Researching Legends of Aboriginal Peoples in Australia *2 Book Reviews*

Aboriginal Stories of Australia
by A.W. Reed (Reed Books 1980)

Aboriginal Legends – Animal Tales
by A.W. Reed (Reed Books 1978)

I have been researching legends of Aboriginal peoples in Australia. A character in my current manuscript, entitled The String, is a half-breed Aborigine, who was taken at birth from his native mother to avoid further infection of the white race (the father was an immigrant German sheep farmer). In the course of my research, I came across these two books by A. W. Reed.

The legend, stories, and beliefs that are traced in these wonderful tales are fascinating. It is impossible to tell, at least to me, how the dates of the stories, handed down by oral tradition, compare to the time lines of the stories in the Old and New Testament, also handed down through the generations by oral tradition.

I was fascinated with my reading. Each story seems to build on its predecessor. My favorite was “The Blue Fish and the Moon.” It is a story of two men, one was miserable and saw the dark side of everything in life. The other, Nullandi, saw the light in life and was happy. When the miserable man died, he became a blue fish living for a time at the bottom of the sea until he was eaten by a bigger fish and his bones were scattered on the sea bed. Nullandi, on the other hand, went into the sky to live with the Great Spirit, who turned him into a round and shining moon. Nullandi illuminated the darkness of night with silvery light.
Each of our religions embrace the essence of this story, replacing the operative words with Heaven and Hell, redemption and eternal punishment.

I found the concepts to be easily grasped from a human emotion standpoint. For example, it is easier for me to get my hands around the consequences of someone who communicates misery vs. happiness, than it is to do so with concepts of original and continuous sin.
In any event, I found these short books to be fascinating to compare Aboriginal beliefs to the religious teachings that we are each accustomed to. The tales are easy to read and cry out for discussion and understanding. Like a touching sermon, I found myself thinking about each tale and relating to my own life and perceptions.

Isn’t this the point of a meaningful sermon? If you enjoy thinking about such things, step out of the box and read these tales.

Warms, Cym