The Story of Five Islands
"The Dreaming lies at the core of Aboriginal spiritual belief - it has no beginning, no end, and does not recognise time linearly, as in days, months, and years. It is a part of everyday life, encompassing totems, ceremony, the division of labour, social structure, and storytelling."
The Aboriginal people of the Illawarra call their dreaming the Alcheringa. The main creator spirit of the Illawarra is Biamie (from which is derived the word Kiama). Biamie sent his two sons to the earth, one was Duramulun, the law-giver, who, during the dreaming, taught the local people traditional laws and customs related to kinship, totems, religion, and social observances.
Dreaming stories relating to all aspects of the local culture have survived, including those on the creation of the Illawarra landscape.
Over the next few weeks, we will be sharing one of the five local Dreaming stories
The first one we will be sharing is: The Story of Five Islands. You will find the story here on this link. https://www.craigmuirlakehouse.com/blog
In the dreamtime story Oola Boola Woo, the west wind lived there with his six daughters. Because they were so naughty and rude, the girls were eventually forced from their home by their dad who threw five of them into the sea. "It's a beautiful dreaming story even though Dad blew the sisters out to sea," Mrs Brown said. "Eventually, even though they fretted, they ended up turning into mermaids and they swim around the islands." The remaining daughter was named Geera, after which the mountain — Mt Keira — is named. "Geera fretted for her sisters and sat in one spot on the mountain until she was covered by the leaves and the moss," Ms Brown said. "She became the top of the mountain, which is now known as Mt Keira." Continuing the culture The mural at Hill 60 is broken into three narratives, the first of which depicts the dreamtime story of the five islands off Port Kembla.(ABC Illawarra: Sarah Moss)Sharing the dreaming stories of the area brings great joy to the sisters, who tell them in a short series of children's books. "There are dreaming stories that belong to this area, and we want people to know that," Ms Brown said. "We put the campsite in on Hill 60 because the Wadi Wadi people lived on Hill 60. "It was a lookout point for them where they could watch for incoming fish or tribal people, coming from either direction." Traditional hunting and gathering Along the 21-metre sea wall, the sisters depicted the history and lifestyle of the Wadi Wadi people breaking it into three categories: the dreamtime story, traditional hunting and gathering, and connecting communities.