down. The grave of this great elder is at Healesville, near Melbourne.
Berrwah See Grasshouse mountains.
Bhima See Bima.
Biame (or Baiame, Byamee) Biame the All-Father is perhaps the most important deity of the present-day Aboriginal communities in the south-eastern region of Australia and the present mythology has taken into it elements of Christianity.
In the versions of the myth which are told today, Biame is a true creator-god. He experimented first in creating the animals, then used them as models in attempts to create humankind. In the Dreamtime, animals were self-conscious and thus had all the discontents of humankind. Kangaroos became ashamed of their tails; fish felt they were imprisoned in water; birds wanted to be like the kangaroos and insects to be larger than they were. Eventually, Biame gathered all the animals together in a cave, took out all their desires and placed them in his new creature: a human being. Thus the animals lost their longings and desires. Men and women alone found themselves the discontented guardians of creation, under the care of the All-Father, who lives up in the sky world and gazes down upon his creation. The Southern Cross is the visible sign that he watches over humankind and protects us as well as punishing us when we break his laws. Biame created the laws by which humankind are meant to live; he also created the first bull-roarer (which when swung represents his voice) and gave the man-making ceremonies to the Aboriginal communities of south-eastern Australia. His chief wife was the All-Mother Birrahgnooloo.
See also All-Fathers; Boro circles; Crow; Curlews; Ground carvings and sculptures; Kuringgai Chase National Park; Marmoo; Narroondarie; Rainbow snake; Rock engravings; Sleeping giant; Southern Cross; Unaipon, David; Yhi.
Bibbulmum My people, the Bibbulmum, occupy a corner of south-western Australia and were once made up of a number of groups having different dialects of a single language and similar laws and customs. When the British invaded and settled Western Australia, the tribal basis of our communities was destroyed, especially with the massacre at Pinjarra when the resistance of the people was shattered (see Yagan). We have now coalesced into a single people made up of a number of extended families based on the old tribes. We now call ourselves Nyungar, which simply means ‘the people’.
See also Conception beliefs; Crow; Dogs; Dreaming tracks; Hair string; Seasons; Trade; Willy wagtail; Yagan; Yamadji.
Bidjigal See Eora tribe.
Bildiwuwiju Djanggawul’s elder sister. See Djanggawul and his two sisters myth.
Bildiwuraru See Djanggawul and his two sisters myth.
Bilyarra See Mars.
Bima See Curlews; Mudungkala.
Bimba-towera the finch See Echidna.
Binbeal See Bunjil.
Bindirri, Yirri (Roger Solomon) Yirri Bindirri is the son of Malbaru, or James Solomon, and they are both elders of the Ngarluma people of Western Australia. They are well known for striving to keep alive the traditions of their people. In the film Exile and the Kingdom, the elders explain the mythology which binds them to their country around Roebourne in Western Australia.
Bingingerra the giant freshwater turtle See Yugumbir people.
Birbai See Bundjalung nation.
Birraarks See Shamans.
Birrahgnooloo See All-Mothers.
Birrung See Bundjalung nation.
Black (or charcoal) is an important colour in Aboriginal paintings and also is used as a medicine. It is a sacred colour of the Yiritja moiety of Arnhem Land.
See also Bark paintings; Red, black, yellow and white.
Black flying foxes See Flying foxes.
Black Swans See Altair; Bunjil; Murray river.
Blood Bird See Yugumbir people.
Bloodwood tree See Djamar; First man child; Menstrual blood; Moiya and paka paka; Tnatantja poles; Yagan.
Blue Crane See Narroondarie.
Bodngo See Thunder Man.
Bolung Bolung is another name for the rainbow snake among the people of the Northern Territory. Bolung takes the form of the lightning bolt which heralds the approach of the monsoon rains. He is a creative and life-giving deity and, like many of these serpent deities, inhabits deep pools of water.
Bone pointing The bone pointing ceremony in variations is found all over the continent. It is used to kill a person from a distance. The bone is usually made from the femur of a kangaroo or a human, the most powerful pointer being one from the leg of a former shaman.
The ceremony must be performed by a shaman, usually assisted by a colleague. The bone is pointed in the direction of the intended victim. It is said that a quartz crystal passes from the point and through space into the victim. The connection is made and the soul of the victim is caught and drawn into the bone through the power of the shaman. Then a lump of wax or clay is quickly attached to the point. This lump, energized by a spell, is to stop the soul escaping from the point. When the soul is caught, the bone is buried in emu feathers and native tobacco leaves. It is left in the earth for several months. At the end of this period it is dug up and burnt. As the bone burns, the victim burns along with it, becoming progressively sicker. When the bone is completely consumed, he is dead.
Boomerang The boomerang is more than a bent throwing stick that returns. It was first fashioned from the tree between heaven and earth; it symbolizes the rainbow and thus the rainbow snake; and the bend is the connection between the opposites, between heaven and earth, between Dreamtime and ceremony, the past and the present.
In many communities the boomerang is a musical instrument rather than a weapon. Two boomerangs clapped together provide the rhythmic accompaniment in ceremonies, thus creating the connection between dance and song.
See also Gulibunjay and his magic boomerang.
Boonah See Narroondarie.
Bootes The Bootes constellation, or, rather, a star in Bootes, west of Arcturus, was Weet-kurrk; daughter of Marpean-kurrk (Arcturus) according to the Kooris of Victoria.
Bornumbirr See Morning Star.
Boro circles The boro circles or grounds are the sacred ceremonial grounds of the Australian Aborigines. In the eastern regions they consist of a larger and smaller circular ground connected by a
