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CHAPTER IX - TRADITIONS CONCERNING IMBEROMBERA, THE GREAT ANCESTOR, AND ALSO OTHER ANCESTORS OF THE KAKADU NATION

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  05 July 2011

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Summary

The Kakadu and allied tribes have traditions which relate to two great ancestors, one a woman named Imberombera and the other a man named Wuraka. Of these two, Imberombera is much the more important, and a legend concerning her is met with in all of the tribes now occupying the Coburg Peninsula and the country drained by the Alligator rivers.

Wuraka came from the west, walking through the sea. His feet were on the bottom but he was so tall that his head was well above the surface of the water. He landed at a place called Allukaladi, between what are now known as Mts. Bidwell and Roe, both of which he made. His first sleeping place, after coming out on to land, was at Woralia. He then came on to Umurunguk and so to Adjerakuk and Aruwurkwain, at each of which he slept one night.

The woman, Imberombera, also walked through the sea and landed at what is now known as Malay Bay, the native name being Wungaran. She met Wuraka at Arakwurkwain. Imberombera said to him, “Where are you going?” He said, “I am going straight through the bush to the rising sun.” The first language they spoke was Iwaidja, that is, the language of the people of Port Essington. Wuraka carried his penis, or parla, over his shoulder. He said to Imberombera, ngainma parla nungeroboama, my penis is too heavy; ngainma wilalu jirongadda, my camp is close by; ngeinyimma ngoro breikul, you go a long way.

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Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2010
First published in: 1914

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