From Banib to Bunyip

Tracking Bricolage and Knowledge Systems in Colonized Aboriginal Spirituality

Bibliographic Data

ID8931240
AuthorsMaurice Alasdair Quirk (0000-0001-9924-2437, Twitter (United States), corresponding author)
Year2023
Volume134
Issue1
Pages111-129
Publication date2023-01-02
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueFolklore (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0015-587X • E-ISSN: 1469-8315
PublisherRoutledge (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1080/0015587x.2022.2104518
OpenAlexW4321602917
LanguageEN
Citations received3
References cited12

This article considers the Australian 'bunyip', a cryptid that has captured the colonial imagination since the European invasion. In doing so, the article will track the transformation of the creature through the invasion of Australia, and subsequently raise concerns regarding the application of an 'apolitical' bricolage in cases of myths translated across knowledge systems, especially in the context of colonialism. It considers the relationship between cryptozoology and the natural sciences, as well as the origins of the bunyip within Indigenous cosmologies. Ultimately, this article demonstrates the transformation of the bunyip from Indigenous contexts to its current position as a pseudoscientific cryptid. Notes1 Personal faith among Indigenous populations is naturally as diverse and complex as in any group. This being said, it must be acknowledged that Christianity has historically been used as a tool of oppression of Indigenous Australians, with many members of the Stolen Generation raised in missions that taught Christianity as a truth and viewed Indigenous traditions as primitive.2 Several historical accounts mention that Indigenous belief in the creature stops at the Murray River.3 The issue of taxonomy and the bunyip can be further seen in the discovery of a large number of bones found in the Wellington Caves in 1830. When put back together, the resulting skeleton resembled a large wombat, over three metres in length and two metres in height. As such, word quickly spread about the possibility of some great beast not yet accounted for by naturalists. With the pre-existing influence of the bunyip legend, it is no surprise that the famous monster was claimed as the source. In reality, the bones belonged to the Diprotodon, an extinct genus of megafauna ancestral to the wombat. It lived through much of the Pleistocene epoch but died out around 46,000 years ago, meaning that the creature existed on the continent alongside Indigenous people for over 20,000 years (Roberts et al. Citation2001, 1891). Even after its extinction, the Diprotodon remained in clear cultural memory for Indigenous people, with them exercising caution around its old habitats: the swamps. This account suggests that the original bunyip, and perhaps bunyips in general, are partially based on a cultural memory of the Diprotodon and other megafauna (Holden Citation2001, 88–89).Additional informationNotes on contributorsMo A. QuirkMo A. Quirk is a doctoral candidate in the Studies in Religion Department at the University of Sydney, Australia. Their research interests include regional folklore, colonial interpretations of Indigenous mythology, and popular culture depictions of religious traditions. Their work has been published in Literature & Aesthetics, Journal of Religion, Media, and Digital Culture, and International Journal for the Study of New Religions

Archaeology · Art · Bricolage · Christianity · Colonialism · Context (archaeology · Environmental ethics · Ethnology · Indigenous · Literature · Sociology · Spirituality · Surprise · Traditional knowledge · Anthropological Studies and Insights · Anthropology · Ecology · History · Indigenous Health, Education, and Rights · Pacific and Southeast Asian Studies · Philosophy

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