Djurt-djurt
Kulin · numen · dreaming creator era · Recorded classification
Djurt-djurt the nankeen kestrel is one of the six young men of Bunjil recorded by Howitt from the Wurundjeri elder William Barak: Djurt-djurt and Thara the two hawks, Yukope the green parakeet and Dantum the blue-mountain parrot, and Tadjeri the brush-tailed possum and Turnung the glider possum. The six were powerful wizards who, paired, looked after the people for Bunjil and carried out his orders; the Wurundjeri remembered them by counting them on the fingers of the two hands. With Thara he was sent to punish Balayang the bat, firing his country so that the bat was scorched permanently black, and when Bunjil went up to the sky-country in the whirlwind, his young men went with him and remain there as stars.
Domains
- birds of prey
- retribution
Powers
- to carry out Bunjil's orders and avenge insults to him
- to work powerful magic as one of Bunjil's wizards
Relations
- subordinate to: BunjilDjurt-djurt is one of Bunjil's six young men, who in pairs looked after the people for him and carried out his orders.A.W. Howitt, The Native Tribes of South-East Australia (London: Macmillan, 1904), pp. 128-129 (secondary)
- companion: TharaDjurt-djurt the nankeen kestrel and Thara the quail hawk form one of the three pairs of Bunjil's young men and act together in the legends.A.W. Howitt, The Native Tribes of South-East Australia (London: Macmillan, 1904), pp. 128-129 (secondary)
- enemy: BalayangSent by Bunjil against Balayang the bat, Djurt-djurt helped set fire to Balayang's country, scorching him black.A.W. Howitt, The Native Tribes of South-East Australia (London: Macmillan, 1904), pp. 128-130 (secondary)
Sources
- Djurt-djurt the nankeen kestrel is one of Bunjil's six young men, a powerful wizard paired with Thara the quail hawk, who executed Bunjil's punishment of Balayang and ascended with Bunjil to the sky as a star.: A.W. Howitt, The Native Tribes of South-East Australia (London: Macmillan, 1904), pp. 128-129 (secondary); Aldo Massola, Bunjil's Cave: Myths, Legends and Superstitions of the Aborigines of South-East Australia (Melbourne: Lansdowne Press, 1968) (secondary)