Wurruri

Languages originated from an ill-tempered old woman. In remote times an old woman named Wurruri lived towards the east, and generally walked with a large stick in her hand to scatter the fires round which others were sleeping. Wurruri at length died. Greatly delighted at this circumstance, they sent messengers in all directions to give notice of her death. Men, women, and children came, not to lament, but to show their joy. The Raminjerar were the first, who fell upon the corpse and began eating the flesh, and immediately began to speak intelligibly. The other tribes to the eastward, arriving later, ate the contents of the intestines, which caused them to speak a language slightly different. The northern tribes came last, and devoured the intestines and all that remained, and immediately spoke a language differing still more from that of the Raminjerar.

References

Source

  • Woods, J. D. (1879). The Native Tribes of South Australia. Adelaide: E. S. Wigg & Son, p.

This article incorporates text from The Native Tribes of South Australia (1879) by J. D. Woods, which is in the public domain.