Abob

Abob and Kos are a pair of culture-heroes of the eastern Torres Strait, their names glossed as 'Blowfly' and 'Sardine'. Born on Mer, the two travelled together through the eastern and central islands and on toward the Papuan mainland and the Kiwai, ordering the country as they went — shaping reefs and passages, opening wells and springs, and carrying custom and practical knowledge from island to island. Their joint journey is one of the connecting narratives by which Islander tradition maps kinship and exchange across the strait, and Haddon set the tale down among the folk-stories of the eastern islanders.

Domains

• culture bringing
• shaping of country

Powers

• shapes reefs, passages and wells along the way

Epithets

• Abob — BlowflyHaddon, A.C. (ed.) 1908. Reports of the Cambridge Anthropological Expedition to Torres Straits, Vol. VI. Cambridge University Press. (primary)

Relations

• companion: KosAbob and Kos are the inseparable pair of eastern culture-heroes who journey together from Mer toward the Papuan mainland.Haddon, A.C. (ed.) 1908. Reports of the Cambridge Anthropological Expedition to Torres Straits, Vol. VI. Cambridge University Press. (primary)

Sources

• Abob ('Blowfly') and Kos ('Sardine') were born on Mer and travelled together through the eastern and central islands toward the Papuan coast and the Kiwai, ordering the country and spreading custom and knowledge.: Haddon, A.C. (ed.) 1908. Reports of the Cambridge Anthropological Expedition to Torres Straits, Vol. VI. Cambridge University Press. (primary)