Indigenous Australian Mythology Creation Story The Dreamtime ❏ The Dreamtime refers to a beginning that never ended. Dreamtime is believed to be a period on a continuum of past, present, and future. It dates back 65,000 years. ❏ Spirits (also called Ancestors) created the rivers, streams, water holes, the land, hills, rocks, plants, animals, and people. As well as gave humans their hunting tools and each tribe its land, their totems, and their Dreaming. ❏ The Ancestors made particular sites for the Indigenous Australians to perform sacred rituals and songs. ❏ ❏ Who and what the Ancestors were is debated between tribes. Some believe they were animal-spirits, huge snakes, or The Wandjina (a Rain Maker spirit). Some versions of Dreamtime speak about the creators disappearing to go and live in secret places. Some lived in a tribe’s territory in rock crevices, trees, and water holes. Others went to the sky and became heavenly bodies. And the rest became rain, wind, thunder, lightning, animals, and creatures such as the Rainbow Serpent (also known as the original Mother of Creation). Art of The Dreamtime In this Dreaming (a depiction of how the Dreamtime went according to a specific tribe) the Rainbow Serpent appears along with several animals. The creature and animals are the creators that were involved in the Dreamtime. The humans around them are their creations. Gods and Goddesses Bildjiwuaroju ❏ Bildjiwuaroju is the Goddess of Creation. ❏ She is one of the three children of the Sun. ❏ She has both female and male anatomy, along with her brother Miralaldu. Her other brother Djanggawul is the only one with only male anatomy. ❏ Her and her siblings came from heaven in a canoe. After they landed on Earth, they reproduced and produced plants and animals. ❏ ❏ One night Djanggawul went off to hunt then came back and cut off Bildjiwuaroju and Miraladu’s male anatomies. He wanted to be the only functioning male with two mates. After that he led the way and the others followed, creating the myth that man always leads the way and women follow. Darana ❏ Darana is the God of Creation. ❏ He shared the Earth with humans in Dreamtime and came up with the idea of creating grubs. ❏ One day, Darana made some grub and left it to go and invite other spirits to feast. Two mortals raided the bags and took the grubs. The grubs began to glow which set alarm bells ringing across the land. Angry spirits appeared and killed the two mortals. ❏ ❏ Darana gave mercy to the two mortals. He turned them into Destiny Stones and gave them to the Dieri (a tribe of southern Australia’s lakes region who live on the Cooper River to the east of Lake Eyre) people to guard. If the stones were to be scratched, a famine would begin. And if they were broken the Universe would end. Gnowee ❏ Gnowee is the Goddess of the Sun. ❏ Gnowee is said to originate back to when the world was in darkness. ❏ Her son as a baby wandered off into the darkness and she has never been able to find him. ❏ In result, everyday she takes her burning torch into the sky to create sunlight in order to search for him. What most think is the sun is actually Gnowee torch. ❏ If Gnowee’s son is ever found, the world will go back to complete darkness. Art of Gnowee Ipilya ❏ Ipilya is the God of Storms. ❏ He is a lizards that spans one hundred meters long and he is dwells in a large swamp. ❏ He creates thunderstorms and heavy rain. During the monsoon period of the year, he gathers large amounts of water and then spits the water into the sky forming thunderclouds. ❏ He then begins roaring in order for the torrents (a strong, fast-moving stream of water) to start. After he adds some lightning flashes and feels fulfilled with his work, he goes back into the swamp until next monsoon season. Lumaluma ❏ Lumaluma is the God of Gluttony. ❏ He was originally a whale that came on shore at Cape Stewart. ❏ He disguised himself as a man who knew about sacred rituals and shared them with everyone at Cape Stewart. ❏ During feasts he would take a lot of food and use the excuse that he was sacred so that he could only eat at feasts. ❏ After his neighbors stopped inviting him to the feasts, he began to consume dead children. ❏ In result, a mob set upon him. Before they could kill him he made sure that they understood the sacred rituals he told him. Art of Lumaluma The Wati-Kutjara ❏ The Wati-Kutjara are the Gods of Plants. ❏ These gods take the form of Lizards. ❏ They came down from a mountain in the Dreamtime and befriended many people. ❏ They taught the people Dreamtime tricks and the use of talismans. ❏ They created the hills and valleys and put the many trees onto them. The Wati-Kutjara Creatures and Myths Arkaroo ❏ Arkaroo is a serpent who drank all the water in Lake Frome. ❏ After drinking all the water, he ended up very tired and went to go take a nap in the mountains in doing so he carved valleys from his laying body. ❏ ❏ He was attacked by mystic beasts which ended up releasing all the water he had drank. This resulted in water holes all around the mountain. Bobbi-Bobbi ❏ Bobbi-Bobbi is a supernatural being that lived in the heavens in the Dreamtime. ❏ He watched humans struggle from the heavens and came to the conclusion that they needed more than water to survive. ❏ So he created flying foxes for them to catch and eat. ❏ When the foxes flew too high and the humans were unable to catch them, he removed one of his ribs and gave it to the humans to use as a boomerang. ❏ ❏ ❏ ❏ ❏ However, some humans were not satisfied and wanted to see what the heavens looked like. Two men pretended they wanted to create a hole in the sky to thank Bobbi-Bobbi. So they threw the rib/boomerang into the clouds which startled Bobbi-Bobbi resulting in him failing to catch it. The rib/boomerang fell back to Earth and killed the two men. This was the first time death had ever happened within the human race so Bobbi-Bobbi isolated himself in the clouds and never tried to help the humans again. Tiddalik ❏ Tiddalik was a frog from The Dreamtime. ❏ Tiddalik woke one day with a severe thirst and drank all the freshwater. ❏ Creatures and plants began to die due to the lack of water. ❏ The other animals devised a plan to get Tiddalik to release all of the water he consumed. ❏ The plan was coordinated by a wise old owl and Nabunum the eel made Tiddalik laugh by tying himself into comical shapes. ❏ As he laughed, the water rushed out of him and replenished the lakes, swamps, and rivers. Whowie ❏ The Whowie resembled a seven metre long goanna with a frog-shaped head and six legs. ❏ He lived in a cave on the banks of a river that extended beneath the ground. ❏ He was extremely stealthy and could eat a whole tribe in a single meal. ❏ The water rat tribe had enough of the suffering that the Whowie was causing. Myths Historical Fun Facts Afterlife