* Pictures are from Aleister Crowleys Book Of Thoth.
Yawkyawk is a word in the Kunwinjku/Kunwok language of Western Arnhem Land meaning ‘young woman’ and ‘young woman spirit being’. The different groups of Kunwinjku people (one of the Eastern dialect groups call themselves Kuninjku) each have Yawkyawk mythologies, which relate to specific locations in clan estates. These mythologies are represented in bark paintings and sculptures of Yawkyawk beings. There are also a few examples of rock art images of these beings.
The Yawkyawk is a female creature originating in the mythology of the Kunwinjku people of Western Arnhem Land, Northern Territory, Australia. It is also known as ngal-kunburriyaymi. It is a creature similar to the typical mermaid in appearance, and has seaweed for hair.
The female water spirits Yawkyawk or Ngalkunburriyaymi are perhaps the most enigmatic of mythological themes. Sometimes compared to the European notion of mermaids, they exist as spiritual beings living in freshwater streams and rock pools, particularly those in the stone country. The spirit Yawkyawk is usually described and depicted with the tail of a fish. Thus the Kuninjku people sometimes call them ngalberddjenj which literally means ‘the young woman who has a tail like a fish’. They have long hair, which is associated with trailing blooms of green algae (called man-bak in Kuninjku). At times they leave their aquatic homes to walk about on dry land, particularly at night.
Aboriginal people believe that in the beginning most animals were humans. During the time of the creation of landscapes and plants and animals, these ancestral heroes in human form transmutated into their animal forms via a series of various significant events now recorded as oral mythologies. The creation ancestor Yawkyawk travelled the country in human form and changed into the form of Ngalkunburriyaymi as a result of various ancestral adventures. Today the Kuninjku believe that Ngalkunburriyaymi are alive and well and living in freshwater sites in a number of sacred locations.
Some features of a respective country are equated with body parts of Yawkyawk. For example a bend in a river or creek may be said to be ‘the tail of the Yawkyawk, a billabong may be ‘the head of the Yawkyawk and so on. Thus different groups can be linked together by means of a shared mythology featured in the landscape, which crosscuts clan and language group boundaries.
SOURCE: Maningrida Arts & Culture
Yawkyawk, in the Kunwinjku language of Western Arnhem Land, refers to young female water spirits, often compared to mermaids, with a fish-like tail and long hair resembling seaweed.
“Yawkyawk” translates to “young woman” or “young woman spirit being” in the Kunwinjku language.
Appearance:
They are depicted as having the head and torso of a woman, a scaly abdomen, and the tail of a fish. Habitat:
Yawkyawk are believed to inhabit freshwater pools, streams, and billabongs in Western and Central Arnhem Land.
Cultural Significance:They are considered water spirits and are often associated with the Rainbow Serpent (Ngalyod).
The Kuninjku people believe that Yawkyawk were once young sisters who were transformed into these spirits after trespassing on sacred ground.
Their long hair is often depicted as trailing blooms of green algae (manbak in Kuninjku).
They are believed to protect the billabongs, streams, and waterways.
In Kundedjnjenghmi language, they are known as Ngalkunburriyaymi.
Yawkyawk are often represented in rock art, bark paintings, and sculptures.
Yawkyawk, 1985, by Balang Nakurulk: A bark painting depicting Yawkyawk, exhibited at the Art Gallery of New South Wales.
Yawkyawk sculptures: National Museum of Australia has a collection of Yawkyawk sculptures.
Mirror Mirror on the wall, Who is the Faerest of us all? The Truth are we in the skies you see, The Balance of Fire And Water is Elektricity.
