Good morning feathered friends from the land down under (Australia) I hope you're having a wonderful start to the weekend or the end of the week as some countries may still be finalising their week. I wish you all the best and writing from the future, it is alot better.
A few weeks ago I mentioned how in Indigenous Lore in Australia the crow is a creator being, one who helped shape the lands today and provided opportunity to the people. I thought I would share this story with you so you too knew of it.
Waa
The name for crow in language is Waa and it is know for bringing fire to the people. An important innovation for the cooking of food and maintaining country through burn offs which controlled the growth of the land. Removed oxygen from the soil and allowd nitrogen to replenish the Australian trees. This is why when a bush fire blazes through the Australian bush the trees do not burn to a crisp. They survive and regrow.
The Story
Waa ate yams (a type of native potatoe) which are hard and starchy, not the best eaten raw. One day Waa came across a cooked yam, trying it it was the tasties yam he had ever eaten. Noticing it had been cooked her decided to investigate how it came to be as fire was not present.
He came across a group of women by the Yarra River in what is now Melbourne. There they all held sticks and at the end of the sticks were hot coals in which they used to cook food.
Waa asked the women for some coals so he too could cook some food however the women denied to share their fire and only wanted it for themselves. Waa decided as the trickster he was to trick the women into giving him the fire.
The Plan
Waa cunningly went to work build a snake trap where he placed snakes inside an abandoned ant mound to lure the women over. He approached the women and talked them into cooking ants. As he was a creator being the women listen to his words and began digging at the abandoned ant mound to gather the ants.
It wasn't too long before the snakes became angered and went to ask the women to stop, the women who were frightened of the snakes began hitting them with their fire sticks dislodging the hot coals onto the ground.
Waa quickly gathered the hot coals and perched high in the tree keeping the fire to himself.
Bunjil arrives
News had spread the Bunjil the Eagle and creator of land that crow has received the gift of fire and went to ask his friend to share it with the people as they wished to cook a possum.
Waa denied and instead offered to cook it for them, fearing people would not be able to control fire. Finally Waa agreed and flung several coals to the people of the land. Kurok-goru the red tailed finch hid one behind his back which scorned his tail feathers and now are forever red.
The people were not able to control the fire and it caused a bushfire which burned Waa making him permanently black. Bunjil raced to put the fire out saving the lands and the people.
It was then know the dangers of fire and forever guarded with importance and a gift to people. From then on in, food was cooked and once the land was restored it grew back less cluttered and clearer for people to see through, walk, hunt and live. Fire was used to shape the country.
I hope you enjoyed reading this creation story and I look forward to sharing more with you. Have a lovely weekend and remember, don't play with fire.
