitching in their enchantment but never able to return to the human form. Even for those who don’t believe the legend it still makes for a heart wrenching sight to gaze up at these powerful rocks carved from the earth and to remember the tragic tale.

Whether you ride the scenic railway to capture a glimpse of the three sisters standing tall in the afternoon sun or whether you trek through the trails that wrap around Echo Point, the sisters are sure to ignite the spark in your imagination and to bring to life a touch of magic and myth with this dream time tale.

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8. The creation of Toonkoo and Ngaardi.

When Darama, the Great Spirit, came down to the earth, he made all the animals and the birds. He gave them all their names. He also created Toonkoo and Ngaardi.

One day, Toonkoo said to Ngaardi that he would go out hunting. He went out hunting kangaroos and emus, while Ngaardi stayed home and got some bush tucker. She was waiting and waiting, but Toonkoo never came home.

She started worrying. Then she started crying and as the tears ran down her face, she made the rivers and creeks come down that mountain.

She waited there all day for him to come back with the food, but he never came back.

As Toonkoo was out there hunting, he chucked a spear and got a kangaroo. Then he walked a bit further and he looked up and saw Darama, the Great Spirit, up the sky,

watching him. He chucked a spear into the sky so as to hit Darama, but Darama caught it, bent it and chucked it back. As it came back, it turned into a boomerang.

That’s how we got our boomerang.

He was out hunting and he was still angry with Darama, so Darama took him away and put him on the moon. As the moon was coming up, Ngaardi was still crying. As she saw the moon coming up over the horizon, over the sea, she looked up into the full moon She went to the mountain and she laid down. She said to herself: “I’ll leave my heart on the mountain; whenever my husband will come back, he will find it.

Today, her heart is the red flower called the Waratah.

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9. Bunjil In the Kulin nation in central Victoria he was regarded as one of two moiety ancestors, the other being Waa the crow. Bunjil has two wives and a son, Binbeal the rainbow. His brother is Palian the bat. He is assisted by six wirmums or shamans who represent the clans of the Eaglehawk moiety: Djartdjart the nankeen kestrel, Thara the quail hawk, Yukope the parakeet, Lar-guk the parrot, Walert the brushtail possum and Yurran the gliding possum.

According to one legend, after creating the mountains, rivers, flora, fauna, and laws for humans to live by, Bunjil gathered his wives and sons then asked Crow, who had charge of the winds, to open his bags and let out some wind. Crow opened a bag in which he kept his whirlwinds, creating a cyclone which uprooted trees. Bunjil asked for a stronger wind. Crow complied, and Bunjil and his people were blown upwards into the sky. Bunjil himself became the star Altair and his two wives, the black swans, became stars on either side.

A Boonwurrung story tells of a time of conflict among the Kulin nations, when people argued and fought with one another, neglecting their families and the land. The mounting chaos and disunity angered the sea, which began to rise until it had covered the plains and threatened to flood the entire country. The people went to Bunjil and asked him to help them stop the sea from rising; Bunjil agreed to do so, but only if the people would change their ways and respect the laws and each other.

He then walked out to the sea, raised his spear and ordered the water to stop rising.

Bunjil

The Boonwurrung, are an Aboriginal people of the Kulin nation, who reside from Werribee River to Wilsons Prom, Victoria, Australia, including part of what is

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wombat

now the city and suburbs of Melbourne. Before British colonisation, they lived as all people of the Kulin nation lived, sustainably on the land, for tens of thousands of years.

Bunjil, the eagle, was the creator of all living things for the Wurundjeri people.

These people are the traditional owners of the greater Melbourne area that stretches from the mountains to the ocean.

“Bunjil went back into the sky and looking down he decided to create things to move around through the plants. So, he created the animals; the kangaroo, the emu (ostrich), the goanna (lizard), the wombat, the echidna (spiny anteater), the cockatoo (sort of parrot) and all the animals.”

10. Koockard KKoockardFacebookTwitterPrintMore94 This is another Dreamtime story belonging to Ngiyaampaa and it’s called Koockard.

