TLCMap Gazetteer of Historical Australian Places

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Note: Layers are contributed from many sources by many people or derived by computer and are the responsibility of the contributor. Layers may be incomplete and locations and dates may be imprecise. Check the layer for details about the source. Absence in TLCMap does not indicate absence in reality. Use of TLCMap may inform heritage research but is not a substitute for established formal and legal processes and consultation.

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aiwa ‘White cockatoo’

Layer: Awiakay string figures
Link back to source:: https://catalog.paradisec.org.au/repository/DKH01/002_aiwa
Type: Other

Details

Latitude: -4.71979
Longitude: 143.6055
Start Date: 2018-11-05
End Date: 2018-11-05

Description

This string figure represents white cockatoos (Sulphur-crested Cockatoo; Cacatua galerita). This string figure represents white cockatoos (Sulphur-crested Cockatoo; Cacatua galerita). White cockatoos are not eaten, and are one of very few bird species that the Awiakay sometimes keep as pets. White cockatoo frequently occurs as a character in Awiakay myths. Its feathers are used as head decoration. During the all-night song/dance cycle called Kaunjambi the singers/dancers who put white cockatoo’s feathers into their hair are believed to become spirits of the ancestors (for more on that song cycle see Hoenigman 2015a: 197-253). When this string figure is finished and the design representing white cockatoos emerges, another move is made and the white cockatoos are said to fly away. Images: 01: Darja Munbaŋgoapik showing the final design ‘white cockatoos’ 02: Darja Munbaŋgoapik showing white cockatoos who’ve flown away rita). White cockatoos are not eaten, and are one of very few bird species that the Awiakay sometimes keep as pets.

Sources

tc36d4

Source

https://catalog.paradisec.org.au/repository/DKH01/002_aiwa

Extended Data