List of Australian Aboriginal mythological figures
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The following is a list of Australian Indigenous Australian deities and spirits.
New South Wales[edit]
- Baiame (Baayami), creator spirit of some peoples of New South Wales, including the Gamilaraay and the Wiradjuri
- Bahloo (Baaluu), Gamilaraay personification of the moon who keeps three pet snakes
- Birrahgnooloo (Birrangulu), Gamilaraay fertility spirit who would send floods if properly asked to; one of Baiame's two wives
- Ganhanbili, second wife of Baiame
- Daramulum (Dharramalan), sky hero and son of Baiame and Birrahngnooloo
- Wurrunna, culture hero
- Yhi (Yaraay/Yaay), Gamilaraay personification of the sun and creator spirit
- Dirawong, Bundjalung creator being
Northern Territory[edit]
- Adnoartina, the lizard guard of Uluru
- Altjira, Arrernte sky god who created the earth
- Ankotarinja, the first man of Arrernte mythology
- Onur, Karraur lunar deity
- Bamapana, Yolngu trickster spirit who creates discord
- Banaitja, creator deity
- Barnumbirr, Yolngu creator spirit
- Barraiya, creator of the first vagina
- Bobbi-Bobbi, benevolent Binbinga snake deity
- Djanggawul, three creator-siblings of northeast Arnhem Land mythology
- Galeru, rainbow snake in Arnhem Land mythology who swallowed the Djanggawul
- Djunkgao, a group of sisters associated with floods and ocean currents
- Julunggul, Yolngu rainbow snake goddess associated with initiation, fertility, rebirth and water
- Karora, creator god
- Kunapipi, a mother goddess and the patron deity of many heroes
- Malingee, malignant nocturnal spirit
- Mamaragan, lightning deity
- Mangar-kunjer-kunja, Arrernte lizard deity who created humans
- Mimi, fairy-like beings of Arnhem Land
- Minawara and Multultu, legendary ancestors of the Nambutji
- Namarrkon (also known as Namarrgon[2]), Lightning man, makes lightning appear and creates roars of thunder in storms
- Mokoi, an evil Yolngu spirit who kidnapped and ate children
- Ngintaka, Pitjantjatjara creator being
- Nogomain, a god who gives spirit children to mortal parents
- Manuriki, god of beauty
- Papinijuwari, a type of one-eyed giant which feeds on the bodies of the dead and the blood of the sick
- Tjinimin, the ancestor of the Australian people. He is associated with the bat and with Kunmanggur the rainbow serpent - per the Murinbata
- Ulanji, snake ancestor of the Binbinga
- Wala, solar goddess
- Wawalag, Yolngu sisters who were swallowed by a serpent, only to be regurgitated
- Wollunqua, snake deity associated with rain and fertility
- Wuluwaid, rain god of Arnhem Land
- Wuriupranili, a solar goddess whose torch is the sun
- Wurugag and Waramurungundi, first man and woman of Kunwinjku legend
- Yawkyawk, Aboriginal mermaids who live in waterholes, freshwater springs, and rock pools.