Long, long time ago, two little nephews asked their old uncle to take them out and camp on the river so that he would teach them how to make spears, woomeras and boomerangs and also teach them how to hunt and how to identify animal tracks.

Old uncle, he tried to put it off because they were too young, he thought, only eight years old. But the two little nephews, they kept pestering old uncle, ‘We’ve got to go, we must go now. Come on, we’ll go out tonight.’ So old uncle gave in and he said, ‘Okay, we’ll go out and we’ll set up camp on the river bend. Once we get our camp set up, we’ll make our brush gunyah, then we’ll go for a walk around the river bend and find some nice straight sticks to make your spears out of.’

So when they got out along the river bend and got their gunyah made, old uncle said, ‘Come on, we’ll go and find some straight sticks. Now remember, don’t look for crooked ones, don’t run or get any old stick. You must get a nice straight stick to make your spear out of.’

The two little fellas walked around the river bend looking for nice straight saplings to make their spear out of and when they found them, old uncle went up and he chopped them off with his stone axe. He showed the little fellas how to sit down and take all the bark off the saplings and trim them up nice and get all the notches off. He also showed them how to make the woomera, the little stick they needed to sit the spear in so they could spear the kangaroo or emu or whatever they were hunting for.

When they had that done, old uncle said, ‘Come on, we’ll go back to camp now and tomorrow morning we’ll go out hunting.’ But the two little boys were really impatient and they said, ‘Oh come on, uncle, let us go now. Let us go for a walk around the river bend and see if we can find a kangaroo.’ Old uncle said, ‘No, wait till tomorrow morning and I’ll go with you’. ‘No, we’ll go, uncle. We’ll bring back whatever we find.’

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So old uncle said to them when they were ready to go, ‘Listen. Before you go walking around the river bend, there’s something I want you to be very, very careful of. You must promise me that you will never, ever hurt it or harm it.’ They looked at each other as much as to say ‘what’s he talking about?’ Uncle said, ‘old Koockard, the great big river goanna. If ever you come across him, you must promise never to hurt or harm him in any way.’ So, the two little boys looked at their uncle and they promised him, ‘okay, uncle, we won’t hurt him or harm him.’

They went off, walking around the river bend; right around the river bend they kept walking. In those times the grass used to grow nice and tall. So, they’re walking around the river bends, when they got around the third bend and they saw the tall grass moving really quickly and then stopped moving. The two little fellas stood back and said, ‘that might be a kangaroo over there. Let us creep up and see what’s going on, what’s making the grass move.’

As they started creeping forwards towards where the grass was moving, the grass moved again, really quickly, then stopped. They walked a bit further and all of a sudden, they spotted old Koockard’s tail. That big river goanna, his tail was sticking out. So, they backed off; the two little fellas said to each another: ‘Remember what uncle told us? If ever we come across old Koockard, we mustn’t harm or hurt him.’

And they said, ‘Yeah, but what if we poke some fun at him? You get your spear and creep up right up around this side of old Koockard, to his left arm, level with his left shoulder and you lie down still. I’ll get my spear and I’ll go around this side, to his right arm. I’ll lie down there and when old Koockard puts his head down to bite the meat that he is eating (because this was what was happening. Koockard was putting his mouth down and biting the dead meat and shaking all the ants off before swallowing the meat).

The two little fellas said, ‘we’ll go up there. We’ll have some fun with him. When he puts his head down to bite the meat, you tickle him under the arm with your spear.

When he settles down again and he takes another bite, I’ll tickle him under this side with my spear.’

The two little fellas agreed to do this. So, they snuck up and lay down and as soon as old Koockard reached down to take a bite of the dead kangaroo, the little fella tickled him under the arm. So Koockard jumped up and looked around to see what touched him, but he was looking over the top of the tall grass, so he didn’t see the little boy lying down in the grass alongside of him.

He settled down again and he took another bite and the little boy on the other side tickled him on that side. Koockard jumped up again and he was looking around, but because the grass was high, he couldn’t see anything.

They kept going. One would tickle him on one side and the other would tickle him on the other side.

