All of these stories come from different Indigenous communities within Australia. Each group of people would have their own stories that they would share from generation to generation.
Why the Koala has a stumpy tail
The Spear (video doesn't work on Samsungs)
The original story :
A man makes a spear. Like all spears, it has a woomera used to throw it. The woomera itself can also be used as a weapon.
This spear is no ordinary spear. It is made from the magic of the trees. The magical trees provide wood to carve the spear and sap to bind the spear to the spear head.
The man uses the spear both to protect his family and to hunt. When he throws the magic spear, it has the power of seven spears. It can travel through the air and kill seven fish in a single throw. The spear casts seven shadows ... It takes a man with sharp eyes to detect which is the real spear.
This man becomes the keeper of the sacred spear, and he is respected for it.
A witchdoctor-man becomes jealous of the magic spear keeper. He wants the magic spear for himself and is envious of spear- man’s power and influence!
The witchdoctor-man tries to steal the magic spear so he can gain popularity and power.
One day our spear-man goes out on a hunting journey with his magic spear.
The witchdoctor-man uses the spear-man’s absence to his advantage by seizing the opportunity to steal the dilly bag of one of the elder women. In this dilly bag is great power!
The witchdoctor-man reaches into the dilly bag and gains great power. He swiftly becomes high and mighty and threatens the people with his new powers. He becomes dictatorial and demanding.
Eventually, the spear-man returns to see the camp transformed by the witchdoctor-man. Witchdoctor-man confronts the spear-man and his magic spear.
He believes his stolen powers are far stronger than spear-man’s magic spear because witchdoctor-man has the elements in his control.
Witchdoctor-man conjures lightning-bolt spears of his own and throws them at the spear-man. To witchdoctor-man’s horror, the bolts of lightning are deflected one by one by the magic spear-man’s woomera.
Witchdoctor-man loses confidence because the spear-man is getting closer with each step. Finally, the spear-man catches the lightning- bolt spear – the ultimate sign of defeat.
The spear-man threatens the witchdoctor with his magic spear, which casts seven shadows. Witchdoctor-man pleads for mercy and forgiveness.
He is granted mercy on one condition – that he receive seven spear wounds to the leg with the magic spear. If he accepts this punishment, the camp must by law forgive him completely as if he had never done anything wrong.
Witchdoctor-man accepts the punishment which releases the powers he stole and sends them back to the dilly bag.
The people celebrate the return of peace to the camp and witchdoctor’s show of humility with a corroboree.
Where this story comes from: Spear is a Yirritja story that is told in Dalabon language in Central Arnhem Land, Northern Territory, Australia.
A man makes a spear. Like all spears, it has a woomera used to throw it. The woomera itself can also be used as a weapon.
This spear is no ordinary spear. It is made from the magic of the trees. The magical trees provide wood to carve the spear and sap to bind the spear to the spear head.
The man uses the spear both to protect his family and to hunt. When he throws the magic spear, it has the power of seven spears. It can travel through the air and kill seven fish in a single throw. The spear casts seven shadows ... It takes a man with sharp eyes to detect which is the real spear.
This man becomes the keeper of the sacred spear, and he is respected for it.
A witchdoctor-man becomes jealous of the magic spear keeper. He wants the magic spear for himself and is envious of spear- man’s power and influence!
The witchdoctor-man tries to steal the magic spear so he can gain popularity and power.
One day our spear-man goes out on a hunting journey with his magic spear.
The witchdoctor-man uses the spear-man’s absence to his advantage by seizing the opportunity to steal the dilly bag of one of the elder women. In this dilly bag is great power!
The witchdoctor-man reaches into the dilly bag and gains great power. He swiftly becomes high and mighty and threatens the people with his new powers. He becomes dictatorial and demanding.
Eventually, the spear-man returns to see the camp transformed by the witchdoctor-man. Witchdoctor-man confronts the spear-man and his magic spear.
He believes his stolen powers are far stronger than spear-man’s magic spear because witchdoctor-man has the elements in his control.
