Baralku, also written Burralku or Bralgu, is a place connected with creation ancestors in the mythology of the Yolngu people of Arnhem Land in the Northern Territory of Australia. It is referred to as island of the dead, and the place where the ancestors known as Djanggawul (Djan'kawu) originated,[1] before travelling by canoe to Yalangbara, where they gave birth to the Rirratjingu clan.[2]

Baralku is said to lie to the east of Arnhem Land and is where Barnumbirr the creator-spirit (represented by Venus, the Morning Star in Aboriginal astronomy) as she guided the Djanggawul sisters. Barnumbirr is also said to live on the island[3] and rises into the sky as Venus.

References

  1. ↑ Ronald M. Berndt (2004). Djanggawul: An Aboriginal Religious Cult of North-Eastern Arnhem Land. Routledge. p. 1. ISBN 978-0-415-33022-0.
  2. ↑ West, Margie (7 December 2010). "Yalangbara: art of the Djang'kawu". Western Australian Museum. Retrieved 17 July 2021.
  3. ↑ Raymond Haynes; David Malin; Richard McGee (1996). Explorers of the Southern Sky: A History of Australian Astronomy. Cambridge University Press. p. 14. ISBN 978-0-521-36575-8.


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