Then one little boy, he got a fit of the giggles and he couldn’t stop laughing. He rolled over and as he rolled, his spear hit a log. So Koockard jumped and spun right around in a big circle and flattened the two little boys.

Sitting in a gumtree close by were two Kookaburras; until that time, they couldn’t laugh. But as soon as they saw what happened to the two little boys, they just looked at each other and burst out laughing.

So that’s the Dreamtime story of how the Kookaburras got their laugh.

11. Eagle hawk and Crow.

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This is another Ngiyaampaa story and it’s about Eagle hawk and Crow.

Long, long time ago Eagle hawk, it was his turn to go hunting. So, Eagle hawk had a little baby, and he went over to his neighbour Crow and asked Crow if he’d look after his baby while he went hunting, because food was getting much scarcer and they had to go much further and further away from the camp.

So, Eagle hawk, he went to Crow and asked him. Crow didn’t want to look after the baby; he said “No, no I don’t want to look after the baby, he’s crying too much, he’ll cry all the time and disturb the camp”. But Eagle hawk said, “No, he’ll be right, Crow”.

He said, “You take him away and you sit down there and talk to him, or sing to him and he’ll quieten down”. Crow was still reluctant to take the baby, he said, “No, I don’t want to look after the kid”.

So anyway, Eagle hawk just handed the baby to Crow and said, “Okay, when we come back, whatever meat I get I’ll bring it here and I’ll share it with you”. Crow could not resist the offer and Eagle hawk went off with his young men. They had to walk a long, long distance away from the camp.

But Crow, after he got the baby, he took it into his gunyah, his hut, and he sat down there with the baby and he was singing to it and talking to it, but the baby wouldn’t stop crying. Just kept on crying and crying and crying.

So, Crow was getting really annoyed, no way he could stop the baby. So, Crow went out and he got his boondie -his hitting stick- and banged the little fella with the hitting stick and killed him. Then he got the baby and he put it up the back of his camp, right in the back of the gunyah. He put leaves all around it, and a bit of bark and a kangaroo skin. He had a kangaroo skin, a cloak, so he put that over the baby. And anyway, everything was quiet then, so Crow left his camp and started doing what he wanted to do.

When Eagle hawk came back late in the afternoon, Crow ran back into the camp and he was sitting at the doorway and did as if he was singing to the baby. Crow’s sitting there and Eagle hawk came up to him and said “I’ve come to pick my baby up now, Crow. He’s very quiet, you must have sung him to sleep.

And Crow said, “Yeah, he’s right in the back of the gunyah there, he’s right in the back of the camp. He’s sound asleep. Don’t wake him, leave him there. Eagle hawk said, “No, I’ll take him home now and look after him”.

So, when Eagle hawk walked into the camp, the gunyah, to get his baby, he noticed that everything was really still, very still around him. So once Eagle hawk walked into the back of the camp and picked the baby up, Crow took off and he ran out and hid in the mallee, the thick scrub.

So, Eagle hawk, he started yelling, “My baby, Crow killed my baby”, so all his other hunters came up to him with their spears and he said, “Go after him. Chase him into the thick mallee and get him. We’ll kill him”. So, they ran after Crow, but he got right into the centre of the mallee and they couldn’t find him. So, Eagle hawk said, “We’ll set a light to the mallee and we’ll burn him out. He’s got to be punished for what he did to my baby.”

So, they set fire to the mallee, and they went right back, away from the fire and they’re sitting right out there, waiting for all the smoke to go away. And then they saw this black bird come flying out of the smoke. And Eagle hawk said, “That’s him. That’s Crow. He’s been punished now, his spirit turned into a black bird.”

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And today, Eagle hawk and Crow are birds and they still carry on the fight. Crow will still go up to Eagle hawk’s nest and try to pick at his babies, the eyes of his babies.

And in the air when Eagle hawk’s circling for food, Crow will go after him again and try to pick at him. So, they still carry on the fight after what happened when they were people years ago.

