Aboriginal Mythology

Welcome back to Raisa’s Mythological Animal Blog! Today we have 10 creatures from Aboriginal Mythology. Let’s begin!

First up is the Bunyip. This is a creature that lives in or near water. It can live in rivers, creeks and swamps for example. There are no actual characteristics about what a bunyip looks like, but some common features include tusks and flippers. Some people believe that they have found sightings of bunyips in the mid 1930s.

Next, we have the Dirawong. The Dirawong is a goanna, AKA the Australian monitor lizard. It brought knowledge and protection to the Bundjalung Nation. Many think that it resembles a Magalania prisca, it was 7-10 metres long. A goanna extinct approximately 40,000 years ago.

Next is Yara-ma-yha-who. This is a vampire from Aboriginal folklore. What’s unusual about it is that it has no teeth. He resembles a demon. Some Aborigines believe that if the demon eats a victim, it will vomit him/her back up, and the victim might be alive, but if it’s been victimised like this too many times, it will become this bloodsucking creature.

Now we have the Gippsland Phantom Cat. It is a large cat that has been spotted since the 1970s in the Grampians region. These massive felines were probably descendants of house cats, in feral form. In World War II, mascots of the US were 2 pumas. Some people believe they have been set free and reproducing with house cats in the wild, to create the Gippsland Phantom Cat.

Next, we have Muldjewangk. These are monsters (maybe just one) that inhabit the Murray River in Victoria. The stories that are told about them are to keep children away from the water. One of them was about a European boat captain. He shot the monster. Because of this, he slowly died from blisters around his body.

Now we have Adnoartina. This is a lizard that guards Ayer’s Rock, or Uluru, as the locals call it. Aboriginal people tell many legends about this reptile. Some of them believe that it may be related to Megalania, another lizard that lived with the Aborigines.

Then we have Julunggul. This is a rainbow snake goddess. She was believed to oversee boys progressing into adulthood and she appears in many Aboriginal Arnhem Land folk stories.

Up now we have Drop bears. These creatures are a bit like koalas, except bigger and more dangerous. They have sharp teeth and claws. It is said that they live at the top of gum trees. When they find a victim, they literally drop on top of their heads (hence drop bear) and knock them unconscious.

Up next we have the Hawkesbury River Monster. Some believe that it lives in New South Wales and is very similar to the Loch Ness Monster in Scotland. Some people link it to a plesiosaur, an extinct water dinosaur and believe many hunters and cryptozoologists have been trying to capture the beast.

And last but not least, we have the Yowie! The Yowie is basically the Australian version of Bigfoot. The first recorded sighting of the beast was in 1876. The most common reported sightings were in New South Wales and Gold Coast, Queensland. Some sightings were in the West Coast and North Auckland in New Zealand!

Thanks for reading today’s Mythological Creature Blog! Join in tomorrow for more zany mythological creatures! Bye!