Borah of Byamee

Author: Traditional

Time Period: 999 BCE–1 BCE; 1 CE–500 CE

Country or Culture: Australia

Genre: Myth

PLOT SUMMARY

A large gathering of Aboriginal tribes is set to take place at Googoorewon, the place of trees. The elders of the tribes decide that the gathering would be the proper occasion for a borah, a revered ceremony in which boys transition into young men. Once a boy has been initiated through a borah, he is allowed to marry, consume emu meat, and train to be a warrior. A wirreenum, or elder, named Byamee (Baiame or Baayami) is part of the gathering and brings along his two sons, Ghindahindahmoee and Boomahoomahnowee.

Many tribes attend the gathering, including the Dummerh (pigeons), the Mahthi (dogs), and the Wahn (crows). During the day, the tribes engage in hunting, and at night, there is much feasting, dancing, and singing. With the blessing of the elders, the men exchange gifts and arrange marriages for many of the unmarried women. Following several days of revelry, the men decide it is time for the borah to begin. They construct a large circle in the brush, surrounded by an earthen dam, as well as a path through the brush leading to a larger clearing. The preparations for the borah are hidden from the women, who are prohibited from witnessing the ceremony.

Before the borah begins, Byamee displays his great power by putting a curse on the Mahthi tribe. The tribe had been disrespectful to the elders and the sacred borah rites throughout the gathering, and despite being warned several times, the tribe continues to laugh and play without any concern. Byamee punishes the tribe by cursing them to speak in barks and howls for all eternity. Other tribes are transformed during the gathering as well. For instance, the Dummerh tribe steals grinding stones from the women with the aid of ghosts and spirits. Afterward, the members of the tribe are cursed with the cooing voice of the spirits who aided them.

As the borah is about to begin, the women are concealed in ditches around the circle and covered with boughs. The men and boys pair up and prepare to leave the circle for their journey through the brush when a distressed widow named Millindooloonubbah enters the camp. She explains that she was left behind with her large family to travel alone to the camp while everyone else moved ahead. The tribes drank all of the watering holes dry along the way, which caused all of her children to die of thirst. Just before collapsing dead in front of the men, she curses them all. The tribes standing near the edge of the circle are transformed into trees. The other tribes are changed into animals: the Mahthi into barking dogs, the Wahn into shrieking crows, the Dummerh into cooing pigeons, and so on.

Byamee and other tribe members who had not yet reached the circle are spared this fate. Fearing that enemies had slain the other tribes and are now pursuing them, Byamee leads the remaining men far into the country. When they reach a spring in a place called Noondoo, Byamee’s dog gives birth to a litter of deformed puppies with the heads of pigs and ferocious strength. Byamee will not go near this breed of dog, and he remains in the ridges and brush of Noondoo for all time.

SIGNIFICANCE

Australian Aboriginal mythology is predominantly associated with the landscape, animals, and geography of Australia. Aboriginal mythology features an animist creation narrative that contains a concept commonly referred to as the Dreaming or Dreamtime. This highly spiritual concept revolves around everlasting creating and formative creation. The concept is also used in reference to significant locations where creation spirits and symbolic ancestors are believed to reside.

The myth of the borah of Byamee is connected to a specific Dreaming location called Noondoo, a locality in the state of Queensland. It is there that, at the end of the story, Byamee chooses to reside for eternity. Byamee is a very significant god in the mythology of several Aboriginal groups of southeastern Australia, including the Kamilaroi, Eora, and Wiradjuri peoples. A creator god believed to have come down from the sky and created the landscape, he is also said to have given people their laws of life as well as their songs, culture, and traditions.

One such tradition is the borah detailed in this myth. The word borah refers to the initiation itself as well as to the location where it is performed. In the southeastern region of Australia, the ceremony involves boys walking along a path meant to represent their transition to manhood. In some regions, the ceremony begins in a public place, and the boys then travel with initiated men to a private location out in the brush to finish it. The Werrikimbe National Park in New South Wales contains borah rings made of individually placed stones.

In Aboriginal art, Byamee is often depicted in a humanlike form with a large head, limbs, and eyes. Wiradjuri paintings in a cave near Milbrodale in New South Wales feature a giant figure thought to be Byamee. This cave, known as the Baiame Cave, is listed on the Register of the National Estate, is considered a significant natural and cultural heritage sites in Australia.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Marett, Allan. Songs, Dreamings, and Ghosts: The Wangga of North Australia. Middletown: Wesleyan UP, 2005. Print.

Mills, Philo Loas. Prehistoric Religion: A Study in Pre-Christian Antiquity. Washington: Capital, 1918. Print.

Parker, Katie Langloh. “The Borah of Byamee.” Australian Legendary Tales. London: Nutt, 1896. 94–105. Print.

---. The Euahlayi Tribe: A Study of Aboriginal Life in Australia. London: Constable, 1905. Print.

Wardrop, Martin. “Dreaming and the Dreamtime.” Aboriginal Art Online. Aboriginal Art Online, 2000. Web. 24 May 2013.