Witchdoctor-man conjures lightning-bolt spears of his own and throws them at the spear-man. To witchdoctor-man’s horror, the bolts of lightning are deflected one by one by the magic spear-man’s woomera.
Witchdoctor-man loses confidence because the spear-man is getting closer with each step. Finally, the spear-man catches the lightning- bolt spear – the ultimate sign of defeat.
The spear-man threatens the witchdoctor with his magic spear, which casts seven shadows. Witchdoctor-man pleads for mercy and forgiveness.
He is granted mercy on one condition – that he receive seven spear wounds to the leg with the magic spear. If he accepts this punishment, the camp must by law forgive him completely as if he had never done anything wrong.
Witchdoctor-man accepts the punishment which releases the powers he stole and sends them back to the dilly bag.
The people celebrate the return of peace to the camp and witchdoctor’s show of humility with a corroboree.
Where this story comes from: Spear is a Yirritja story that is told in Dalabon language in Central Arnhem Land, Northern Territory, Australia.
The Mimis
Watch the following movie and decide what some of the themes (ideas/emotions) that are covered in the story.
The original story
There is a boy sitting at the camp while everybody else goes hunting. He is sitting and thinking, ‘I’ve gotta get out and do some hunting! I’ve gotta try it!’. But then he remembers the fact that he is a bad hunter – hopeless – he just doesn’t possess the skills or talent for hunting. He can hardly throw a spear and he definitely can’t track an animal, even if his life counted on it!
In the late afternoon, the cool-time, everyone comes back with heaps of fish and kangaroo, and the boy looks at them and feels shamed and embarrassed because he doesn’t have the same hunting abilities.
So, inspired, the boy gets up and leaves the camp to go hunting. He takes with him a sharpened stick because he wants to catch an echidna.
He walks and walks and looks and searches all the way up to the hills, but can’t find a single echidna!
But as the sun sets, a magical thing happens.The hills begin to move and change shape. All around him the hills begin to part as the shadows stretch and slide.
This is the time of day when the mimis come out of the underworld, from out of the earth and hills to prepare the land for the next day.
They are the ones who keep the country tidy.They groom the bushes, feed the fish and fix broken branches. They look after the land!
The mimis are very tall and thin. They are human-like stick people. The mimis are spirit creatures, who leave no tracks! They are also fun, playful, and magical.
The boy looks on in amazement as the small group of mimis tend to the land.
At first the boy is scared of the mimi spirits.The mimis entice and enchant him with their magic and carry him into their home in the hill.Then the hills close over and return to their original position and shape.
The mimis take the boy into their underworld, where there is dancing, eating, fun and frivolity.They play and tease.They are good spirits, happy spirits!
The boy forgets about his world. The mimis give him wives and make him part of their family! They keep him in their underworld and the memory of his own family and his own camp fades.
In the meantime, his father is waiting all night.
‘Where is my son?’ he thinks.‘I’ve been waiting all night.Where could he be?’
So the boy’s father walks out of the camp at the crack of dawn and follows his sons tracks. He is skilled at the art of tracking. Even if someone jumped on a rock, he could tell because of the marks left under the stone!
The old man follows his son’s footsteps until, for some magical reason, there are no more tracks! If some wild animal ate him there would at least be some sign of a struggle. But there is nothing – not a trace!
The boy’s father is confused and perplexed by the sudden disappearance of his son. So he sits on the ground, and begins to chant, and eventually goes into a trance.With his magic he can hear the mimis dancing and singing and
making merry. So, he continues to sing and chant. He wants to reach this underworld.
The old man’s hair grows and grows. It seeps into the ground and creeps deep into the earth in search of his son. His chanting follows his hair and the son begins to hear the chanting of his father as his hair grows closer and closer!
‘What’s that sound?’ he thinks.‘Do I know that sound?’
The old man’s hair grows until it coils itself right around the boy, and the father pulls up his son out of the earth, as if he had just caught a large fish out of the river!
The boy snaps back into reality, and his father takes him back to the camp.The boy then realizes that the camp needs all kinds of people with all kinds of skill and he is no longer envious of his fellow hunters.