Creation Story 1
Chapter One: Yidumduma introduces us to the 3 major Ancestors Rainbow Gorrondolmi, Frog Lady Dungdung and the Sky Boss Nardi. Rainbow creates the oceans, marries Dungdung and they have many children in the water. Dungdung creates and moves onto land and marries Nardi the boss of the stars who comes down from the sky. They have many children all over the land and Rainbow becomes very angry and brings a flood to the land. The people go to the high ground and throw spears at Rainbow driving him back into the ocean and the flood goes away.
Resources:
- Read the Creation Story as told by Yidumduma and recorded and interpreted by Julie Drew.
- Indigenous Stories: Enduring Memories of Ancient Sea Rise.
Kosmos journal article on the historical power of Aboriginal storytelling. -
Linking Geological Events to Aboriginal Oral Tradition and Stories
A possible volcano Creation Story
Transcript
I'll tell you the story about our creation history.
...what happened in this country.
There were no rocks, and there were no trees, or grass of any sort.
...three people were in this country...the one they call Rainbow,
the one that made the sea, and an old lady called Dungdung,
she came out of the side of the earth, she's a Frog Lady.
She went across and mated up with old Rainbow.
...old Rainbow and Dungdung, they sat together,
...they married and had many children all under water.
Later, Dungdung walked out inland to dry herself out.
Another one came down from the sky, called Nardi,
he's a long Mimi man.
He came down and landed beside Dungdung,
(s)he said to Nardi, "Where did you come from?"
and Nardi said, "Oh, I came from the top".
Nardi asked Dungdung, "Where did you come from?"
and she said, "I come out of the side of the earth..."
They sat down and they talked, and they got mated up.
Dungdung finished up with two husbands, (s)he had old Rainbow and (s)he had Nardi.
Between Nardi and Dungdung, they had many children, part of the Lightning People.
The Lightnings are the ones who struck the land in this country.
They put all the songs together, they named all the different plants, they named all the different soil, the earth and everything,
they invented all the different tools...and everything.
They made a big Creation Song and the story,
right across the country, all around, those Lightning People.
While they were there together...making all these songs, they made a lot of noise...old Rainbow heard them.
He woke up and stood up and he looked inland,
and saw many people walking around.
Old Rainbow walked across and said to old Dungdung,
"Why do you do this, having everybody out here in the dry land,
we should have everybody together, all under water."
Dungdung said, "No, you got to have two separate lots,
one lot in the water and one lot inland."
Rainbow said, "No, we are going to have everybody all underwater."
Rainbow goes back and he sang a great big Spiritual Song.
He sang it and made the water rise,
and water came right over in this country and flooded the whole world. This country was in big flood.
We call that ngabarl ngabarl was here.
The song with ngabarl ngabarl...is in the Creation Song and we still use that song today.
We have never thrown any of the Creation Song away.
We are still teaching it to the young ones.
When the flood was rising,
all these little Lightning People moved from the low country, went up and based themselves on top of the high mount.
Nardi came down from the sky, helping all these children.
Walking across the water, he was a very huge, tall man.
That's why they call him a Mimi.
He picked up all these children.
The water was up to his waist deep and the water was rising.
He put all these little Lightning People on top of the high mount,
and everybody was watching...looking at the water rising.
...there were no birds in this country, all Lightning People.
One of them...today is a bird,
he changed from the Lightning People to become a little bird now, called Willy Wagtail.
...the one who invented all the stone tool,
made spear points, stone axes, scraper and everything out of the mud. He sang it to go real hard.
He made a pointy one.
He said, "This is ideal to spear the old Rainbow, get rid of the water.
We don't want to be drowned."
Willy Wagtail raced across and said to old Lightning...
"Might be the way we can go, to spear that Rainbow".
Lightning reckoned, "Good idea to get rid of him..."
Then the Lightning said, "Alright, give us that spear."
"Wait a minute," the Willy Wagtail said,
"I'll go down and make the long end of the spear now."
He collected all the mud, rubbed it together and made it longer.
He sang it, made it like a long spear.
Then he put these little flints on the end of it,
(made) out of the mud...it was very strong.
He made many of them,
and he went across and gave it to the Lightning.
...the one who threw the spear, hit old Rainbow,
cut him in half, never killed him.
Old Rainbow got very annoyed
and he sang and he brought this water right up.
The Lightning said, "Give that spear to the Grey Falcon."
He was a human first and he's a bird today.
The falcon is the one that carries the fire.
He carries what we call jundin,
it's a boning tool, and he carries it and it flies him across...
like a feather...and also the shooting star.
The falcon invented all that song.
He picked up this spear point
and he sang it...to go straight...to kill old Rainbow.
...the Grey Falcon the one who threw the spear,
that came right across the country,
straight to the old Rainbow and chopped his head right off.
The head of the Rainbow fell down, and the tail end stayed away.
The water ran right back to the sea level,
where the Rainbow made the big whirlpool with a big Spiritual Song.
That's where all the water disappeared and that's where it is today.
