Thara
Kulin · numen · dreaming creator era · Recorded classification
Thara the quail hawk is one of the six young men of Bunjil recorded by Howitt from the Wurundjeri elder William Barak, paired with Djurt-djurt the nankeen kestrel; the other pairs were Yukope the green parakeet with Dantum the blue-mountain parrot, and Tadjeri the brush-tailed possum with Turnung the glider possum. All six were powerful wizards who looked after the people for Bunjil and carried out his orders, and the Wurundjeri remembered them by counting them on the fingers: Thara was the left thumb and Djurt-djurt the right. With Djurt-djurt he burned the country of Balayang the bat at Bunjil's bidding, and when Bunjil ascended in the whirlwind to the sky-country 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: BunjilThara 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: Djurt-djurtThara the quail hawk and Djurt-djurt the nankeen kestrel 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, Thara helped set fire to Balayang's country, scorching him black.Aldo Massola, Bunjil's Cave: Myths, Legends and Superstitions of the Aborigines of South-East Australia (Melbourne: Lansdowne Press, 1968) (secondary)
Sources
- Thara the quail hawk is one of Bunjil's six young men, a powerful wizard paired with Djurt-djurt the nankeen kestrel, 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)