The video narrates the Dreamtime myth of Bunjil, a creator spirit who lives in the sky as a wedge‑tailed eagle. In the beginning the Earth is covered only by water and storms. Bunjil creates land by dropping boulders and covering them with red dirt, then adds green plants, trees, and grasslands. He populates the world with giant animals, which immediately fall into conflict. To stop the fighting, Bunjil performs a ceremonial ritual that transforms each huge animal into many smaller ones, establishing the diversity of species. After tending the world for ages, Bunjil creates people from wet clay, gives them a set of stewardship rules—respect plants, use whole animals in ceremony, care for health, children, and elders—and sends them to spread across the land. The story ends with Bunjil returning to the sky, his presence symbolised by the red flickering planet Jupiter, reminding listeners of the ongoing relationship between people, nature, and the creator spirit.
Chapters
Bunjil, the Creator Spirit. A Dreamtime story. Bunjil lives in the sky, high above the highest cloud. Bunjil is a man, but when he travels from place to place, he takes flight as a wedge-tailed eagle. A long time ago in the Dreamtime, Bunjil made the earth. Bunjil loves watching the earth. When he first made it, The Earth was completely covered in water. Huge storms swirled across the churning seas. Chaos raged upon the Earth for a very long time. It was fun to watch, but Bunjil became bored with the storms, so he decided to make land. Bunjil flew down to the Earth. Bunjil made huge boulders and dropped them into the sea. When the pile of boulders reached the surface, he covered them with red dirt. The land became flat, red dirt plains as far as Bunjil could see. Bunjil flew back into the sky to rest and watch the earth. Earth's water was the bluest blue, and its land the reddest red. The storms over the sea turned into rain and fell on the red dirt. The land would become muddy and wet. The wind would blow across the land and the sun would bake it. The land would become dry and cracked. Bunjil thought the mud and the cracks were interesting, but he tired of the land being red and flat. So he decided to plant green things of different heights. Bunjil flew down to the earth. Bunjil made trees, bushes, and grasslands. The next time the rain fell, it watered the green things, and rivers formed in the red dirt's biggest cracks. The trees grew leaves, the bushes grew berries, and on the grasslands beautiful flowers of many colors grew and opened to smile up at Bunjil. Bunjil flew back into the sky to rest and watch the earth. He watched the earth for a very long time, It was beautiful to watch the seasons come and the seasons go. But after many lifetimes, Bunjil thought of a way to make Earth even more interesting. He wanted to see things move in and out of the trees, scurry under the bushes, hop across the grasslands, and drink from the rivers. Bunjil flew down to the Earth. Bunjil made all the animals: the kangaroo, the emu, the goanna, the wombat, the echidna, the cockatoo, and all the other animals. But he only made one of each, and they were huge. He thought there would be plenty of room for them to live and get along with each other peacefully. Bunjil flew back into the sky to rest and watch the earth. In no time at all everything that could move was at war. War. Kangaroo and Emu fought over the grass. "This is my favorite field of grass!" Emu would screech at Kangaroo. When Kangaroo would hop away, Emu would speed after him and say, "Now this is my favorite grass!" Goanna and Wombat fought over holes in the ground. Cockatoo and Possum fought over holes in the trees. Everything that moved on Earth was another fight between two more animals. Bunjil wanted the fighting to stop, but he did not know what to do. Finally, after thinking about it for a very long time, Bunjil had an idea. Bunjil flew down to the earth. He called Kangaroo and explained what he was going to do. He performed a special ceremony and then chopped Kangaroo into many small parts. Each part became a little kangaroo the size we have today. Bunjal worked his way through each big animal, performing a ceremony and then making small animals from every little bit of the big one. Nothing was wasted. Unfortunately, while Bunjal was covering the earth with small animals, Emu was hiding. Emu was not changed into smaller emus yet. He stayed huge until the small animals were tired of his bullying, but that's another story. Bunjil flew back into the sky to rest and watch the earth. For years, Bunjil was very proud of his creation. He tended it like a garden, making small adjustments here and there when he noticed an imbalance. He dotted the land with billabongs, created hollows in trees for birds to nest, burnt grasslands, bushes, and trees to help them grow stronger. He loved the earth and all he had created. But after a very, very long time, Bunjil grew tired of babysitting the earth. He wanted to rest in the sky forever, and he knew what to do as his final act of creation. He had been planning it for a very long time. Bunjil flew down to the earth. Bunjil the huge wedge-tailed eagle landed in the middle of what we call Outback Australia. As his feet hit the red dirt, he returned to his human form. Bunjil looked to the east, the west, the north, and the south. In every direction he could see hard, red dirt. He caused a storm to blow in from the sea, and it rained over the land. Bunjil scooped up hands full of wet clay and made people. They were shaped like him, but much smaller. He created many people from each handful of clay. When he was finished, Bunjil called the people together and explained the rules. "You have one job," Bunjil said. "Look after all that I have made. Respect plants, animals, and people." He told them to only take the part of the plant they needed for what they were making. Never kill an entire plant. He said. About the animals, Bunjil told them they should always perform a ceremony honoring the animal immediately after killing it. Bunjil said, "Be sure to use the entire animal." Then Bunjil told them to respect themselves. "To respect yourself," Bunjil said, "be healthy, care for your children, and honor your elders." Bunjil flew back into the sky to rest and watch the earth. The people spread throughout the land and became nations, some to the east, some to the west, some to the north, and some to the south. There were thousands of nations across the land. On very clear nights, when people all around the earth look up, they can see Jupiter flickering red and round and not even realize they are staring into the campfire by which Bunjil rests.
