Wahn the Crow
Kamilaroi · numen · dreaming creator era · Recorded classification
Wahn the crow appears repeatedly in the Kamilaroi/Euahlayi tales collected by K. Langloh Parker as a named ancestral being of trickster character. Kamilaroi and Euahlayi star knowledge recorded from community elders by Fuller and colleagues identifies Wahn with the bright southern star Canopus, one of a group of Dreaming ancestors fixed in the sky. The crow ancestor is a major figure across southeastern Australian traditions, and Wahn is his individuated Kamilaroi/Yuwaalaraay form.
Domains
- crows and trickery
- stars
Powers
- to deceive other ancestral beings through cunning and disguise
Sources
- Wahn is the crow, a trickster among the Kamilaroi/Euahlayi Dreaming ancestors, identified in star knowledge with Canopus.: K. Langloh Parker, Australian Legendary Tales, David Nutt, London, 1896 (secondary); R.S. Fuller, M.G. Anderson, R.P. Norris & M. Trudgett, 'The Astronomy of the Kamilaroi and Euahlayi Peoples and Their Neighbours', Australian Aboriginal Studies 2014/2, pp. 3-27 (secondary)