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Australian Folklore
Australian folklore refers to the folklore and urban legends that have evolved in Australia from Aboriginal Australian myths to colonial and Contemporary literature, contemporary folklore including Australians, people, places and events, that have played part in shaping the Australian culture, culture, image and traditions that are seen in contemporary Old Australia. Definitions Folklore: 1. The traditional beliefs, myths, tales, and practices of a people, transmitted orally. 2. The comparative study of folk knowledge and culture. 3. A body of widely accepted but usually specious notions about a place, a group, or an institution. Intangible culture: Traditions or living expressions inherited from our ancestors and passed on to our descendants, such as oral traditions, performing arts, social practices, rituals, festive events, knowledge and practices concerning nature and the universe or the knowledge and skills to produce traditional crafts. Tradi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Folklore
Folklore is the body of expressive culture shared by a particular group of people, culture or subculture. This includes oral traditions such as Narrative, tales, myths, legends, proverbs, Poetry, poems, jokes, and other oral traditions. This also includes material culture, such as traditional building styles common to the group. Folklore also encompasses customary lore, taking actions for folk beliefs, including folk religion, and the forms and rituals of celebrations such as Christmas, weddings, folk dances, and Rite of passage, initiation rites. Each one of these, either singly or in combination, is considered a Cultural artifact, folklore artifact or Cultural expressions, traditional cultural expression. Just as essential as the form, folklore also encompasses the transmission of these artifacts from one region to another or from one generation to the next. Folklore is not something one can typically gain from a formal school curriculum or study in the fine arts. Instead, thes ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Baijini
Baijini are a mythical people mentioned in the Djanggawul song cycle of the Yolngu people, an Aboriginal Australian people of Arnhem Land in the Northern Territory. Many speculations have arisen that try to link these mythical culture-bearers with historical immigrants from either China directly or Southern Asia. The name Baijini According to Garry Trompf, the word "Baijini" itself is said to have been derived from a Makassarese root with the meaning "women". Joseph Needham wondered if the word ''Baijini'' itself might not have been derived from Chinese ''bái rén'' (白人, "white people" (i.e., those with lighter skin than the Australian natives), ''běirén'' (北人, "northern people"), or even ''běijīngrén'' (北京人, "people from Beijing"). The Baijini in Yolngu legend In the Djanggawul song-cycles, it is told how, in the legendary land of Bu'ralgu somewhere beyond Groote Eylandt, there once lived three eternal beings called the ''Djanggawul'': a brother, and his ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bob The Railway Dog
Bob the Railway Dog (also known as "Terowie, South Australia, Terowie Bob") is part of South Australian Railways folklore. He travelled the South Australian Railways system in the latter part of the 19th century, and was known widely to railwaymen of the day; he is part of the folklore in the area, and has been commemorated over the years. Life Bob first experienced the railway life when, as a young dog, he took a fancy to the workers building the railway near Strathalbyn, South Australia, Strathalbyn and followed some of the Navvy, navvies to the line. He was brought back to his owner, the Public house, publican of the Macclesfield Hotel, two or three times before finally disappearing. He was about nine months old at the time. His true railway career appears to have commenced not long after being consigned from Adelaide, South Australia, Adelaide, along with fifty other dogs, to Quorn, to be used to exterminate rabbits near Carrieton, South Australia, Carrieton. Bob was, it w ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Yara-ma-yha-who
The Yara-ma-yha-who is a legendary vampiric monster found in Southeastern Australian Aboriginal mythology. The legend is recounted by David Unaipon. According to legend, the creature resembles a little red frog-like man with a very big head, a large mouth with no teeth and suckers on the ends of its hands and feet. The Yara-ma-yha-who is said to live in fig trees. Instead of hunting for food, it is described as waiting for an unsuspecting traveller to rest under the tree. The creature then drops down and uses its suckers to drain the victim's blood. After that, it swallows the person, drinks some water, and then takes a nap. When the Yara-ma-yha-who awakens, it regurgitates the victim, leaving them shorter than before. The victim's skin also has a reddish tint that it did not have before. If this process is repeated, the victim becomes a Yara-ma-yha-who themselves. According to legend, the Yara-ma-yha-who is only active during the day and only targets living prey. " Playing dea ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Rainbow Serpent
The Rainbow Serpent or Rainbow Snake is a common deity often seen as the Creator deity, creator God, known by numerous names in different Australian Aboriginal languages by the many List of Australian Aboriginal group names, different Aboriginal peoples. It is a common Motif (visual arts), motif in the art and religion of many Aboriginal Australian peoples. Much like the archetypal mother goddess, the Rainbow Serpent creates land and diversity for the Aboriginal people, but when disturbed can bring great chaos. There are many names and stories associated with the serpent, all of which communicate the significance and power (sociology), power of this being within Australian Aboriginal religion and mythology, Aboriginal mythology, which includes the worldview commonly referred to as The Dreaming. The serpent is viewed as a giver of life through its association with water, but can be a destructive force if angry. The Rainbow Serpent is one of the most common and well-known Aborigin ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Lake Mungo Remains
