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y separately published work icon Aboriginal Stories selected work   prose   Indigenous story  
Alternative title: Aboriginal Stories with Word List
Issue Details: First known date: 1999... 1999 Aboriginal Stories
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AbstractHistoryArchive Description

'Aboriginal Stories presents a collection of myths and legends gathered from various sources, representing the rich and diverse tapestry of beliefs of Aboriginal people throughout Australia. Tales range from creation myths and legends of the sun, moon and stars to legends of animals, birds, rivers, lakes and shores, as well as hero stories. In addition there are lists of Aboriginal words arranged alphabetically - English to Aboriginal and Aboriginal to English - together with a short selection of common phrases and sentences.' (Publication summary)

Notes

  • Author's note: Many books have been used freely as source material, but variant accounts have been compared and the tales rewritten in a form that it is hoped will appeal to readers of the present time. The modern version of Mrs Langloh Parker's books of Eulalie tradition, edited by Henrietta Drake-Brockman and published by Angus and Robertson in 1953 are particularly valuable. Myths and Legends of the Australian Aborigines by Dr W. Ramsay Smith and published by George G. Harrup & Co. in 1930 is the largest collection previously published.' (Introduction 9)
  • Content indexing in process.

Contents

* Contents derived from the Sydney, New South Wales,:Reed New Holland , 1999 version. Please note that other versions/publications may contain different contents. See the Publication Details.
Yhi Brings Life into the World, A. W. Reed , single work prose Indigenous story
'In the beginning the world lay quiet, in utter darkness. There was no vegetation, no living or moving thing on the bare bones of the mountains. No wind blew across the peaks. There was no sound to break the silence.. (Introduction)
 (p. 11-14)
The Strange Shape of Animals, A. W. Reed , single work prose Indigenous story

'When animals were brought to life from the frozen depths of earth by the sun goddess, who shall tell what they were like? There are some who say that they had the form of men and women, and others that they had many different shapes. We can be certain of only one thing . . . that after a time they grew tired of the forms Baiame had given them, and were seized by vague longings. ' (Introduction)

 (p. 15-16)
The First Man, A. W. Reed , single work prose Indigenous story
'Now the labours of Yhi , the sun goddess, were over. Her warmth and tenderness had brought living creatures to the earth and they basked in her love. Now that she had left them, they were under the care of the Great Spirit. In the spirit of Baiame was thought, intelligence, life; but it had no body.' (Introduction)
 (p. 17-21)
The Gift of Flowers, A. W. Reed , single work prose Indigenous story
'BAIAME remained for a long while on earth as a man. He loved Tya , the world which, it is said, was once a piece of the sun itself. He made his home in a mountain, talking with the animals and the men and women whom he had created. There was communion of spirit between them, for the period of rest after the labours of creation were a refreshment to the Great Spirit. Day after day Yhi smiled at him as she moved across the vault of the sky, while round his earthly home the flowers bloomed in profusion.' (Introduction)
 (p. 22-24)
The Plague of Insects, A. W. Reed , single work prose
While he remained on Tya,the earth, Baiame let his imagination run riot. He fashioned mountains, covering them with trees and spreading a blue mist over them; he delighted in sending water spinning and laughing down their sides; he lined the banks with fragile plants that drank from the streams and bent over them in gratitude; at other times he swept his hand across the land and smoothed it into mallee-covered plains and sandy desert wastes. Tya grew and took form in his skilful fingers. Above it the pellucid wonder of the sky changed in colour from earliest dawn, when the stars winked out, to the brazen blue of midday, and the soft veils of evening.' (Introduction)
 (p. 25-29)
The First Initiation Ceremony, A. W. Reed , single work prose
'The first corroboree and initiation ceremony the world has ever known was held at Googoorewon, the place of trees, while Baiame was still living on earth, and animals were still men.' (Introduction)
 (p. 30-37)
The Wives Of Baiame, A. W. Reed , single work prose Indigenous story

Before leaving the world to go to his home in the Milky Way, Baiame climbed the ladder of stone steps to the summit of Mount Oobi-oobi, whose peak in in Bullima. There, when he made his last departure, his wives were attached to a crystal rock, as a remembrance of the time when Baiame looked and spoke as a man and walked upon the earth. (Introduction)

