ABSTRACT
The analysis of Dreamtime learning in an aboriginal setting will provide one ethnographic answer to the question of how culture is brought from the world to the mind. The informant begins by announcing that two Wawilak sisters had walked from the "far interior" of Wawilak Kardao Kardao country to the Arafura Sea. The Wawilak narrative is linked with the most important rites of male initiation in the region. The Djunkgao narrative provides the imagery for Murngin Narra ceremonies, in which clans reveal their most sacred ranga to young men who are deemed ready to see them and understand their significance. While the Djunkgao and the Wawilak tales are important throughout much of northeast and central Arnhem Land, there is considerable local variation in the details of both narratives. Thus, the specific "map" defining the narrative journey as well as which events will be highlighted will vary depending upon which clan is telling the story.
