In Australian Aboriginal mythology (specifically: Kunwinjku), Mamaragan [1] [2] [3] or Namarrkon [4] [3] is a lightning Ancestral Being who speaks with thunder as his voice. He rides a storm-cloud and throws lightning bolts to humans and trees. He lives in a puddle. [5]
Namarrkon is the lightning man. Namarrkon soaks up the sun's rays, which form bright arcs of light across each of his shoulders. He is mostly unseen, living high in the sky and riding storm clouds. He makes thunderous sounds by striking the clouds with stone axes fixed to his head, elbows, and knees. [6]
He appears each year in Kunumeleng, pre-monsoon season, [7] reminding people of the consequences of invoking the spiritual power. If people disobey the law, Namarrkon hisses, crackles, and even strikes the offender with his fiery spears of lightning. [8]
The climate changed nearly 7,000 years ago, causing the ice caps to melt and sea levels to rise. During this period, Namarrkon created violent thunderstorms in preparation for the Wet Season rains brought by the Rainbow Serpent. [9]
During the dry season, he lives in a billabong not far from Numbuwah, a sacred rock in Western Arnhem Land. Namarrkon's dreaming site (djadjan) is a slight projection in the outline of the Arnhem Land escarpment. It consists of three fused pillars, one with a circular hole near the top. This is a few km NE of the Nourlangie Rock tourist site to the east of Koongarra saddle. Namarggon left one eye (the hole) to watch for the monsoon, but also to watch his estranged wife, whose home is a cave in a pillar near Koongarra. Namarrkondjadjan is well-named, as the promontory creates the earliest intense lightning storms. [10]
Namarrkon is depicted in Arnhem land Rock art with the best known depiction being at Nourlangie rock. This spirit was also depicted by numerous aboriginal artists on bark paintings including Lofty Nadjamerrek, Nadjombolmi and Mick Kubarkku. [11] [12] [13] He is depicted with stone axes on his elbows or knees and a lightning surrounding his body. Only certain artists who have the right to this dreaming may paint depictions of this spirit.
In the DC Comics story The Darkseid War the superhero Shazam is empowered by six new deities; one of them is Mamaragan, revealed to be the true identity of the Wizard who originally empowered the hero. [14]
In the Japanese Manga One Piece, Kami Eneru uses an attack called Mamaragan to attempt the destruction of Skypiea. [14]
The didgeridoo is a wind instrument, played with vibrating lips to produce a continuous drone while using a special breathing technique called circular breathing. The didgeridoo was developed by Aboriginal peoples of northern Australia at least 1,000 years ago, and is now in use around the world, though still most strongly associated with Indigenous Australian music. In the Yolŋu languages of the indigenous people of northeast Arnhem Land the name for the instrument is the yiḏaki, or more recently by some, mandapul. In the Bininj Kunwok language of West Arnhem Land it is known as mako.
The Wandjina, also written Wanjina and Wondjina and also known as Gulingi, are cloud and rain spirits from Australian Aboriginal mythology that are depicted prominently in rock art in Australia. Some of the artwork in the Kimberley region of Western Australia dates back to approximately 4,000 years ago. Another closely related spirit entity is the creator being Wunngurr, a being analogous to the Rainbow Serpent in other Aboriginal peoples' belief systems, but with a different interpretation.
Kakadu National Park is a protected area in the Northern Territory of Australia, 171 km (106 mi) southeast of Darwin. It is a World Heritage Site. Kakadu is also gazetted as a locality, covering the same area as the national park, with 313 people recorded living there in the 2016 Australian census.
The Rainbow Serpent or Rainbow Snake is a common deity often seen as the creator God, known by numerous names in different Australian Aboriginal languages by the many different Aboriginal peoples. It is a common motif in the art and religion of many Aboriginal Australian peoples. Much like the archetypal mother goddess, the Rainbow Serpent creates land and diversity for the Aboriginal people, but when disturbed can bring great chaos.
Terminalia ferdinandiana, most commonly known as the Kakadu plum and also called the gubinge, billygoat plum, green plum, salty plum, murunga, mador and other names, is a flowering plant in the family Combretaceae, native to Australia, widespread throughout the tropical woodlands from north-western Australia to eastern Arnhem Land. Used as a traditional bush food and bush medicine for centuries, the fruit has especially high levels of vitamin C.
