Ancestral Beings

The powerful Ngurunderi is the most significant Ancestral Being for Tanganekald people. One episode of the story of Ngurunderi tells of him chasing Pondi, the Murray Cod, down the River Murray, creating the twists and turns of the waters as they travelled. Ngurunderi's brother-in-law Nepeli spears Pondi at Raukkan and Ngurunderi joins him there. Ngurunderi cuts Pondi into pieces. He then throws pieces of Pondi's flesh back into the water where each piece becomes a different type of Coorong fish. The diversity of fish in the Coorong channel link back to these Ancestral Beings. Another of Ngurunderi's many adventures has him chasing his wives along the coast through Ramindjeri country (where Victor Harbour stands today) and eventually over to Kangaroo Island. In doing so he creates a pathway to the land of the dead. He then throws his canoe into the sky and creates the Milky Way.

Prupe and Koromarange were sisters of the same ngaitji. Prupe became increasingly evil and blind as she ate up nearly all of the children in the district. Prupe was determined to eat Koromarange's granddaughter, Koakanggi, and to steal her eyes. Prupe lures Koakanggi to her camp, but Koromarange discovers the plot and tricks Prupe into releasing Koakanggi. Prupe ends up burning down her own camp. There is a crater at Magrath Homestead named Prupangawand where the fire happened. 

Peinyali the emu and Porolgi the brolga is a well-documented story from the south of Tanganekald country. Peinyali hides all but two of her eggs as she is jealous of Porolgi. Peinyali claims that she destroyed the others and Porolgi is tricked into also destroying all but two of her eggs. When Porolgi discovers the trickery she is devastated. In revenge, she and her husband lure Peinyali and her family to cross to an island to feast on native currants. The brolga family causes the water to rise, drowning Peinyali's children. The children can still be seen there today as the Granites (17 km north of Kingston).

A fragment of this story was recorded by Norman Tindale in the 1930s. The story of the Dog and Seal gives an insight into how Tanganekald people see the world around us and story is used to communicate this knowledge and experience. It also shows how we come to see kinds of animals as interrelated rather than separate.
 
The Fur Seal Wentwingarrakuangi used to live on the land and the Wild Dog lived in the sea. The Fur Seal barked like a dog, as it does now. Once they met and made a bargain. 'You can get along better in the water' the Dog said to Seal. 'I could get along better on the shore; give me your teeth, I'll give you mine'. They exchanged teeth and the seal took to the sea while the dog now always lives on the land.