**UNDERSTANDING THE SPIRIT OF THE LAND BUNJIL**

Story of Bunjil

According to the belief of those tribes, it was Bunjil who shaped the geographical features of the land and all living things. He taught man how to relate to others, and determined clan ‘ownership’ of specific areas and gave them responsibilities to care for that land.

Stories tell how Bunjil had two wives and a son named Binbeal, the rainbow, whose wife was the second bow, sometimes seen showing fainter than the first.

When Bunjil had finished creating the landscape and animals and instructing men, he became tired of staying upon the earth. So he gathered his family about him and told Bellin-bellin, the musk crow, who looked after the winds: ‘Open your bags and let out some wind’. So Bellin-bellin opened one of the bags in which he kept the whirlwinds and let out a blast that blew great trees into the air, roots and all.

Bunjil said. ‘That is not enough, let out more wind.’ Bellin-bellin opened all his bags at once, and a huge wind came out and blew Bunjil and all his people to the sky, where they are now looking down on the world as stars.

Bunjil’s shelter is Victoria’s most important Aboriginal rock art site. It is located in the Black Range State Forest at Gariwerd (or the Grampians), 11km from Stawell. The Aboriginal custodians of Gariwerd are the Jardwadjali. Brambuk Living Cultural Centre situated at Geriwerd conducts tours to Bunjil’s shelter.

Story of Neerim (Port Phillip Bay)

Neerim (Port Phillip Bay) was once dry land. The Kulin people hunted kangaroos and emus there. One day, a small boy upset a magic trough of water, which continued to pour, threatening to drown all the people. Bunjil felt sorry for them and placed a rock where Mornington is now. Some people regard Point Ormond as one of the Bunjil Stones. With two other rocks he made the heads of the bay, and told the water to run out between them and meet the ocean. That is how Neerim (Port Phillip Bay) was made.

PREPARATION TO SHARE THE STORY AS A GROUP

Identify and find out about the traditional owners of the land on which you are located.

Gather a collection of symbols that would have been important to the traditional owners. If you are on Wurundjeri land, for example, you may gather some rocks, wattle, gum leaves, soil, sand, water, bark, wood, or reeds. (These symbols will be later returned to the land.)

Ask students to reflect on and find out about the symbol and what it means to Indigenous people in connection to the land.

Reflect on the importance of land to Indigenous peoples’ spirituality.

SETTING

To create the setting for this liturgy, it would be preferable to have the participants sitting in a circle. In the centre of the circle, place a red cloth, or the Aboriginal colours, and either a single candle or cluster of candles to represent a traditional gathering around the campfire. Such a setting also symbolises the fact that we are one as we gather together.

Acknowledgment of the Kulin Peoples

When Europeans first settled the Port Phillip region it was already occupied by people of five Aboriginal language groups. These groups spoke a related language and were part of the KULIN (Koolin) nation of peoples. They are the:

Woiwurrung (Woy-wur-rung) - Wurundjeri people

Boonerwrung (Bun-er-rong) - Boonerwrung people

Wathaurong (Wath-er-rong) - Wathaurong people

Taungerong (Tung-ger-rong) - Taungerong people

Dja Dja Wrung (Jar - Jar wrung) - Dja Dja Wrung people

Today we respectfully acknowledge the traditional owners of this land we are on, the land of the Boonerwrung people people/s.

Creator Spirit, challenge us to open our eyes to see the world from another’s view. Though change has occurred, the story and spirit of the ............ people will always be written in this land.

We all have a story to tell and this is the story of the Indigenous peoples of this land; past, present and with dreams of a future.

The Story of Bunjil, the Creator Spirit of the Kulin Peoples

It was Bunjil the Great Creator Spirit who made the mountains, the rivers, the rocks and the stones and created all living creatures and taught them how to behave. Bunjil, through the Dreaming stories, taught all of creation to live in harmony.

The Dreaming story tells us how Bunjil had two wives. He also had a son named Binbeal the rainbow spirit, whose wife was the fainter image beside him in the sky. After Bunjil had completed his work on the land, he gathered his family together and called on Bellin-bellin the musk crow, who was in control of the four winds and kept them in bags to be released at Bunjil’s command. “Bellin-bellin!” he said, “release the winds to take my family and I in lofty flight to the ends of the earth so that I might rest and watch over all that I have created.”

Bunjil, the Great Creator Spirit soared up into the sky and was pleased with all he saw. At night when we look skywards, we see the eyes of our Great Spirit Ancestors as stars in the sky at night. Look up into the night sky and see the eyes of our Spirit Ancestors and know that we are never alone.

Reflection: Tracks on Sacred Ground

We remember the Indigenous way of being where all is connected - land, spirit, people. To understand this we must understand the Indigenous peoples’ relationship with the Creator Spirit, with the land and indeed with all of creation. Everything is sacred - the animals, plants, hills, mountains, trees, leaves, rocks, stones, river, lakes, oceans, everything. All have as much right to exist as we humans do. If we dishonour their right, we dishonour our own right to be.

Spirituality is where you make you tracks in the land... it is the place where your story is told. It is a place that speaks to you, a place where you are the centre of the universe where you can go deep into sacred wells of knowledge that is deep within us, and come up with new vision. It is a place that tells you ‘you are mine and I am yours.’ A place we feel ourselves called by the land to enter the land, where there is a spiritual wilderness that awaits our tentative steps to go further into the vastness of God. It is a place where the Creator Spirit tenderly stirs our inner tranquillity,

Acknowledging Symbols

The symbols of the Kulin People are placed on the cloth at the centre of the circle. Students are encouraged to say something about their symbol and the land from which it came. This may be simply a word or a phrase.

St Patrick’s Cathedral Representation of the Bunjil Story

The Catholic Church of Melbourne honours the traditional owners of the land by presenting a portrayal of Bunjil the Eaglehawk, the totem of the traditional peoples on which the Cathedral is built.

Totems have great significance to Indigenous spirituality. They link humans and all things in nature to the Dreaming Stories.

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