12. Gandji Once at a place called Nurrurrumba lived a person called Gandji and his children, and a man call Wurrpan, with his children. The men were brothers-in-law. One day, Gandji and his children went down to fish for stingray. When they got to the salt water, they saw the water was clean and clear to the bottom. It was easy to see all types of stingrays, which they started to spear as they walked through the water up to their knees. After spearing the stingrays, they went back to the shore and started gathering firewood and cooking the stingrays, separating the meat from the fat. They grabbed some bark and wrapped up the meat and the fat and went back to the camp where Wurrpan and his children were. When they got to the camp, they sat down and Gandji called out to one of the Wurrpan children to get their share. But when they had separated the fat and the meat, they had kept the sweet, fresh ones for themselves and gave the old bits to Wurrpan and his family.

FacebookTwitterPrintMore292 So one of the Wurrpan children ran over and grabbed the bark parcel of stingray and took it over to his father, who quickly untied it. When he opened it, he noticed that he and his family had been given old stingray pieces, and then he said, ‘They must have kept the fresh, sweet ones for themselves.’

So, they ate what they had been given and then afterwards Wurrpan stood up and said, to the other family, ‘You gave me and my kids old stingrays, while you and your family had the fresh ones.’ So, they started arguing. Gandji said, ‘You should have gone stingray fishing for yourselves.’ So, they argued and argued and argued until Gandji grabbed a handful of hot coals and threw them at Wurrpan. He turned around and grabbed a smooth rock called Buyburu, which he used for grinding cycad nuts.

He threw it at Wurrpan and hit him right on the chest.

Then Gandji started jumping around in fear of what Wurrpan might do to him. From jumping he started flying, higher and higher. As he flew, he turned into a Jabiru without a beak and flew away.

Then Wurrpan told his children to bring him his spear, which was called Wandhawarri Djimbarrmirri. He tried pointing the spear up in the air where Gandji was, but he noticed the spear was too long, because it was bending backwards. So, he told his children to bring a sharp rock to cut the spear shorter. The second time he aimed, it was just right.

He aimed at Gandji and said to the spear, ‘Please, don’t let me miss.’ Then he threw the spear up into the sky where Gandji was flying around. The spear went right through Gandji, from his behind through to his face, until it poked out, making a beak.

Gandji fell from the sky and landed at a place called Ngurruyurrdjurr.

Wurrpan said to his children, ‘Let’s get out of here while we are still alive. Come on, as fast as we can. We’ll head towards Milindji Dhawarri.’

As they were running, they started to change into Emus. That made them move faster. Their feathers were grey because of the ash that Gandji threw and they had a bump on their front where the stone had hit.

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Today, Yolngu remember this story in the way they cook Wurrpan meat in the fire.

They always half-cook it, wiping off the ash before they eat it.

That’s the story of the Emu and the Jabiru. Today, the Emu has eggs the same shape as the rock that hit him.

13. Gulaga This story is about Gulaga, which is our mother mountain, our sacred mountain. It’s about her two sons Najanuga and Barranguba.

Barranguba is Montague Island, that’s what the white people call it. Barranguba is the older son of Gulaga and the way the story goes is that, Gulaga she had two sonsBarranguba and Najanuga and Barranguba was the oldest.

Just like the older son or older brother who gets sick of living near their mother, he moves away. So Barranguba asked his Mum could he move away from her side for a bit and he went out into the sea to watch the actions of all the fishes and whales.

Take care of all that.

The little brother, he saw the big brother going out and he said to Gulaga ‘Mum, mum, can I go out too? I’m big. I’m grown up, can I go out and watch the fish and the whales?’

She said, ‘No, son. You are too little. If I let you go out there, you’d get swallowed up

by Gadu, the sea. I’ll put you down near the foot of me, so I can watch you and you can watch your brother out in the ocean.’ 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 with his mum.

14.Tiddalick Once upon a time, a long time ago, in the Dreamtime, lived a frog called Tiddalick.

Tiddalick was the largest frog in the entire world. One very warm morning, he woke up with feeling very, very thirsty and started to drink the fresh water. He drank and he drank and he kept drinking until all the fresh water in the entire billabong was gone!

When the other animals arrived at the billabong to get their morning drink, they found it was all dried up. This made them very sad.

