Kunapipi

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Kunapipi, also spelt Gunabibi, ('womb')^[1] is a mother goddess and the patron deity of many heroes in Australian Aboriginal mythology. She gave birth to human beings as well as to most animals and plants. Now a vague, otiose, spiritual being, "the old woman" (Kadjeri)^[1] once emerged from the waters and travelled across the land with a band of heroes and heroines,^[2] and during the ancestral period she gave birth to men and women as well as creating the natural species. She could transform herself either into a male or female version of the Rainbow Serpent.

Origins and diffusion[]

The Kunapipi cult seems to have arisen among tribes in the Roper and Rose River areas. In the Alawa version she is said to have emerged from the waters.^[1] From there it is thought to have gradually spread north-east into Arnhem Land, where it existed as a complementary masculine form with Djanggawul, a female figure.^[3] According to Tony Swain, Kunapipi traditions, especially regarding her northern origins, reflect the impact of Sulawesi/Macassar influences, via contacts with trepang traders, and possibly the pre-Islamic rice mother cult, which survived down to modern times among the Toraja and Bugis.^[4]

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