Belah, the Sun Woman. Quilt by Rosa Kitchen

In the beginning of time, Belah, the warrior Sun Woman, whose campfire was the only light on earth at the time, would kill, roast, and eat anyone she caught.

Kudna, the Lizard Man traveled through the country with 5 boomerangs. He found all his friends had been eaten by the Sun Woman. He vowed to kill her. The first boomerang knocked her into her fire and off the edge of the earth. The earth was plunged into darkness.

He threw the remaining 4 boomerangs to the 4 directions and the final he threw to the east, For the first time ever, a light appeared on the eastern rim of the Earth. Suddenly, a great ball of fire rose high into the air and traveled, ever so slowly, across the sky and disappeared into the western sky, thus creating day and night.

To this day the Aboriginal people of the Flinders Ranges will not kill a goanna or gecko because they believe the Lizard Man saved them from the Warrior Woman, Belah and a life of darkness.

The Fire Makers, Quilt by Sandy Hart

When Bootoolgah, the crane, married Goonur, the kangaroo rat, there was no fire in their country. They had to eat their food raw or dried in the sun. One day Bootoolgah rubbed two pieces of wood together, and saw a faint spark and then a slight smoke. "Look," he said to Goonur, "see what comes when I rub these pieces of wood together! Goonur said “Split your stick, Bootoolgah, and place in the opening bark and grass that even one spark may kindle a light." They had discovered the art of fire making but agreed to keep their secret from all the tribes. They hid their firesticks in their comebee in the openmouthed seeds of the Bingahwinguls,.

When they returned to camp, they took some of their cooked fish with them. The others tasted it and found it better than the usual sun-dried fish and hungered for it. Great was the talk about how to possess the comebee with the fire stick in it. They decided to hold a corrobboree on a scale not often seen to astonish Bootoolgah and Goonur so they would forget to guard their precious comebee. All the tribes engaged in great preparations to outdo the others in the diversity of colouring and design.

Great was the gathering that Bootoolgah and Goonur found assembled as they hurried on to the corrobboree. But Bootoolgah warned Goonur they must take no active part so they could guard their combee. However, when the Bralgahs bean to dance Goonur threw herself back, helpless with laughter, and the comebee slipped from her arm. Beeargah, the Hawk, who had been assigned to watch them, snatched it. Bootoolgah and Goonur discovered their precious comebee was gone and gave chase, but Beeargah fired the grass with the stick as he ran. Fire become the common property of all the tribes there assembled.

Bibee (woodpecker) and his Euloowiree (rainbow), Quilt by Iris Frank

Bibee much wanted to marry Deereeree, a widow with four little girls, who lived in a camp not far from his. Every night Bibee heard Deereeree crying with fright. Finally he asked her to marry him and share his camp so he could take care of her and she wouldn't be frightened. Deereeree refused.

Bibee continued asking Deereeree to marry him, but she repeatedly refused. He wondered and wondered how he could induce her to change her mind until at last he thought of a plan.
He made a beautiful, many coloured arch, which he called Euloowirree, and he placed it across the sky, as a roadway from the earth to the stars, and then he went into his camp to wait. When Deereeree saw the wonderful rainbow, she thought something dreadful might happen and she was terribly frightened. She gathered her girls and together and they fled to Bibbee's camp for protection. Bibbee proudly told her he made the rainbow, to show how strong he was and how safe she would be if she married him. Bibee's desire was fulfilled when Deereeree finally consented to the marriage.

Long afterwards when they died, Bibbee was changed into the woodpecker, or climbing tree bird, who is always running up trees to admire his famous roadway, his Euloowirree, the building of which won him his wife.

Fish Moon, Quilt by Pelé Fleming

A group of Aboriginal women from Arnhem Land swam across a channel to an island searching for food. One of their favorite foods was the purple water lily which grew in a lake. Suddenly, the rounded back of a large fish curved out of the water. The women ran to the edge of the lake where a rock hung over the water. A fish swam below the rock and a woman speared it. They built a fire to cook the fish. 

After a while, they looked at the stones in the fire and the fish was gone. It was half-way up the trunk, climbing upwards in the other direction. They watched it grow smaller as it reached the top. It didn’t stop; it was perfectly round. The women watched it as it sank behind the hills. They waited for night to arrive again to see if the fish would appear in the sky. 

The sun went down, and they knew the fish was coming long before they saw it because radiance was streaming across the eastern sky. It rose slowly, but it was a little smaller than it had been when it climbed the tree and escaped from the earth. It was no longer round but slightly flatted as though it had been lying on its side. Every night the fish made its long journey from east to west and grew smaller until after many nights, it was only a thin, curved sliver of light... and then it was gone.

