Rainbow Serpent - All-Mothers of the North

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Most Aboriginal people of the Arnhem Land plateau claim that yams were

brought there by their great female ancestor, the All-Mother

Warramurrunggundji, linked directly to the Rainbow Serpent, known in

this region as Almudj.

The myths told of Warramurrunggundji state that, like Yingarna,

she came from Macassar on the Indonesian island of Sulawesi. In the

Garrewakani, (as the Creation period is called) she emerged from the

Arafure Sea between the Cobourg Peninsula near Seven Spirits Bay and

Goulburn Island, travelling inland with yams in her dilly bags and a

gigantic consort named Wurragag in tow. This myth was first recorded in

1881 by Foelsche, an inspector of police in the area. In his

version of the story the All-Mother is said to have arrived when there

was no water on Earth - another echo from the late Pleistocene when the

Arafura Sea was still dry land. Reaching Port Essington, the All-Mother

decided that this would be suitable country for her children and built a

large fire. As the fire burned down the sea rose to its present level

and fresh water filled the inland springs and waterholes. She

established a group of First People there, gave them their language and

continued inland.

In 1912 Sir Baldwin Spencer picked up the same myth from the

Gagudju people at Oenpelli, where the All-Mother was known as

Imbromebera. She had a huge stomach which contained many children, wore

a headband from which hung dilly bags full of yams, and carried a large

digging stick in her hand. Her consort, Wuraka, had come striding out of

the west to find her. He too was a giant, so tall that when he walked on

the seabed his head and shoulders rose high above the water, and so

massively built that as he splashed ashore the land parted to form two

hills, Mount Bedwell on one side and Mount Roe on the other. The giant

ancestral pair planted yams, named tribes and filled the water holes

with spirit children until, growing weary, Wuraka (Wurragag) sat down

and refused to go on. There he stayed, a prominent landmark dominating

the plain for many kilometres, known as Wurragag to the local population

and Tor Rock in English.

Imbromebera turned west and continued her creative work. It

seems probable that she was a cosmic serpent that had adopted human

form. After creating the landscape and its inhabitants she resumed her

serpent shape to preside over fertility and the increase of species. As

the Rainbow Serpent she creates storms with the aid of Namarrgon, the

Lightning Man, and controls the north-west monsoon on which the whole

area depends. In her principal incarnations as All-Mother and Rainbow

Serpent she is concerned with initiation,and her myths are re-enacted in

many of the main ceremonies. As Almudj, she is always ready to punish

those who break the tribal laws that she and her descendants, the First

People, established. She is treated with respect, but the main boon

asked of her is acceptance and freedom from attack.

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fa

http://www.kingseyes.demon.co.uk/greatgoddess.htm