FIRE Carriers
Wominjeka (Hello),
I’m Bella, one of your F.I.R.E Carriers this year at OLA. I am excited to share with you the history of my most memorable Dreamtime story, The Rainbow Serpent. For Indigenous people, the Rainbow Serpent represents one of the powerful forces of nature and spirit combined. The Rainbow Serpent is a great story to share with young children that explores the Indigenous history about a snake that created the land that we live on today.
Goorialla The Rainbow Serpent woke from his sleep, and all that surrounded him was a flat, dry and empty land. Goorialla traveled through Australia crossing every part of the dry land, trying to find his tribe. After searching for some time, he felt weary and decided to take a rest although the land that Goorialla slept on wasn’t the same land that he awoke on. Goorialla’s big, long body had left gouges in the land. The Rainbow Serpent wanted to create more life living nourishments in our world and called out “Frogs come out!”
Suddenly, lots of giant frogs awoke from the ground with bellies full of water. Goorialla tickled the frog's bellies and out came water that filled all of the gouges The Rainbow Serpent had made. The water miraculously flowed across the land and filled the tracks that The Rainbow Serpent had traveled. This is how the lakes and rivers were formed and trees began to grow. Goorialla had woken all of the animals that lived in the sea and some that lived on land. The animals were happy with what The Rainbow Serpent had created. The Rainbow Serpent had a set of rules that animals had to obey and in return they would receive human form but if the animals disobeyed they were punished and turned into stone. One day it started to rain for the very first time, it rained for days and the land started to flood. Two young Lorikeet brothers had no shelter and they asked The Rainbow Serpent for shelter. Goorialla tricked the two young men and told them that he had no shelter but he had a big mouth and to climb in. They did as they were told and The Rainbow Serpent swallowed them. The Rainbow Serpent wondered if their tribe would come looking for them and didn’t want to get caught so he decided to hide in the sky. The Rainbow Serpent was sorry and felt sadness because he knew their tribe would be worried so he decided to turn his body into a beautiful colourful arc of a rainbow as a way to say sorry and to try and make them happy again.
Wela’lin (Thankyou)
Isabella Koukoumanos
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