A dish turning into a snake

by Jo Long Jangala, Lajamanu, 1984

translated from Warlpiri with Barbara Gibson Nakamarra (1984, 1995) and edited for the CD-ROM Dream trackers (UNESCO, 2000) by Barbara Glowczewski

Finding a tree with soft wood, the man cuts it and splits it in half. This tree is not a tree, but the man who lives at the Lunja waterhole does not know it. He makes two parraja, puts one of the two dishes in the sun, and goes hunting.

When he comes back the dish has disappeared. The man looks for it everywhere, but he can find only the track of a little snake. The dish has changed into a snake, but the man who is tracking the snake does not know it. The track on the ground is bigger and bigger. 

'But that snake is bigger now! It is yunturrkunyu, the python with the black nose!'

The snake grows bigger as he walks. Under his weight, now, the trees have to bend. He is winding around, gigantic, smashing everything on its way. The man still follows him and runs to try to see his whole body. Now he knows, the giant is Warnayarra, the Rainbow Snake from the Water Dreaming.

As the man runs along the snake's body, he is still too far to see his head. At Yapurnu, he still cannot find his nose. At Kintinjunu, he arrives just in time to see the snake disappear underground throwing big clouds of dust behind him. After seeing this, the man goes away.

2. Eagle carried the Snake

All the antbeds standing today in the Lungkardajarra country also witnessed the disappearance of the Warnayarra Snake. Such is the Dreaming, from small he became big and went underground down into the water, deep inside. First Warnayarra was one, then he became many. Now there are too many Warnayarra hiding in most waterholes.

Parrarrikirlangu waterhole is the first place where Warnayarra Snake fell from the sky. The rainbow was there at the same time that the Water Dreaming was raining, flooding the country. Rainbow took the Snake, stretched him in a half circle following the shape of his arch. The light made a hole and into this hole, the rainbow put the Snake.

Whistling Eagle was watching it all while the Rain Dreaming was giving birth to new clouds. Eagle caught the Snake's head and rolled him around to put him on his own head. Rainbow tried to stop the Eagle from taking the Snake but Eagle flew away. Such is the Rain Dreaming, kirrkirlanji Eagle, the one that always whistles, 'kirrkirrkirr...', who, even though he was small, flew away carrying the Warnayarra Snake who was as big as a whole country on his head. All along the Rain Dreaming, Eagle was dropping the Snake whose fall brought rain. Where he fell, marrarnki nut trees grew up.

Eagle was flying and stopped to sleep. Snake then spread his body on the earth, following his trail. Even his head which went underground was going forward underneath and came out at Yanjayi. The Snake spread underneath while, on top, Eagle took him far from my country, into Abe Jangala's country.

3. Ritual for rain

In Kintinjunu, where Warnyarra disappeared, my fathers used to gather when the country was dry. They always met there when there was no water. First they dug a shallow hole near to the place where the Snake went underground. In the middle of that circle they erected a karpardi pole and under its shade all the kirda of the Rain Dreaming sat in a big circle. The rainmaking ritual is called mikawurru.

They stayed there all day singing, one after the other, then they got up to dig in a special place where the Snake came underground.They dug very deeply until the earth was moist, but the water would never come up like in other waterholes. As they were digging, clouds were building up in the sky because they were coming to the Warnayarra Snake.

I saw my fathers doing it when I was young. To dig they had to put ngalyipi vines around their chest, their arms and their head. They did so to protect themselves from the Snakes's power. Sitting near the hole where they were digging, I saw the dust of the wet ground slowly pile up on the edge.

We waited two days and two nights, singing and digging from sunrise to sundown. The men who were sitting in the circle were using fire sticks which illuminated the Karpardi stick in the middle. We had to sit head down all the time. Only the kurdungurlu were permitted to look at the sky; they had to, so as to look for the clouds. When they shouted to us that the clouds were coming, we were then allowed to lift up our heads and my fathers were happy. The kurdungurlu lit bushfires all around the ceremonial space, making big clouds of smoke high up in the sky.

4. Rainmakers

Then the clouds grew bigger, and shortly afterwards, the rain started to fall, the rain made by my fathers. It rained all day and all night, and the next day with no interruption. In two days all the waterholes were filled, the water ran in all the creeks, the country was flooded just like during the wet season! When it stopped raining, the kurdungurlu erased the sacred circle and they dug out the tree to hide it. The Dreaming was buried and the clouds went.

My rainmaking fathers were six Jampijinpa, all gone today. Munkurturru died in the first Yuendumu reserve. He gave me the Jurntu purlapa. Walpajukurrpa, my real father, died in Jurrku, in our Rain Dreaming country. Yunkungarna died in Kirkimpi, a long way off in Western Australia. Wantajukurrpa, or 'Sun Dreaming', a nickname he was given because he stayed too long in the sun, died at the old Granites mine. Japantarrajukurrpa died in Wave Hill. The youngest one, Pilkijukurrpa, died in Yuendumu. They are all gone, but they had lots of sons, and hat is why we never lack for water!

Abe Jangala did a rainmaking ceremony here in Lajamanu (in the early 1950s). A circle was drawn with white and red ochre designs and the karpardi pole was erected in the middle. All around sat the kirda men and women from the whole community. After a day of singing the rain came!

5. Clouds underground

The Water Dreaming has many trails. He came to the red antbed country, my country, with the Lightning people. Everywhere he threw lightning, crossing other Dreamings, such as Ngarrka Jukurrpa or Kana Jukurrpa. At Warlurra, the Lightning Men left behind a small group of them with a little lizard.

They continued their journey raining along and stopping in Jukajuka, to sleep. The stones you can see there now were left by the Lightning people. They were going, raining and giving birth to new clouds who took the place of the old ones to continue the journey. This is how the Ancestors of our Rain Dreaming were resting to renew themselves. The clouds went underground, coming up as dunes, and back up in the sky.

Later, in Ngarrurgu, they threw lightning, cutting the Malpanturru, the One-Leg people into pieces, who died. At Mikanji, they made new children and left behind an old blind man. At Pirlinyanu, they were joined by another Water Dreaming. The two Dreamings fought, sending out lightning, then together they came close to my country, and they split into new trails. My trail stops in Yapurnu where the Abe Jangala mob takes over.