Bellin-bellin
Kulin · numen · dreaming creator era · Recorded classification
Bellin-bellin the musk crow had charge of the winds in the tradition of the Kulin peoples, keeping the whirlwinds shut up in his skin bags. When Bunjil had finished his work of creation and taught the Kulin the arts of life, he told Bellin-bellin to open his bags; the musk crow loosed a terrific whirlwind which swept Bunjil and all his people up to the sky-country, where they remain as stars, Bunjil still looking down on the Kulin. Bellin-bellin is a distinct being from Waang the crow, the moiety ancestor, and appears in both William Thomas's account printed by Brough Smyth and the version Howitt obtained from the Wurundjeri.
Domains
- winds
- crows
Powers
- to keep the whirlwinds tied up in his skin bags
- to loose the winds at Bunjil's command
Relations
- subordinate to: BunjilBellin-bellin opened his bags at Bunjil's order, releasing the whirlwind that swept Bunjil and his people up to the sky-country.A.W. Howitt, The Native Tribes of South-East Australia (London: Macmillan, 1904), p. 128 (secondary)
Sources
- Bellin-bellin the musk crow is the keeper of the winds in Kulin tradition, who kept the whirlwinds in skin bags and, at Bunjil's command, released the blast that carried Bunjil and his people up to the sky, where they shine as stars.: A.W. Howitt, The Native Tribes of South-East Australia (London: Macmillan, 1904), p. 128 (secondary); R. Brough Smyth, The Aborigines of Victoria, vol. 1 (Melbourne: Government Printer, 1878) (secondary); Aldo Massola, Bunjil's Cave: Myths, Legends and Superstitions of the Aborigines of South-East Australia (Melbourne: Lansdowne Press, 1968) (secondary)