Yidumduma always begins teaching his culture with the Creation Story from the Dreamtime, the Creation Time. This comes to the people from Buwarraja, the spiritual Dreaming.
The Creation Story is told over and over again and is like a tree of life that grows as the children grow. It is the Story of how the Spirit Ancestors sang the world into being. How the language, Law, medicine, education, land, plants, birds, animals, insects, ceremony, all came from song and link back to the Creation Story. (Note: In the Aboriginal language system “he” can mean both he or she.)
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• The Dreaming
Bill shares the “mystery” of his spiritual Creation, Buwarraja, the Dreaming, and the Dreamtime and the Songline. For Bill, there is no “mystery”, there is no Wardaman word for it. The evidence of Creation is in the rocks in particular and all the natural world and it’s essence is spirit.
• Related Links
Check out the Dreaming chapter in our YDP Education Guide
• 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.
• Creation Story 2
Chapter 2 picks up the Story after the flood, Nardi brings the Lightning People down from the stars and the Creation Dog Mardboronggo appears with a bag of songs and chases the Kangaroo People all over the country creating Songlines and land forms. A little boy Wunan trails the Dog watching and learns how the Lightning Brothers Jabirringi and Yajagbula make rain and the Black Headed Python Wulajabi and his sister Water Python make the rivers all over the world.
• Creation Story 3
Chapter 3 continues with Wunan the Little Boy following the trail of the Creation Dog Mardborronggo and he finds him asleep under a rock overhang. He thinks he may be dead so he creeps up and cuts him with a piece of flint just to check. The Creation Dog awakes and howls and the world is changed forever as “everything comes to still’ and the People change into the birds, animals, insects, plants, and the people we know today. Some of the Ancestors who are all painted up jump into the rocks and leave their image there to teach the children for all time.
• Creation Story & Flood
Listen to Yidumduma share the first chapter of the Creation Story relating to the flood in full Wardaman language. This clip is from the archive of CAAMA, Central Australian Aboriginal Media Association, and used with their permission. www.caama.com.au/productions
• Creation Story: Flood, Whale & Turtle
During the flood Yidumduma tells in full Wardaman language two stories not shared in the previous Creation Story telling. The Story varies with each telling but the core remains a constant. A Lightning Lady is swallowed by a whale and survives with the help of the Red Ant Doctors. This clip is from the archive of CAAMA, Central Australian Aboriginal Media Association, and used with their permission. www.caama.com.au/productions
• Extended Creation Story 1
Yidumduma shares a more detailed version of the Creation Story. The Story highlights when Nardi and Dungdung marry and teach the children the songs, dances, painting designs, law…. about caring for the land…. Rainbow Gorrondolmi brings the flood with the Creation Gujingga Song, jaliny-gi jaliny-gija, ngabarl ngabarla, gayirra jarlbanga.
• Extended Creation Story 2
With the flood, the Lightning People come together and the little wren Willy Wagtail Jigirrija makes a spear singing the Gujingga Song, ginydan birrinyaneyi wurrugugu, to throw at Rainbow Gorrondolmi and drive away the flood.