They knew Tiddalick the frog had drunk all the water. They knew they needed to come up with a plan to get the water back, but they didn’t know how. They thought and they thought and they thought until they realised that the best way to get the water back was to make Tiddalick laugh. If they could make him laugh then all the water would come spilling out of his mouth and back into the billabong! The first animal to try and make him laugh was the echidna. She rolled herself up into a tight little ball and rolled down the bank of the billabong like a bowling ball! The kangeroo laughed and so did the emu, but Tiddalick didn’t laugh.

The next animal to try and make Tiddalick laugh was the wombat. The wombat stood up on his hind legs and danced around in a circle until he fell over in the dirt! The Galah laughed and so did the goanna, but Tiddalick didn’t laugh.

The next animal to try and make Tiddalick laugh was the kookaburra. She perched herself on a branch close to Tiddalick and told her funniest story. It was so funny that she burst out laughing! But Tiddalick didn’t laugh. He just sat there with his big belly full of all the water.

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Finally, the snake decided to try and make Tiddalick laugh. She started to dance and dance, wriggling and squirming all over the ground until she eventually tied herself into a knot. The knot was so tight that she struggled and struggled to untie herself but was stuck! Tiddalick watched her struggling, trying to untie herself, and let out a small chuckle. That small chuckle turned into a rumbling in his tummy before it turned into a great big belly laugh! The water came gushing out of his mouth and filled the billabong back up once again.

All the animals jumped with joy as they took big, long, gulps of water to quench their thirst.

15. Weeri and Walawidbit Way, way back in the first time, when everything was new, there was a group of Aboriginal people living on a mountain. It was a lovely place, but everyone was worried. It had not rained for a long, long time and they were very short of water.

They had some wells but these, except for one, were empty. When it had rained before, the water had just run down the side of the mountain, into the sea, which was far, far away. Now, on the other side of the mountain, there were just big dry plains where nothing grew.

Weeri and Walawidbit were two greedy men. They decided to steal the last of the water for themselves and then run away. Secretly they made a large water-carrier, which was called an eel-a-mun. When everyone was asleep, they stole the water from the last well and hurried off.

When the people woke up, there was no water for them. This was very bad, because there were babies and little children who needed water and also the old people. And also, it was very hot.

The elders called all the people together and it was then that they saw that two men were missing. Looking around, they found the tracks of the two men. Quickly, the warriors followed these tracks, which led down the other side of the mountain to the big plains where they could see the men in the distance.

The water-carrier was very heavy and Weeri and Walawidbit were walking slowly.

This was because they thought they were safe. However, when they saw the warriors coming, they too started running.

The best spearmen in the group ran to a cliff which jutted out and threw all the spears they had. One hit the eel-a-mun and it dropped off. However, it had made a hole in the water-carrier. On and on across the plains ran the two men. They did not notice that the water was leaking out of the carrier until it was almost empty. This was why they were able to run so fast but by this time, the warriors had caught up with them.

Now, this was way back in the first time, when very strange things happened. So, the warriors took the men back home and the elders called a big meeting. It was decided that the two men had to be punished for stealing and also, for thinking of themselves first and not of the community.

So, the Wonmutta, the clever man, made some very strong magic and Weeree was changed into the very first emu. He went running down the mountain, out onto the plains, in shame. Walawidbit was changed into the very first blue-tongued lizard and he crawled away to hide in the rocks.

But, a wonderful thing happened. Wherever the water had leaked onto the plains, there were now beautiful billabongs or waterholes. There was grass and flowers and 45

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.

16. Cat Jooteetch 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.

Emu in the sky.

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.

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17. The seven Karatgurk sisters 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.

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Storytelling for Children: 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).

1. Buduk 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 48

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.

Wallaby (small kangaroo)

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.

2. Tajeer-Tarnium 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.

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

3. The snake and the Goanna 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.

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

Key ideas: Fairness and sharing work.

Selfishness and losing friends.

Bush medicine.

Camouflage.

4. Caterpillar 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.

6. Waratah How the White Waratah became red

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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.

Waratah

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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.

7. Gulaga 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.

8. Koala and Tree-kangaroo.

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.

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Tree-kangaroo

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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Koala

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