AustLit

'The author is Lardil man from Mornington Island; comments on conception beliefs, birth, food plants, camp life, Creation myth, myths on origin of death, Thuwathu the Rainbow Serpent, marriage rules, relations with Mission staff, hunting & fishing, stellar myths, dugong hunting, wild bee myth; initiation myth, describes initiation ceremony, subincision, secret Damin language; flood ceremony, 22 lines of rain stopping song (with free translation), story of Warrenby, sorcery and sorcerers, clay as medicine, love magic, moon legend, death & mourning, burial, inquest, spirit beliefs; relations with Bentinck Island (Kaiadilt) people, stories of early settlement of Sweers Island; work on cattle stations & as deckhand, encouragement to work on bark painting' (Source: Online)

"The Kadaitcha Sung tells the story of Tommy Gubba, son of Koobara, son of the chief of the Kadaitcha clan, and Fleur, a white woman, of Northern European descent. Tommy was born secretly after his uncle Booka Roth killed his father to become the last of the Kadaitcha clan. The Kadaitcha clan is in the novel an "ancient clan of sorcerers" (1) called by Biamee to stand among the tribes of the South Land (i.e. Australia) when he returned among the stars. Tommy is initiated and called by Biamee to recuperate the heart of the Rainbow Serpent stolen by Booka Roth, without which Biamee cannot "complete his earthly manifestation".

'Aunty Venus Rabbitt recounts the day she met Mundagarra, the legendary dreaming creature Rainbow Serpent. Illustrated with mono-prints by Cherbourg Year 3 students.'  (Publication summary)

This Australian Aboriginal story, suitable for young children, offers a 'dreamtime' explanation for the origins of one of Australia's great rivers, the Murray River. It was told by Irene Thomas, a bangerang Elder living in Shepparton, Victoria. This oral story was edited by Jan Deans and Robert Brown and published by The University of Melbourne's Early Learning Centre with support from the Foundation of Graduates in Early Childhood Studies. (Source: Back cover)

'Breen argues that the Rainbow-Serpent is a symbol of great significance in various spheres of Aboriginal cosmology such as religious art galleries, magic and sorcery, and ceremonial ritual. In varying degrees in the different situations, the Rainbow-Serpent symbol performs a number of vital functions. It has an organizing function, uniting individuals through shared goals and values; a mobilizing function, as it tends to produce action in both ritual and non-ritual contexts; and a synthesizing function, as it combines a variety of meanings and powers.

'In this book, Ngadjon-Jii rainforest people share their beliefs through a creation story about a Rainbow Serpent. We discover an elder's traditional knowledge of bush foods from the rainforest. We also learn about Ngadjon-Jii's continuing connection to special places on their traditional lands of the Atherton Tableland area in North Queensland.' (Publishers' Blurb)