Chase, 1978:

Reefs and the mythological system

"Many of the reef names that have been gathered so far in fieldwork refer to associations with mythological beings who occupied the area before humanity. It is neither necessary nor politic to go into these in any great detail beyond noting that these also can be categorised.  Reefs can be points where creator beings rested or passed through in their odysseys., such as wukala (reef heron) and maathuy (pelican) in the lists presented earlier. They can also be places where these beings carried out specific actions, as is the case with Blackwood Island in the Flinders group, and these actions are believed to have permanently affected the locality in terms of present humans.  Finally they can be places where the creator beings finally stop and become metamorphosed into present natural forms, and the Clack Island reef area is an example of this. While this latter category is somewhat rarer than others, such sites do occur along the coastline.

Such mythological sites form part of a larger mythological complex which often extends to mainland areas as well."

---

Citation and/or URL

Chase, A., 1978, Between land and sea: Aboriginal coastal groups in Cape York Peninsula.  School of Australian Environmental Studies, Griffith University, Nathan, Queensland.
In: Workshop on the Northern sector of the Great Barrier Reef.  Papers and proceedings of a workshop held in Townsville, Australia 20 and 21 April, 1978.  Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority.

Spatial Coverage

Northern Great Barrier Reef

Temporal Coverage

1978

Update Frequency

Not applicable 

Other Information

None