Australian Aboriginal mythology Australian Aboriginal religion and mythology is the sacred spirituality represented in the stories performed by Aboriginal Australians within each of the Aboriginal Australian languages, language groups across Australia in their Aboriginal ce ...

, the Wati kutjara (also Wati kutjarra or Wadi Gudjara) are two young

lizard Lizards are a widespread group of squamate reptiles, with over 7,000 species, ranging across all continents except Antarctica, as well as most oceanic island chains. The group is paraphyletic since it excludes the snakes and Amphisbaenia alt ...

-men (

totem A totem (from oj, ᑑᑌᒼ, italics=no or ''doodem'') is a spirit being, sacred object, or symbol that serves as an emblem of a group of people, such as a family, clan, lineage, or tribe, such as in the Anishinaabe clan system. While ''the wo ...

goanna A goanna is any one of several species of lizards of the genus '' Varanus'' found in Australia and Southeast Asia. Around 70 species of ''Varanus'' are known, 25 of which are found in Australia. This varied group of carnivorous reptiles ranges ...

) who, in the Dreaming, travelled all over the Western Desert. In English, their

songline A songline, also called dreaming track, is one of the paths across the land (or sometimes the sky) within the animist belief systems of the Aboriginal cultures of Australia which mark the route followed by localised "creator-beings" in the Dre ...

is often called the ''Two Men Dreaming''.Mudrooroo (1994) ''Aboriginal Mythology''. Thorsons, London, p.167. The Wati kutjara are ubiquitous in the

mythology Myth is a folklore genre consisting of narratives that play a fundamental role in a society, such as foundational tales or origin myths. Since "myth" is widely used to imply that a story is not objectively true, the identification of a narrat ...

of the Western Desert;Poirier, S. (2005) ''A World of Relationships: Itineraries, Dreams and Events in the Australian Western Desert.'' Univ. Toronto Press, p.71-73. Their journey extends for thousands of kilometres, stretching from the Kimberley to

South Australia South Australia (commonly abbreviated as SA) is a state in the southern central part of Australia. It covers some of the most arid parts of the country. With a total land area of , it is the fourth-largest of Australia's states and territories ...

Narratives

Wati kutjara is one of the most important Dreamings around Balgo; in Kukatja narratives, the Wati kutjara are often likened to the wind, whose form they adopt when in danger. The men's first action is to sing about their names in order to establish their own identity.Cowan, J. (1994) ''Wirrimanu - Aboriginal Art from the Balgo Hills'', Gordon & Breach Arts International, p.32. Then they decide to travel about, and eventually decide to head south-east in order to enlighten the people there who do not possess the

rituals A ritual is a sequence of activities involving gestures, words, actions, or objects, performed according to a set sequence. Rituals may be prescribed by the traditions of a community, including a religious community. Rituals are characterized, ...

known to the Dreaming heroes. As they travel, they sing of the animals, plants and geographic features that they encounter, naming them and calling them into being. Filled with magical power, these two unmarried brothers eventually travelled all over the Western Desert destroying many dangerous evil spirits.Myers, F.R. (1986) ''Pintupi Country, Pintupi Self: Sentiment, Place and Politics among Western Desert Aborigines'', Univ. California Press, p.239 They also created sacred objects. The Wati kutjara feature in innumerable stories, whose details vary from region to region. In one recension, they are credited with

castrating Castration is any action, surgical, chemical, or otherwise, by which an individual loses use of the testicles: the male gonad. Surgical castration is bilateral orchiectomy (excision of both testicles), while chemical castration uses pharmaceu ...

the Man in the Moon by throwing a magical

boomerang A boomerang () is a thrown tool, typically constructed with aerofoil sections and designed to spin about an axis perpendicular to the direction of its flight. A returning boomerang is designed to return to the thrower, while a non-returning b ...

Kidili In Australian aboriginal mythology (specifically: Mandjindja), Kidili (or Kidilli) was an ancient moon-man who attempted to rape some of the first women on Earth. The Wati-kutjara wounded him in battle, castrating him with a boomerang, and he di ...

, because he tried to

rape Rape is a type of sexual assault usually involving sexual intercourse or other forms of sexual penetration carried out against a person without their consent. The act may be carried out by physical force, coercion, abuse of authority, or ag ...

the first woman. In other versions, the Wati kutjara are the ones attempting to seduce the same group of women.

Art and literature

*Locations and events associated with the Wati kutjara are frequently the subject of Aboriginal Art from Balgo and its outstations. * James Cowan's book ''Two men dreaming''Cowan, J. (1995) ''Two men dreaming: a memoir, a journey'', Brandl & Schlesinger. draws upon Wati kutjara narratives, although the place-names appear to have been disguised. (Note. This was done t protect the region, and the people concerned: author)

Narratives

Art and literature

References

See also