The Song that the Elder Sang to the Emu Quilt by Jean Davidson

“Garlaya darlu birni, ngayunha gulila”
(You boastful emu, listen to me.)

“Nhurraba ngula barrabagu”
(You won’t ever fly again. You won’t ever fly again.)

“Ngaba nhurrabu dirdu, jinangga barnangga barrabithagu.”
(From now on, you will only walk and run.)

At one time the largest birds flying in the air were the happy Emus. They were pleased with themselves and began to be very boastful. The Emus made sure that all the smaller birds saw their flapping behavior. The small birds began to tire of these bragging big birds and they stopped singing.

The little birds couldn't get help from other birds or animals to stop the Emu's harrasement. In desperation they appealed to the highest ranking elder. He responded by saying, "You boastful Emus, listen to me!" "You won't ever fly again, you won't ever fly again!". "From now on you will only walk and run".

The end result was that there was room for small birds to fly and sing and for humans and Emus to move about in the bush.

(this version of the story was furnished by a quilting friend of Jean's from southwest Australia.)

The Bindeah Bush, Quilt by Cathy Cavagnaro

Oolah the lizard was tired of lying in the sun, doing nothing. So he said, "I will go and play." He took his boomerangs out, and began to practice throwing them. While he was doing so a Galah came up, and stood near, watching the boomerangs come flying back, for the kind of boomerangs Oolah was throwing were the bubberahs. They are smaller than others, and more curved, and when they are properly thrown they return to the thrower, which other boomerangs do not.

Oolah was proud of having the gay Galah to watch his skill. In his pride he gave the bub-berah an extra twist, and threw it with all his might. Whizz, whizzing through the air, back it came, hitting, as it passed her, the Galah on the top of her head, taking both feathers and skin clean off. The Galah set up a hideous, cawing, croaking shriek, and flew about, stopping every few minutes to knock her head on the ground like a mad bird. Oolah was so frightened when he saw what he had done, and noticed that the blood was flowing from the Galah's head, that he glided away to hide under a bindeah bush. But the Galah saw him. She never stopped the hideous noise she was making for a minute, but, still shrieking, followed Oolah. When she reached the bindeah bush she rushed at Oolah, seized him with her beak, rolled him on the bush until every bindeah had made a hole in his skin. Then she rubbed his skin with her own bleeding head. "Now then," she said "you Oolah shall carry bindeahs on you always and the stain of my blood."
"And you," said Oolah, as he hissed with pain from the tingling of the prickles, "shall be a bald-headed bird as long as I am a red prickly lizard."

So to this day, underneath the Galah's crest you can always find the bald patch which the bubberah of Oolah first made. And in the country of the Galahs are lizards coloured reddish brown, and covered with spikes like bindeah prickles.

Pleiades, The Seven Sisters Quilt by Anna Brenkwitz

Wurrunnah a black man was not well cared for by his tribe so he left to move on and live alone until he could find a new people in a new country. As he traveled he came upon a tribe of only seven girls. The Meamei tribe from a far away country was friendly towards him when they found that he was alone and hungry. They gave him food and allowed him to camp with them. They came to this country to stay for awhile and thence return whence they had come. He left the camp to hide near and watch what they did and see if he could steal a wife. As the women were digging with tools for food he took two tools to delay two girls leaving. The tribe left and the two girls came back to get their tools and Wurrunnah jumped out of his hiding place to seize both girls. He said he would care well for them and wanted two wives so the girls stayed.

Often thinking of their five sisters they pondered what happened to the sisters, if they were hunting for them, or whether they had gone back to their tribe to get assistance. One day Wurrunnah sent them to gather bark the fire would not burn. As the women used their combs to cut bark, each felt the tree rising higher out of the ground and bearing her upward with it. Higher and higher grew the trees. Wurrunah came looking for the women not hearing chopping sounds anymore. He found the trees growing higher. Clinging to the trunks of the trees high in the air he saw his two wives. He called to them but no answer. The trees grew taller until they reached the sky. From the sky the five Meamei looked out, called to their two sisters bidding them not to be afraid and come to them. 

Quickly the two girls climbed up when they heard the voices of their sisters. When they reached the top of the trees the five sisters in the sky stretched forth their hands and drew them to live with them in the sky forever. And there, if you look, you may see the seven sisters together. You perhaps know them as the Pleiades, but the black fellows call them the Meamei.