Australian Aboriginal mythology Australian Aboriginal religion and mythology is the sacred spirituality represented in the stories performed by Aboriginal Australians within each of the language groups across Australia in their ceremonies. Aboriginal spirituality include ...

(specifically Bundjalung, from the northern

New South Wales New South Wales (commonly abbreviated as NSW) is a States and territories of Australia, state on the Eastern states of Australia, east coast of :Australia. It borders Queensland to the north, Victoria (state), Victoria to the south, and South ...

coast and South-East

Queensland Queensland ( , commonly abbreviated as Qld) is a States and territories of Australia, state in northeastern Australia, and is the second-largest and third-most populous state in Australia. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Austr ...

) Dirawong is a

goanna A goanna is any one of several species of lizard of the genus ''Monitor lizard, Varanus'' found in Australia and Southeast Asia. Around 70 species of ''Varanus'' are known, 25 of which are found in Australia. This varied group of carnivorous r ...

Ancestral Being who taught humans how to live on the land, as well as important ceremonies and rituals. Dirawong is known as a benevolent protector of its people from the

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 Aborigina ...

. Dirawong's

gender Gender is the range of social, psychological, cultural, and behavioral aspects of being a man (or boy), woman (or girl), or third gender. Although gender often corresponds to sex, a transgender person may identify with a gender other tha ...

is ambiguous. Dirawong and the Rainbow Serpent together created parts of the

Richmond River The Richmond River is a river A river is a natural stream of fresh water that flows on land or inside Subterranean river, caves towards another body of water at a lower elevation, such as an ocean, lake, or another river. A river may ...

, Goanna Headland, Snake Island, and Pelican Island. In Aboriginal mythology, a deposit of

red ochre Ochre ( ; , ), iron ochre, or ocher in American English, is a natural clay earth pigment, a mixture of ferric oxide and varying amounts of clay and sand. It ranges in colour from yellow to deep orange or brown. It is also the name of the col ...

on top of Goanna Headland is believed to have originated from the wound where the Rainbow Serpent bit Dirawong during

the Dreaming 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 mythology. It was originally used by Francis Gillen, quickly adopted by hi ...

. Dirawong is also believed to have been transformed into, and still resides within, the Goanna Headland. Dirawong is associated with rain, and there is a rain cave on Goanna Headland where the elders of the Bundjalung people went in the past to organise

ceremonies A ceremony (, ) is a unified ritualistic event with a purpose, usually consisting of a number of artistic components, performed on a special occasion. The word may be of Etruscan origin, via the Latin . Religious and civil (secular) ceremoni ...

for rain. Dirawong is also associated with birds and snakes.

Dirawong and the Rainbow Serpent

Bundjalung

oral literature Oral literature, orature, or folk literature is a genre of literature that is spoken or sung in contrast to that which is written, though much oral literature has been transcribed. There is no standard definition, as anthropologists have used v ...

tells of a fight between Dirawong and the Rainbow Serpent, which created the Bungawalbin River, the Evans River, Pelican Island, Snake Island, other islands in the Evans River, and also an island at an unknown location in the

Pacific Ocean The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five Borders of the oceans, oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean, or, depending on the definition, to Antarctica in the south, and is ...

. In the Bundjalung story, a ''weeum'' ("cleverman", "man of high degree of initiation" or "man with great powers") named Nyimbunji from the area known as Bungawalbin calls on Dirawong to help protect a ''yabbra'' (bird) from the Rainbow Serpent. Dirawong chases the Rainbow Serpent from inland eastward towards the coast, forming parts of the

as they go. At Maniworkan (or the town of Woodburn, New South Wales) they leave the Richmond River and kept on going east. Halfway down the Evans River, Dirawong catches the Rainbow Serpent. The Rainbow Serpent turns around and bites Dirawong on the head. Dirawong then withdraws from the battle in order to eat some herbs to recover from the snakebite. A deposit of

at Goanna Headland is said to originate from the wound where the Rainbow Serpent bit Dirawong. Meanwhile, Rainbow Serpent reaches Evans Head. Dirawong is nowhere to be seen, so Rainbow Serpent decides to go back west. He then goes into the Evans River and coils himself around, creating Snake Island. As he turns, his body makes a larger island in the river, now known as Pelican Island. When Rainbow Serpent spots Dirawong heading towards him, he quickly turns, and this time keeps going until he reaches Burraga (the

Tasman Sea The Tasman Sea is a marginal sea of the South Pacific Ocean, situated between Australia and New Zealand. It measures about across and about from north to south. The sea was named after the Dutch explorer Abel Janszoon Tasman, who in 1642 wa ...

), Here he transforms himself into an island so Dirawong cannot recognise him. When Dirawong reaches the coast at Evans Head, he lies down down next to the coast, facing the Burraga, waiting for Rainbow Serpent to come back.The Rainbow Snake & the Dreamtime
/ref>

References

{{Indigenous Australians Australian Aboriginal legendary creatures Creator deities Legendary reptiles

Dirawong and the Rainbow Serpent

See also

References