Pondi
Ngarrindjeri · numen · Ngarrindjeri traditional religion; continuing · Recorded classification
Pondi is the immense ancestral Murray cod at the heart of the Ngurunderi Dreaming. Beginning as a small fish in a narrow watercourse in the upper country, Pondi fled downstream before Ngurunderi's canoe and spear; the great sweeps of the fish's tail widened the stream into the Murray with all its bends, lakes and lagoons. With Nepele's help Ngurunderi finally speared Pondi after it swam into Lake Alexandrina; he then cut the body into pieces and threw them into the water, naming each as it became a living species of fish, so that Pondi is the origin of the river's fishes as well as of the river's form.
Domains
- rivers waterways
- fishing
Powers
- widens the river with its tail
- is divided into the river fishes
Relations
- enemy: NgurunderiThe cod pursued and finally speared by Ngurunderi.Berndt, Berndt & Stanton (1993). A World That Was. (secondary)
Sources
- Pondi is the giant ancestral Murray cod whose flight from Ngurunderi carved the course of the Murray River and whose body, cut up after being speared, became the fishes of the river.: Berndt, R.M., Berndt, C.H. & Stanton, J.E. (1993). A World That Was. Melbourne University Press. (secondary); Taplin, G. (1879). The Narrinyeri. Adelaide. (primary)