Aboriginal myths fall under different categories. Some are public and may be shared with all members of a group. Others are restricted; only people who have participated in certain special ceremonies may hear them. Some sacred stories may only be told and heard by men, while others are restricted to women or to the elder members of the community.
The Aborigines believe that the world began during a mythical period called the Dreamtime. During this time, powerful ancestral beings that slept beneath the ground emerged from the earth. They created the landscape, made people, established the laws by which people lived, and taught them how to survive. They also established the correct relationships between the many Aboriginal clan groups, between people and animals, and between people and the land. After the ancestral beings’ work was done, they returned underground. The Aborigines actively recall the events of the Dreamtime through myth and ritual.
Aboriginal myths often tell of a big flood, with local variations. The Worora people in western Australia describe an enormous flood that destroyed the previous landscape. It was caused by ancestral figures called the wandjina, who spread throughout the land establishing a new society. Other groups say the flood was brought by a great serpent that still exists in deep pools of water or off the coast.
The Tiwi, from islands off the northern coast, tell of the old woman Mudungkala who rose up from the ground carrying three children. These children were the ancestors of all the islands’ inhabitants. As Mudungkala walked across the landscape, water rose up behind her and cut the islands off from the mainland. According to some myths, the people of the land were created by two sisters and a brother called the Djang’kawu, who traveled throughout the land. Their journey is recalled in a cycle of more than five hundred songs.
Ayers Rock, also known as Uluru, is a huge dome-shaped rock in central Australia. According to Aboriginal myths, the gullies and holes on the south side of Ayers Rock were scars left over from a battle between snake men, or serpent beings. To the southwest of the rock are some stands of oak trees. These were said to be young warriors waiting silently to join in the battle.
Aboriginal beliefs about the origin of death vary. One tale about death refers to an argument between Crow and Crab about the best way to die. Crab crawled off into a hole, shed her shell, and waited for a new one to grow. Crow said that this took too long and that he had a better way. He rolled back his eyes and fell over dead. The Murinbata people have a ritual dance that compares the two types of death. It shows that Crow’s way is the better way.
Other popular mythical figures include the Seven Sisters. According to a version of their story told in central and southern Australia, the sisters fled from central Australia to Port Augusta on the south coast to escape a man named Wati Nehru who wanted to rape the oldest sister. They traveled over hundreds of miles, and many features of Australia’s current landscape are associated with their journey. For example, legend has it that a low cliff near Mount Conner is a windbreak they constructed, and a cave is a hut they built. One of the wild fig trees nearby is the oldest sister. At the end of the journey, the sisters turned into the constellation popularly known as the Pleiades (pronounced PLEE-uh-deez), and Wati Nehru became the constellation commonly known as Orion.
World History