- Yurlungur, Yolngu snake deity who swallowed and regurgitated the Wawalag sisters; associated with initiation and rebirth
Queensland[edit]
- Anjea, fertility goddess or spirit, in whom people's souls reside between their incarnations
- Gaiya, giant devil dingo of lower Cape York Peninsula
- Dhakhan, ancestral god of the Kabi
- I'wai, culture hero of the Kuuku-Ya'u
- Yalungur, god of the first baby
South Australia[edit]
- Akurra, great snake deity of the Adnyamathanha people
- Bila, cannibal sun goddess of the Adnyamathanha people
- Bunyip, mythical creature said to lurk in swamps, billabongs, creeks, riverbeds, and waterholes
- Mar'rallang, mythical twin sisters
- Muldjewangk, water spirit or spirits inhabiting the Murray River
- Ngintaka, Pitjantjatjara creator being
- Tjilbruke, Kaurna creation ancestor
Tasmania[edit]
- Moinee, Creator spirit/God for Tasmania
- Droemerdene, Moinee's twin brother
- Rageowrapper, malevolent spirit
Victoria[edit]
- Baiame, southeast Australian creational ancestral hero
- Balayang, bat deity and brother of Bunjil
- Binbeal, Kulin rainbow deity and son of Bunjil
- Bunjil, Kulin creator deity and ancestral being, represented as an eagle
- Bunyip, mythical creature said to lurk in swamps, billabongs, creeks, riverbeds, and waterholes
- Daramulum, southeast Australian deity and son of Baiame
- Gnowee, solar goddess who searches daily for her lost son; her torch is the sun
- Karatgurk, seven sisters who represent the Pleiades star cluster
- Kondole, man who became the first whale
- Lo-an-tuka, wife of Loo-errn
- Loo-errn, spirit ancestor and guardian of the Brataualung people
- Nargun, fierce half-human, half-stone creature of Gunai legend
- Thinan-malkia, evil spirit who captures victims with nets that entangle their feet
- Tiddalik, frog of southeast Australian legend who drank all the water in the land, and had to be made to laugh to regurgitate it
- Waang, Kulin trickster, culture hero and ancestral being, represented as a crow
- Wambeen, evil lightning-hurling figure who targets travellers
Western Australia[edit]
- Bagadjimbiri, a pair of Karadjeri creator-spirits
- Dilga, Karadjeri goddess of fertility and growth, and mother of the Bagadjimbiri
- Julana, lecherous Jumu spirit who surprises women by burrowing beneath the sand, leaping out, and raping them
- Kidili, Mandjindja moon deity who was castrated for attempting to rape the first women, who in turn became the Pleiades
- Kurdaitcha (or kurdaitcha man) is a ritual "executioner" in Australian Indigenous Australian culture (specifically the term comes from the Arrernte people).[3]
- Ngariman, Karadjeri quoll-man who killed the Bagadjimbiri and was drowned in revenge
- Njirana, Jumu deity and father of Julana
- Ungud, snake deity associated with rainbows and the fertility and erections of the tribe's shamans
- Wagyl, Noongar snakelike creator being
- Wati-kutjara, a pair of western Australian lizard-men
- Wondjina, Mowanjum cloud or rain spirits
Pan-continental[edit]
- Rainbow Serpent, a common feature of the art and mythology of Indigenous Australian cultures[4]
- Erathipa, central Australia, a boulder that has the shape of a pregnant woman
Unknown[edit]
- Kinie Ger, evil half-man, half-quoll beast
- Thardid Jimbo, cannibalistic giant
- Yara-ma-yha-who, monstrous bloodsucking dwarf
- Bluetongue Lizard, an elderly trickster
- Nogomain, a god who gives spirit children to mortal parents.
- Mar'rallang, the name shared by twin sisters
- Djunkgao, a group of sisters who are associated with floods and ocean currents
- Yee-Na-Pah, a devil girl
Notes[edit]
- ^ Noonuccal, Oodgeroo; Noonuccal, Kabul Oodgeroo (September 1988), "The Rainbow Serpent", Meanjin, 47 (3): 373–377, ISSN 0025-6293
- ^ Grant Mills (14 November 2012). "Kakadu Dreaming". The Adelaide Review. Opinion Media. Retrieved 20 October 2018.
- ^ Kurdaitcha
- ^ Oodgeroo Noonuccal; Kabul Oodgeroo Noonuccal, 1953-; Haywood, Eric Shane; Narkaling Inc (2001), The rainbow serpent, Narkaling Inc, retrieved 12 May 2013
{{citation}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
References[edit]
- Bishop, W (1970), Australian Indigenous Australian mythology, retrieved 12 May 2013
- Hiatt, L. R., ed. (1975), Australian Aboriginal Mythology: Essays in Honour of W.E.H. Stanner, Australian Institute of Aboriginal Studies, ISBN 978-0-85575-044-2
