Tumana

A spirit believed by Kaitish women to make the noise of the bullroarer. They regard him in the same light in which the Arrernte women and children regard Twanyirika.

Tumana was also the name given to two individuals who in the Alcheringa used to hear Atnatu swinging his tjurunga up in the sky. They themselves sprang from tjurunga, and when they heard Atnatu they tried to imitate him. At first they used pieces of bark, but were not successful until they tried mulga wood. They were finally killed by two wild dogs, but, close by them, there lived two individuals named Kallidinlidina and Atnabubu. They had seen what the Tumana did, and so, when the latter were dead, they were able to show the other men how to make and swing the tjurunga.

References

Source

  • Spencer, Sir Baldwin. (1904). Northern Tribes of Central Australia. London: Macmillan, p. 347.

This article incorporates text from Northern Tribes of Central Australia (1904) by Sir Baldwin Spencer, which is in the public domain.