Bulthuku, the Shore Bird

Bulthuku is the shore-bird ancestor of the Lardil and the sister of the Rainbow Serpent Thuwathu. In the central Lardil creation narrative she sought shelter for herself and her infant, Jindirrbu (the willy-wagtail), from cold rain, but Thuwathu refused them and the child died of the cold. In revenge Bulthuku set fire to the serpent's humpy; the burning Thuwathu then rolled and writhed across the country, an act that formed the swamps, creeks and rivers of Mornington Island. Bulthuku is thus the agent whose grief and retribution precipitate the creation of the watered landscape.

Domains

• fire and retribution
• shore birds

Powers

• to set fire to the serpent's shelter in revenge for her child

Epithets

• Bulthuku

Relations

• sibling: Thuwathu, the Rainbow Serpent

Sources

• Dick Roughsey (Goobalathaldin), The Rainbow Serpent (Sydney: William Collins, 1975).
• David McKnight, People, Countries, and the Rainbow Serpent: Systems of Classification among the Lardil of Mornington Island (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1999).