Baiame
Encyclopedia
In Australia
n Aboriginal
mythology
Baiame (Baayami or Baayama) was the Creator God
and Sky Father in the dreaming of several language groups (e.g. Kamilaroi
, Eora
, Darkinjung, and Wiradjuri
), of Indigenous Australians
of South-East Australia
.
The Baiame myth tells how Baiame came down from the sky to the land, and created rivers, mountains, and forests. He then gave the people their laws of life, traditions, songs, and culture. He also created the first initiation
site. This is known as a bora
; a place where boys were initiated into manhood. When he had finished, he returned to the sky, and people called him the Sky Hero or All Father or Sky Father.
He is said to be married to Birrahgnooloo
(Birran-gnulu), who is often identified as an emu
, and with whom he has a son Daramulum
(Dharramalan). In other stories Daramulum is said to be brother to Baiame.
It was forbidden to mention or talk about the name of Baiame publicly. Women were not allowed to see drawings of Baiame nor approach Baiame sites—which are often male initiation sites (boras).
In rock paintings Baiame is often depicted as a human figure with a large head-dress or hairstyle, with lines of footsteps nearby. He is always painted in front view; Daramulum is drawn in profile. Baiame is often shown with internal decorations such as waistbands, vertical lines running down the body, bands and dots. The dots are said to have given him power over smallpox
.
adopted the name of Baiame for the Christian God when translating into Gamilaraay
(the language of the Kamilaroi
).
It is sometimes suggested that Baiame was a construct of early Christian missionaries. Doubt is cast on this by a reference to Baiame apparently dating back to 1830-1840 by K Langloh Parker
.
in New South Wales
, Australia, he was believed to have created all of the mountains, lakes, rivers and caves in the area. After he finished creating, he jumped back up to the spirit world from Mount Yengo
, which he flattened. Its flat top can still be seen to this day, near Wollombi Valley. A cave near Milbrodale contains many Wiradjuri
Aboriginal paintings, including a large figure of a man who may be Baiame. It is popularly known as the Baiame Cave and is part of a series of rock shelters on an area of 80 hectares. The site is listed on the Register of the National Estate
.
It depicts him with enormous, long, arms and large staring eyes.
customs were not written down and recorded, the effect of the Stolen Generation affected all. To the several local tribes, the Wiradjuri
, Darkinjung, Wonnarua
, Awabakal
, Worimi, Biripi and Kamilaroi
, it is another piece to the puzzle, helping them uncover lost ceremonies and traditions.
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
n Aboriginal
Indigenous Australians
Indigenous Australians are the original inhabitants of the Australian continent and nearby islands. The Aboriginal Indigenous Australians migrated from the Indian continent around 75,000 to 100,000 years ago....
mythology
Mythology
The term mythology can refer either to the study of myths, or to a body or collection of myths. As examples, comparative mythology is the study of connections between myths from different cultures, whereas Greek mythology is the body of myths from ancient Greece...
Baiame (Baayami or Baayama) was the Creator God
God
God is the English name given to a singular being in theistic and deistic religions who is either the sole deity in monotheism, or a single deity in polytheism....
and Sky Father in the dreaming of several language groups (e.g. Kamilaroi
Kamilaroi
The Kamilaroi or Gamilaraay are an Indigenous Australian people who are from the area between Tamworth and Goondiwindi, and west to Narrabri, Walgett and Lightning Ridge, in northern New South Wales...
, Eora
Eora
The Eora are the Aboriginal people of the Sydney area, south to the Georges River, north to the Hawkesbury River, and west to Parramatta. The indigenous people used this word to describe where they came from to the British. "Eora" was then used by the British to refer to those Aboriginal people...
, Darkinjung, and Wiradjuri
Wiradjuri
The Wiradjuri are an Indigenous Australian group of central New South Wales.In the 21st century, major Wiradjuri groups live in Condobolin, Peak Hill, Narrandera and Griffith...
), of Indigenous Australians
Indigenous Australians
Indigenous Australians are the original inhabitants of the Australian continent and nearby islands. The Aboriginal Indigenous Australians migrated from the Indian continent around 75,000 to 100,000 years ago....
of South-East Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
.
Description and history
Initiation
Initiation is a rite of passage ceremony marking entrance or acceptance into a group or society. It could also be a formal admission to adulthood in a community or one of its formal components...
site. This is known as a bora
Bora (Australian)
A Bora is the name given both to an initiation ceremony of Indigenous Australians, and to the site on which the initiation is performed. At such a site, young boys are transformed into men. The initiation ceremony differs from culture to culture, but often involves circumcision and scarification,...
; a place where boys were initiated into manhood. When he had finished, he returned to the sky, and people called him the Sky Hero or All Father or Sky Father.
He is said to be married to Birrahgnooloo
Birrahgnooloo
In Australian Aboriginal mythology , Birrahgnooloo is a goddess of fertility who would send floods if properly asked. Ash et al. spell her name as 'Birra-ngulu', i.e...
(Birran-gnulu), who is often identified as an emu
Emu
The Emu Dromaius novaehollandiae) is the largest bird native to Australia and the only extant member of the genus Dromaius. It is the second-largest extant bird in the world by height, after its ratite relative, the ostrich. There are three subspecies of Emus in Australia...
, and with whom he has a son Daramulum
Daramulum
In several of the Aboriginal cultures of South-East Australia such as Wiradyuri, Kamilaroi, Eora, Darkinjung, and Guringai, Daramulum is a son of Baiame and his emu-wife Birrahgnooloo....
(Dharramalan). In other stories Daramulum is said to be brother to Baiame.