The Lake Mungo remains are three prominent sets of human remains that are Aboriginal Australian: Lake Mungo 1 (also called Mungo Woman, LM1, and ANU-618), Lake Mungo 3 (also called Mungo Man, Lake Mungo III, and LM3), and Lake Mungo 2 (LM2). Lake Mungo is in New South Wales, Australia, specifically the World Heritage listed Willandra Lakes Region. Mungo woman (LM1) was discovered in 1968 and is one of the world's oldest known cremations. The remains known as Lake Mungo 2 (LM2) were recovered at the same time as LM1, and consist "...of approximately thirty small fragments, mostly of the cranium and vertebrae". The remains designated Mungo man (LM3) were discovered in 1974, and are dated to around 40,000 years old, the Pleistocene epoch, and are the oldest ''Homo sapiens'' (human) remains found on the Australian continent. Geology Lake Mungo is a dry lake located in south-eastern Australia, in the south-western portion of New South Wales. It is about due west of Sydne ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pitjantjatjara
The Pitjantjatjara (; or ) are an Aboriginal people of the Central Australian desert near Uluru. They are closely related to the Yankunytjatjara and Ngaanyatjarra and their languages are, to a large extent, mutually intelligible (all are varieties of the Western Desert language). They refer to themselves as Anangu (people). The Pitjantjatjara live mostly in the northwest of South Australia, extending across the border into the Northern Territory to just south of Lake Amadeus, and west a short distance into Western Australia. The land is an inseparable and important part of their identity, and every part of it is rich with stories and meaning to aṉangu. Pronunciation The ethnonym ''Pitjantjatjara'' is usually pronounced (in normal, fast speech) with elision of one of the repeated syllables ''-tja-'', thus: ''pitjantjara''. In more careful speech all syllables will be pronounced. Etymology The name ''Pitjantjatjara'' derives from the word ''pitjantja'', a nominalise ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Kata Tjuta
Kata Tjuṯa ( Pitjantjatjara: , lit. 'many heads'; ), also known as The Olgas and officially gazetted as Kata TjutaMount Olga, is a group of large, domed rock formations or bornhardts located about southwest of Alice Springs, in the southern part of the Northern Territory, central Australia. Uluṟu / Ayers Rock, located to the east, and Kata Tjuṯa / The Olgas form the two major landmarks within the Uluṟu-Kata Tjuṯa National Park. The park is considered sacred to the local Aboriginal community. The 36 domes that make up Kata Tjuṯa / Mount Olga cover an area of are composed of conglomerate, a sedimentary rock consisting of cobbles and boulders of varying rock types including granite and basalt, cemented by a matrix of coarse sandstone. The highest dome, Mount Olga, is above sea level, or approximately above the surrounding plain ( higher than Uluṟu). [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bunyip (1935)
The bunyip is a creature from the aboriginal mythology of southeastern Australia, said to lurk in swamps, billabongs, creeks, riverbeds, and waterholes. Name The origin of the word ''bunyip'' has been traced to the Wemba-Wemba or Wergaia language of the Aboriginal people of Victoria, in South-Eastern Australia. The word ''bunyip'' is usually translated by Aboriginal Australians today as "devil" or "evil spirit". This contemporary translation may not accurately represent the role of the bunyip in pre-contact Aboriginal mythology or its possible origins before written accounts were made. Some modern sources allude to a linguistic connection between the bunyip and Bunjil, "a mythic 'Great Man' who made the mountains, rivers, man, and all the animals". The word ''bahnyip'' first appeared in the ''Sydney Gazette'' in 1812. It was used by James Ives to describe "a large black animal like a seal, with a terrible voice which creates terror among the blacks". Distribution The ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Aboriginal Australians
Aboriginal Australians are the various indigenous peoples of the Mainland Australia, Australian mainland and many of its islands, excluding the ethnically distinct people of the Torres Strait Islands. Humans first migrated to Australia (continent), Australia 50,000 to 65,000 years ago, and over time formed as many as 500 List of Aboriginal Australian group names, language-based groups. In the past, Aboriginal people lived over large sections of the continental shelf. They were isolated on many of the smaller offshore islands and Tasmania when the land was inundated at the start of the Holocene Interglacial, inter-glacial period, about 11,700 years ago. Despite this, Aboriginal people maintained extensive networks within the continent and certain groups maintained relationships with Torres Strait Islanders and the Makassar people, Makassar people of modern-day Indonesia. Over the millennia, Aboriginal people developed complex trade networks, inter-cultural relationships, law ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Dreamtime
The Dreaming, also referred to as Dreamtime, is a term devised by early anthropologists to refer to a religio-cultural worldview attributed to Australian Aboriginal religion and mythology, Australian Aboriginal mythology. It was originally used by Francis James Gillen, Francis Gillen, quickly adopted by his colleague Walter Baldwin Spencer, and thereafter popularised by A. P. Elkin, who later revised his views. The Dreaming is used to represent Aboriginal concepts of "Everywhen", during which the land was inhabited by ancestral figures, often of heroic proportions or with supernatural abilities. The term is based on a rendition of the Arandic languages, Arandic word , used by the Aranda people, Aranda (Arunta, Arrernte) people of Central Australia, although it has been argued that it is based on a misunderstanding or mistranslation. Some scholars suggest that the word's meaning is closer to "Eternity, eternal, uncreated". Anthropologist William Edward Hanley Stanner, William ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Billabong
In Australian English, a billabong ( ) is a small body of water, usually permanent. It is usually an oxbow lake caused by a change in course of a river or creek, but other types of small lakes, ponds or waterholes are also called billabongs. The term is likely borrowed from Wiradjuri, an Aboriginal Australian language of New South Wales. Etymology The word ''billabong'' is most likely derived from the Wiradjuri language of southern New South Wales, which "describes a pond or pool of water that is left behind when a river alters course or after floodwaters recede". According to the '' Macquarie Dictionary'' (2005), the original term ''bilabaŋ'' means "a watercourse that runs only after rain", with ''bila'' meaning "river", and possibly combined with ''bong'' or ''bung'', meaning "dead". The attribution of this last part of the word was contested in 2004 by Frederick Ludowyk of the Australian National Dictionary Centre, whose view was that that "-bong" or "-bang" was a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
