In Australia

Australia

Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...

n Aboriginal

Australian Aborigines

Australian Aborigines , also called Aboriginal Australians, from the latin ab originem , are people who are indigenous to most of the Australian continentthat is, to mainland Australia and the island of Tasmania...

 mythology

Australian Aboriginal mythology

Australian Aboriginal myths are the stories traditionally performed by Aboriginal peoples within each of the language groups across Australia....

, Bunjil the eagle

Wedge-tailed Eagle

The Wedge-tailed Eagle , sometimes known as the Eaglehawk in its native range, is the largest bird of prey in Australia, but it is also found in southern New Guinea. It has long, fairly broad wings, fully feathered legs, and an unmistakable wedge-shaped tail...

 (or eaglehawk) is a creator deity

Creator deity

A creator deity is a deity responsible for the creation of the world . In monotheism, the single God is often also the creator deity, while polytheistic traditions may or may not have creator deities...

, culture hero

Culture hero

A culture hero is a mythological hero specific to some group who changes the world through invention or discovery...

 and ancestral being. In the Kulin

Kulin

The Kulin nation, was an alliance of five Indigenous Australian nations in Central Victoria, Australia, prior to European settlement. Their collective territory extended to around Port Phillip and Western Port, up into the Great Dividing Range and the Loddon and Goulburn River valleys. To their...

 nation in central Victoria

Victoria (Australia)

Victoria is the second most populous state in Australia. Geographically the smallest mainland state, Victoria is bordered by New South Wales, South Australia, and Tasmania on Boundary Islet to the north, west and south respectively....

 he was regarded as one of two moiety ancestors

Australian Aboriginal kinship

Australian Aboriginal kinship is the system of law governing social interaction, particularly marriage, in traditional Australian Aboriginal culture...

, the other being the trickster

Trickster

In mythology, and in the study of folklore and religion, a trickster is a god, goddess, spirit, man, woman, or anthropomorphic animal who plays tricks or otherwise disobeys normal rules and conventional behavior. It is suggested by Hansen that the term "Trickster" was probably first used in this...

 Crow

Crow (Australian Aboriginal mythology)

In Australian Aboriginal mythology, Crow is a trickster, culture hero and ancestral being. In the Kulin nation in central Victoria he was known as Waa and was regarded as one of two moiety ancestors, the other being the more sombre eaglehawk Bunjil...

. Bunjil has two wives and a son, Binbeal

Binbeal

In Australian aboriginal mythology, Binbeal is the god of rainbows and a son of Bunjil....

 the rainbow

Rainbow

A rainbow is an optical and meteorological phenomenon that causes a spectrum of light to appear in the sky when the Sun shines on to droplets of moisture in the Earth's atmosphere. It takes the form of a multicoloured arc...

. His brother is Balayang

Balayang

In the mythology of the Aboriginal people of south-eastern Australia , Balayang the bat was a brother of Bunjil the eaglehawk, but lived apart from him. Once, Bunjil asked him to come and live with him, but Balayang replied that Bunjil's country was too dry and that Bunjil ought to come and live...

 the bat

Bat

Bats are mammals of the order Chiroptera "hand" and pteron "wing") whose forelimbs form webbed wings, making them the only mammals naturally capable of true and sustained flight. By contrast, other mammals said to fly, such as flying squirrels, gliding possums, and colugos, glide rather than fly,...

. He is assisted by six wirmums or shamans who represent the clans of the Eaglehawk moiety: Djurt-djurt the Nankeen Kestrel

Nankeen Kestrel

The Australian Kestrel or Nankeen Kestrel is one of the smallest falcons, and unlike many, does not rely on speed to catch its prey. Instead, it simply perches in an exposed position, but it also has a distinctive technique of hovering over crop and grasslands...

, Thara the quail hawk, Yukope the parakeet, Dantum the parrot, Tadjeri the brushtail possum

Brushtail possum

The brushtail possums are the members of the genus, Trichosurus, a genus of marsupial in the Phalangeridae family.It contains the following species:*Northern Brushtail Possum, Trichosurus arnhemensis...

 and Turnong the gliding possum.

According to one legend, after creating the mountains, rivers, flora, fauna, and laws for humans to live by, Bunjil gathered his wives and sons then asked Crow, who had charge of the winds, to open his bags and let out some wind. Crow opened a bag in which he kept his whirlwinds, creating a cyclone which uprooted trees. Bunjil asked for a stronger wind. Crow complied, and Bunjil and his people were blown upwards into the sky. Bunjil himself became the star Altair and his two wives, the black swans, became stars on either side.

A Bunurong

Bunurong

The Bunurong are Indigenous Australians of the Kulin nation, who occupy South-Central Victoria, Australia. Prior to European settlement, they lived as all people of the Kulin nation lived, sustainably on the land, predominantly as hunters and gatherers, for tens of thousands of years...

 story tells of a time of conflict among the Kulin nations, when people argued and fought with one another, neglecting their families and the land. The mounting chaos and disunity angered the sea, which began to rise until it had covered the plains and threatened to flood the entire country. The people went to Bunjil and asked him to help them stop the sea from rising; Bunjil agreed to do so, but only if the people would change their ways and respect the laws and each other. He then walked out to the sea, raised his spear and ordered the water to stop rising.

It is believed by the Kulin and other Indigenous peoples that, in the Dreamtime, Bunjil took shelter in a cave located in what is now the Black Range State Park

Black Range State Park

Black Range State Park is a state park located northwest of Melbourne, near the town of Cavendish, covering an area of 117 square kilometres . In addition to natural flora and fauna, the park protects Aboriginal art and occupation sites of the Jardwadjali people...

 in Victoria. Bunjil's Shelter is today a popular tourist attraction and one of the most important Aboriginal rock art sites in the region.