It was forbidden to mention or talk about the name of Baiame publicly. Women were not allowed to see drawings of Baiame nor approach Baiame sites—which are often male initiation sites (boras).
In rock paintings Baiame is often depicted as a human figure with a large head-dress or hairstyle, with lines of footsteps nearby. He is always painted in front view; Daramulum is drawn in profile. Baiame is often shown with internal decorations such as waistbands, vertical lines running down the body, bands and dots. The dots are said to have given him power over smallpox
Smallpox
Smallpox was an infectious disease unique to humans, caused by either of two virus variants, Variola major and Variola minor. The disease is also known by the Latin names Variola or Variola vera, which is a derivative of the Latin varius, meaning "spotted", or varus, meaning "pimple"...
.
Link with the Christian God
The missionary William RidleyWilliam Ridley (Presbyterian missionary)
William Ridley was an English Presbyterian missionary who studied Australian Aboriginal languages, particularly Gamilaraay....
adopted the name of Baiame for the Christian God when translating into Gamilaraay
Gamilaraay language
The Gamilaraay or Kamilaroi language is a Pama–Nyungan language of the Wiradhuric subgroup found mostly in South East Australia. It was the traditional language of the Kamilaroi people, but is now moribund—according to Ethnologue, there were only 3 speakers left in 1997...
(the language of the Kamilaroi
Kamilaroi
The Kamilaroi or Gamilaraay are an Indigenous Australian people who are from the area between Tamworth and Goondiwindi, and west to Narrabri, Walgett and Lightning Ridge, in northern New South Wales...
).
It is sometimes suggested that Baiame was a construct of early Christian missionaries. Doubt is cast on this by a reference to Baiame apparently dating back to 1830-1840 by K Langloh Parker
K Langloh Parker
Catherine Langloh Parker was a writer who lived in Northern New South Wales in the late nineteenth century.She is best known for recording the stories of the Aboriginal people around her...
.
Portrayal in the Lake Macquarie Area
In the area surrounding Lake MacquarieLake Macquarie (New South Wales)
Lake Macquarie is Australia's largest coastal salt water lake, covering an area of in the Hunter Region of New South Wales with most of the City of Lake Macquarie's residents living near its shores. It is connected to the Tasman Sea by a short channel. Lake Macquarie is twice as large as Sydney...
in New South Wales
New South Wales
New South Wales is a state of :Australia, located in the east of the country. It is bordered by Queensland, Victoria and South Australia to the north, south and west respectively. To the east, the state is bordered by the Tasman Sea, which forms part of the Pacific Ocean. New South Wales...
, Australia, he was believed to have created all of the mountains, lakes, rivers and caves in the area. After he finished creating, he jumped back up to the spirit world from Mount Yengo
Mount Yengo
Mount Yengo is a mountain located several kilometers west from Wollombi, New South Wales, Australia, in Yengo National Park. The mountain is significant in Aboriginal mythology, as the Creator God, Biamie of the several neighbouring tribes surrounding the area.-References:...
, which he flattened. Its flat top can still be seen to this day, near Wollombi Valley. A cave near Milbrodale contains many Wiradjuri
Wiradjuri
The Wiradjuri are an Indigenous Australian group of central New South Wales.In the 21st century, major Wiradjuri groups live in Condobolin, Peak Hill, Narrandera and Griffith...
Aboriginal paintings, including a large figure of a man who may be Baiame. It is popularly known as the Baiame Cave and is part of a series of rock shelters on an area of 80 hectares. The site is listed on the Register of the National Estate
Register of the National Estate
The Register of the National Estate is a listing of natural and cultural heritage places in Australia. The listing was initially compiled between 1976 and 2003 by the Australian Heritage Commission. The register is now maintained by the Australian Heritage Council...
.
It depicts him with enormous, long, arms and large staring eyes.
Significance
During the Stolen Generation many tribes lost information about their culture, traditional beliefs, stories and ceremonies, and because AboriginalIndigenous Australians
Indigenous Australians are the original inhabitants of the Australian continent and nearby islands. The Aboriginal Indigenous Australians migrated from the Indian continent around 75,000 to 100,000 years ago....
customs were not written down and recorded, the effect of the Stolen Generation affected all. To the several local tribes, the Wiradjuri
Wiradjuri
The Wiradjuri are an Indigenous Australian group of central New South Wales.In the 21st century, major Wiradjuri groups live in Condobolin, Peak Hill, Narrandera and Griffith...
, Darkinjung, Wonnarua
Wonnarua
The Wonnarua people are an Aboriginal Australian people whose territory is located in the Hunter Valley of Australia.-External links:* Accessed 15 May 2010* Accessed 15 May 2010* Accessed 16 May 2010...
, Awabakal
Awabakal
Awabakal or Awabagal may refer to:*Awabakal people*Awabakal language...
, Worimi, Biripi and Kamilaroi
Kamilaroi
The Kamilaroi or Gamilaraay are an Indigenous Australian people who are from the area between Tamworth and Goondiwindi, and west to Narrabri, Walgett and Lightning Ridge, in northern New South Wales...
, it is another piece to the puzzle, helping them uncover lost ceremonies and traditions.
See also
- Aboriginal mythologyAustralian Aboriginal mythologyAustralian Aboriginal myths are the stories traditionally performed by Aboriginal peoples within each of the language groups across Australia....
- Aboriginal sites of New South WalesAboriginal sites of New South WalesAboriginal sites of New South Wales consist of a large number of places in the Australian state of New South Wales where it is still possible to see visible signs of the activities and culture of the Australian Aborigines—or Indigenous Australians—who occupied these areas before the arrival of...