 (p. 38-41)
Baiame and the Land of Women, A. W. Reed , single work prose
'At the end of the world, beyond the mountain where Baiame the Great Spirit lived, there was once a land inhabited only by women. These women were famous for their skill in making weapons—spears, boomerangs, and nullanullas. They traded them with men for meat and possum skins which they needed for food and warmth, because there were no animals on the other side of Baiame's mountain. Hunters were equally glad to trade with them, for the weapons that the women made were the finest in the world.' (Introduction)
 (p. 42-44)
Why Kookaburra Laughs at Dawn, A. W. Reed , single work prose
Sometime when the world was young, birds and animals had grown to enormous size. They were as big as mountains and they lived in darkness that was lit only by the dim light of the stars...(Introduction)
 (p. 45)
The Blue Fish and the Moon, A. W. Reed , single work prose
'Who can tell how the moon was made? How did he first set out on his long journey across the sky? Did Bahloo the Moon God live in the Dreamtime with Baiame and Yhi and all the spirits of the heavens? Who can tell?.' (Introduction)
 (p. 49-51)
The Moon God, A. W. Reed , single work short story Indigenous story
Wahn, the White Crow wants to help the Moon god, Bahloo to create the earth's babies, but he has to revert to his usual trickery to achieve his aims.
 (p. 52-56)
Waxing and Waning Moon, A. W. Reed , single work prose
'Moon was so fat that he was quite round. He was a good-natured man. He had only one sorrow which sometimes dimmed his face as though clouds were passing across it. Looking down at the earth he saw many attractive young women, and he longed to take one of them to cheer him on his lonely journey through the sky...' (Introduction)
 (p. 57-59)
The Husband and Wives Who Became Stars, A. W. Reed , single work prose
'The widow's body was streaked with bands of red and white where blood had trickled over the lines of mourning pipeclay. She continued to gash herself with a flint knife as she wailed her grief by her husband's grave.' (Introduction)
 (p. 60-63)
Nurunderi, A. W. Reed , single work prose Indigenous story

Nepelle, the ruler of the heavens and the father of all spirits, had sent Nurunderi to be his messenger to men and women, to teach them the wisdom that would make them fit to be his children...(Introduction)

 (p. 64-72)
Note: With title: Nurunderi, The Two Girls, and the Evil One
Eagle-Hawk and the Woodpeckers, A. W. Reed , single work prose
'The yaraan tree soared up into the sky.It was as tall as five trees. The topmost branches were so far away that they could hardly be seen, and indeed there were times when they were hidden from sight by low-lying clouds. It was here that Mullian the Eagle-hawk lived with is wife Moodai the Possum, his mother-in-law Moodai, who was also a Possum, and Butterga the Flying Squirrel.' (Introduction)
 (p. 73-76)
The Seven Sisters, A. W. Reed , single work short story Indigenous story
A Dreaming story of incest and punishment that accounts for the constellation, Orion.
 (p. 77-83)
The Brush Turkeys of the Sky, A. W. Reed , single work prose
'In the Dreamtime there was a large plain where no one lived except a flock of brush turkeys. They were free to roam wherever they wanted, and they had no enemies. Life would have been very pleasant if it had not been for Old Grandfather Brush Turkey, who was still strong and vigorous, and larger than all the other birds. He had never been popular with the rest of the flock, and had withdrawn into himself, often absenting himself for long periods.' (Introduction)
 (p. 84-87)
The Dancing of Priepriggie, A. W. Reed , single work prose
'Like sparks from a burning branch when it is struck on the ground, so the stars flew aimlessly through the dark sky. In a little valley in Queensland men and women danced their nightly dance, led by Priepriggie, the singer of songs, the whirler of bullroarers, the skilled Huntsman, the wirinun with the flying feet...' (Introduction)
 (p. 88-90)
The Last of His Tribei"He crouches, and buries his face on his knees,", Henry Kendall , single work poetry (p. 91-92)
How the Animals Came to Australia, Robert Turner , single work prose children's Indigenous story dreaming story
The story of how the animals arrived in the Illawarra area, the starfish got its ragged shape, and the descendants of the whale patrol the south coast of N.S.W.
 (p. 92-94)
Note: Related by A.W. Reed
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Last amended 7 Apr 2017 11:46:42
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