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* Contents derived from the Sydney,New South Wales,:Times House,1983 version. Please note that other versions/publications may contain different contents. See the Publication Details.
This legend of Gaiya, the giant devil-dingo, belongs to several tribes in the lower Cape York Peninsula. The boss of Gaiya was old Eelgin the grasshopper woman who used Gaiya to hunt and kill men for food. One day Eelgin sent Gaiya in pursuit of two young Chooku-chooku men (or butcher-bird brothers) who happened to pass by her camp. The men ran and ran with Gaiya howling in pursuit after them. Eventually the brothers managed to spear Gaiya and kill him. The spirit of Gaiya was angry and bit Eelgin on the nose and that is why grasshoppers have the same marks on their noses to this day. (Source: Book)
This is the Aboriginal legend of the formation of the landscape on Cape York Peninsula. Goorialla, the Rainbow Serpent, was looking for his own tribe. On his travels he formed mountains, a deep gorge, and a lily lagoon called Minalinka. Eventually he found his own people. He showed them how to make headdresses of feathers and how to dance. When a big storm blew up, all the people built shelters except the Bil-bil boys. When they sought shelter in Goorialla's humpy he opened his mouth and swallowed them. Their people followed Goorialla when he left and cut him open to release the brothers who had turned into Rainbow Lorikeets. When Goorialla woke and discovered what had happened he was so incensed his rage caused the mountain to shake and thunder. He hurled parts of the mountain all over the country to form the hills and the mountains of today (Source: book).
