In the

mythology Myth is a folklore genre consisting of Narrative, narratives that play a fundamental role in a society, such as foundational tales or Origin myth, origin myths. Since "myth" is widely used to imply that a story is not Objectivity (philosophy), ...

of the Western and Central

Torres Strait The Torres Strait (), also known as Zenadh Kes, is a strait between Australia and the Melanesian island of New Guinea. It is wide at its narrowest extent. To the south is Cape York Peninsula, the northernmost extremity of the Australian ma ...

Islanders, Kibukuth "Horizon's End" (abbreviated form Kibu) is the mythical land of the ancestoral spirits and the awgadhal "totemic gods", believed to exist beyond the sky dome (dapar) surrounding the world, with its main entrance over the horizon far to the west.

Meaning

The basic meaning of the word ''kibu'' is midpoint of an upright broad object, such as small of back, mid-slope of a hill, and horizon. The world is envisaged as like an upturned half-coconut shell (a hemisphere) with the bottom part being the earth covered by the overarching sky.

Features

The common reference of Kibukuth, and its abbreviation Kibu to the land of the '' markai'' (the spirits of people who have travelled to Kibu after death) is a specialised, religious use of the word. Traditional Torres Strait religion can be characterised as

totemic A totem (from oj, ᑑᑌᒼ, italics=no or ''doodem'') is a spirit being, sacred object, or symbol that serves as an emblem of a group of people, such as a family, clan, lineage, or tribe, such as in the Anishinaabe clan system. While ''the ...

with a form

ancestor worship The veneration of the dead, including one's ancestors, is based on love and respect for the deceased. In some cultures, it is related to beliefs that the dead have a continued existence, and may possess the ability to influence the fortune o ...

, and as such the ''markai'' are the ancestors, and are specially revered. Kibukuth is made up of different totemic territories, those of ''kœdal'' "crocodile", ''thabu'' "snake", ''baidham'' "shark", ''samu'' "cassowary", ''kursi'' "hammer-head shark", ''dhœibaw'' "wild white yam", among many others. After death, the ''mari'' "soul" travels to Boigu, just past which it becomes a ''markai'', and is met by ''markai'' relatives who have come to take it to the ''augadh'' territory. The ''augadh'' generates the ''buwai'' "totemic clan/

moiety Moiety may refer to: Chemistry * Moiety (chemistry), a part or functional group of a molecule ** Moiety conservation, conservation of a subgroup in a chemical species Anthropology * Moiety (kinship), either of two groups into which a society is ...

". In the traditional mythology, the world (''arkath'' "hole/pit", ''apagoewa'' "underfurrow/ditch/garden", ''guguwabthiyaizinga'' "coiled-up abject", ''sama'' "food ball") is at the bottom of a hemi-sphere, with the sky-dome (''dapar'') above and around it. The ''markai'' live in ''Kibukuth'' "Horizons End", the main gateway of which is in the west. However, the ''markai'' often come back to visit. Kibukuth actually surrounds the world, so ''markai'' can be seen passing from east to west as well as west to east, coming down from the sky, and sometimes even coming up from under the ground via ''Apangab'' "Netherway/Underway", the mythical pathway under the earth used by ''markai'' and others, such as ''dhogai'' "long-eared witch women", ''maidhalaig'' "magic-men", and others to travel under the earth and the sea from place to place. Before becoming ''markai'', the spirit is called a ''mari''. ''Mari'' are the souls of people while still alive ort just after death. The passage to the other side is made on sand banks just west of Boigu, in north-west Torres Strait. At Boigu, the ''mari'' either leave a sign or otherwise talk to the ''mariumulaimœbaig'' "spirit talker", to let people know how he or she died, and if he or she was murdered (and if so, who killed them). This is done where the cemetery is at Boigu, just west of the village. Previously, the ''mari'' of certain ''buwai'' did this at Thuwam, another sacred site in western Boigu.

Kibukuth and relations with other peoples

In the passage over to the other side, at the sandbanks west of Boigu, the mari, which is black (''kubikub'') just as in life, becomes white (''gamulnga'') (this is a belief common to many Pacific and Australian peoples). Therefore, when Asians and Europeans visited Torres Strait, they were at first believed to be ''markai'' returning. In the modern language, ''markai'' is still often used to refer to Europeans, though no longer to Asians. However, this is considered to be impolite, and the correct term is either ''Yurupau Mœbaig'' "European" or ''Gamulmœbaig'' "(Light) Coloured Person". One favourite means of transport of the ''markai'' is the ''markaigub'' "spirit wind", that is to say, waterspouts, which appear in the North-West Monsoon season, the favorite time for the ''markai'' to come to the world. As this was the season the Makkasarese and similar Indonesian fishermen came to Northern Australia, they were associated with the ''markai''. Waterspouts are also called ''markaibaywa'' or ''markaibaw'' (diakect differences), or ''baaywa'' / ''baw'' for short; that is to say ''markai'' spear, ''baaywa''/''baw'' being a special word for spear. The ''markaibaywa'' are seen as the spears the ''markai'' use to hunt turtle and dugong.

Meaning

Features

Kibukuth and relations with other peoples

References

Further reading