Ningroongun and Barrajanda
Songlines trace the journeys of ancestral spirits as they created the land, animals and lore, they can also represent Aboriginal walking routes that crossed the country, linking important sites and locations. Uncle Allan Lena has drawn a Songline to represent the path of two dingoes in the dreamtime story of Ningroongun and Barrajanda which travelled over the country Nerang Mall sits.
Published 26 June
Long, long, long, long, time ago when the coastal lands were mountainous, two hunters, Gwyala and Burrujum, trained two hunting Ngagam ((Nug-um) dingoes) Ningroongun and Barrajanda, to round up animals for easy hunting.
One day, when in the Gugingin (Logan) area, Gwyala and Burrujum and Ngagam were out hunting. Ningroongun and Barrajanda, chased and caught a kangaroo rat for the tribe to eat.
The Ngagam then saw a Kuruhman (old man Kangaroo) and gave chase. Two little girls saw the shadows of the Ngagam (Nug-um) and told their tribe’s people. The men of this camp tried to catch the Kuruhman, but the Kuruhman jumped into a water hole and turned into a Bunyip.
So then the men then chased the Ngagam (Nug-um), Ningroongun and Barrajanda into hunting nets. So fiercely did Ningroongun and Barrajanda fight to escape, the men, killed them.
Gwyala ran towards the people’s camp and on finding that his Ngagam (Nug-um), Ningroongun and Barrajanda were dead, he cried.
Burrujum said “Don't cry, Uncle. I will cut the vine”.
To cut the vine made the big rains come.
The rains came and flooded all the creeks and the rivers. Day after day, it rained heavily causing landslides, burying all the people of the tribe who killed Ningroongun and Barrajanda.
When the rain finally stopped, the great flood flattened the land and all that remained were hills and ridges around the Mununjali (Beaudesert) area.
Gwyala and Burrujum took Ningroongun and Barrajanda and buried them under the twin peaks, east of Wollumbin, (Mount Warning). These Twin Peaks were always known as Ningroongun and Barrajanda to my people, known by you as the Cougals.
One day, when in the Gugingin (Logan) area, Gwyala and Burrujum and Ngagam were out hunting. Ningroongun and Barrajanda, chased and caught a kangaroo rat for the tribe to eat.
The Ngagam then saw a Kuruhman (old man Kangaroo) and gave chase. Two little girls saw the shadows of the Ngagam (Nug-um) and told their tribe’s people. The men of this camp tried to catch the Kuruhman, but the Kuruhman jumped into a water hole and turned into a Bunyip.
So then the men then chased the Ngagam (Nug-um), Ningroongun and Barrajanda into hunting nets. So fiercely did Ningroongun and Barrajanda fight to escape, the men, killed them.
Gwyala ran towards the people’s camp and on finding that his Ngagam (Nug-um), Ningroongun and Barrajanda were dead, he cried.
Burrujum said “Don't cry, Uncle. I will cut the vine”.
To cut the vine made the big rains come.
The rains came and flooded all the creeks and the rivers. Day after day, it rained heavily causing landslides, burying all the people of the tribe who killed Ningroongun and Barrajanda.
When the rain finally stopped, the great flood flattened the land and all that remained were hills and ridges around the Mununjali (Beaudesert) area.
Gwyala and Burrujum took Ningroongun and Barrajanda and buried them under the twin peaks, east of Wollumbin, (Mount Warning). These Twin Peaks were always known as Ningroongun and Barrajanda to my people, known by you as the Cougals.
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