14.5.2 Mountain landscapes in Australia There are many Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander creation stories that are linked to mountain landscapes. These teachings help explain the formation and importance of each landscape and landform. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples are the guardians of culture and Country. Stories are passed on through the generations and explain the origin of the world and the environment. The Stirling Ranges
The mountains of the Stirling Ranges and the Porongurups are some of the oldest in the world and extend across the Great Southern region in Western Australia (see FIGURE2 ). These mountains lie on the Menang people’s land and stories passed from generation to generation tell of how these ranges were interlaced from the very beginning.
FIGURE2 Stirling Range National Park
FIGURE3 The story of the ranges, as told by Menang Elder Vern Gillies
The Borrongup (the Porongurups) was regarded as a sacred but dangerous place, the home of the totem spirits. Hunting was forbidden in the area. It was said that the wagyl, the snake, lived in the peaks of the mountain, and the jarnaks, or ghosts and evil spirits, lived among the rocks. What and Watami were members of the Bronzewing Pigeon people, who lived to the west of the Porongurups. One day What, the woman, went out into the bush to find food. Every so often, she called out to her husband to tell him what she was looking for, and what she was finding. He wasn’t happy with what she was finding. Eventually, What found a snake which was considered to be a real delicacy, and she ate it all. She didn’t give any to her husband all the more for her. But when Watami found out, he became very, very angry. He struck her and broke her leg, then he walked away and left her. What became very sick, and she dragged herself along where the King River runs, until she reached the place that we know as Green Island she then lay down and died. Her faithful dog then picked up her scent and followed her tracks, and when he found her he started to dig all around her. And he dug, and dug and as he dug, he sprayed dirt over her to cover her, to make a grave for her. He dug for a long, long time, until the sea rushed in to form what we now know as Oyster Harbour. In the meantime, What’s son found out what his father had done, and went out seeking revenge. He caught him, and he speared him at the first mountain in the Stirling Ranges, which is what we know as Yongah Mia. Yongah means man, and Mia is the throwing stick. Remarkably, from the air, the mountain clearly looks like a throwing stick.
Source: ABC Great Southern WA
376 Jacaranda Humanities Alive 8 Victorian Curriculum Third Edition
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