Alligator Rivers is the name of an area in an Arnhem Land region of the Northern Territory of Australia, containing three rivers, the East, West, and South Alligator Rivers. It is regarded as one of the richest biological regions in Australia, with part of the region in the Kakadu National Park. It is an Important Bird Area (IBA), lying to the east of the Adelaide and Mary River Floodplains IBA. It also contains mineral deposits, especially uranium, and the Ranger Uranium Mine is located there. The area is also rich in Australian Aboriginal art, with 1500 sites. The Kakadu National Park is one of the few World Heritage sites on the list because of both its natural and human heritage values. They were explored by Lieutenant Phillip Parker King in 1820, who named them in the mistaken belief that the crocodiles in the estuaries were alligators.
Bark painting is an Australian Aboriginal art form, involving painting on the interior of a strip of tree bark. This is a continuing form of artistic expression in Arnhem Land and other regions in the Top End of Australia, including parts of the Kimberley region of Western Australia. Traditionally, bark paintings were produced for instructional and ceremonial purposes and were transient objects. Today, they are keenly sought after by collectors and public arts institutions.
Gunbalanya is an Aboriginal Australian town in west Arnhem Land in the Northern Territory of Australia, about 300 kilometres (190 mi) east of Darwin. The main language spoken in the community is Kunwinjku. At the 2021 Australian census, Gunbalanya had a population of 1,177.
The black wallaroo, also known as Woodward's wallaroo, is a species of macropod restricted to a small, mountainous area in Arnhem Land, Northern Territory, Australia, between South Alligator River and Nabarlek. It classified as near threatened, mostly due to its limited distribution. A large proportion of the range is protected by Kakadu National Park.
Burrunggui is located in an outlying sandstone formation of the Arnhem Land Escarpment within the Kakadu National Park in the Northern Territory of Australia. It is the traditional Country of the Gun-djeihmi speaking people and according to traditional owners, was shaped by Ancestral beings in the creation period of the Dreaming. It was included on the World Heritage Register. Kakadu National Park is included on UNESCO the World Heritage List due to its exceptional natural and cultural values.
Anbangbang Billabong lies in the shadow of Burrunggui within Kakadu National Park and is a good place to view a wide range of wildlife. Large numbers of waterfowl and wading birds inhabit the billabong and many wallabies can be found grazing around the water's edge. There is a walking trail around the circumference of Anbangbang Billabong with many picnic areas.
This is a list of plants commonly found in Kakadu National Park, Northern Territory of Australia. Where known, common names are given in English and in Gun-djeihmi, a commonly spoken indigenous language in the area, are given in parentheses.
Bardayal "Lofty" Nadjamerrek was a Kunwinjku Aboriginal artist of the Mok clan. He belonged to the Duwa moiety and spoke the Kundedjnjenghmi language. He is currently referred to by his skin and clan as "Wamud Namok", following the Kunwinjku custom of avoiding use of the name of deceased persons.
The Bininj are an Aboriginal Australian people of Western Arnhem land in the Northern Territory. The sub-groups of Bininj are sometimes referred to by the various language dialects spoken in the region, that is, the group of dialects known as Bininj Kunwok; so the people may be named the Kunwinjku, Kuninjku, Kundjeyhmi (Gundjeihmi), Manyallaluk Mayali, Kundedjnjenghmi and Kune groups.
Wanurr Bob Namundja (c.1933–2005) was an Aboriginal Australian artist known for his bark paintings.
Mick Kubarkku (c.1922-2008) was regarded as a prominent Aboriginal Australian artist most associated with Kuninjku modernism.
Graham Badari is an Aboriginal Australian artist from the Wardjak clan in West Arnhem Land. Graham Badari belongs to the Duwa moeity and speaks the Kunwinjku dialect. At Injalak Arts, Badari is a popular figure, a tour guide, and a font of community news. Art historian Henry Skerritt describes him as possessing a "impish smile and cheeky sense of humour" and a "unique and eccentric personality"
Paddy Compass Namadbara, skin name Na-Bulanj, was an Aboriginal Australian artist and traditional healer, or marrkidjbu, from western Arnhem land. He was a member of the Alarrdju clan. Namadbara was renowned for his abilities as a healer, his bark paintings, and his skills as a mentor for younger generations.
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