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Wati-kutjara

Mythological characters

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4
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11.97
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Words
184
Native text
1316 characters
Dictionary match
74%
Revision
1306787116 · 2025-08-19T17:56:46Z
Key vocabulary

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Overview

In Western Australian Aboriginal mythology, the Wati kutjara (also Wati kutjarra or Wadi Gudjara) are two young lizard-men (totem: goanna) who, in the Dreaming, travelled all over the Western Desert. In English, their songline is often called the Two Men Dreaming. The Wati kutjara are ubiquitous in the mythology of the Western Desert; Their journey extends for thousands of kilometres, stretching from the Kimberley to South Australia.

Narratives

Wati kutjara is one of the most important Dreamings around Balgo; Then they decide to travel about, and eventually decide to head south-east in order to enlighten the people there who do not possess the rituals known to the Dreaming heroes. As they travel, they sing of the animals, plants and geographic features that they encounter, naming them and calling them into being. They also created sacred objects. In other versions, the Wati kutjara are the ones attempting to seduce the same group of women.

Art and literature

*Locations and events associated with the Wati kutjara are frequently the subject of Aboriginal Art from Balgo and its outstations. draws upon Wati kutjara narratives, although the place-names appear to have been disguised. (Note. This was done t protect the region, and the people concerned: author)

See also

*Tingari, another major song-myth cycle from the Western Desert *Inma board

Language & communication

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