The Bunyip (Part 2) and the Yara Ma Yha Who

Wake up visitor! It's morning and we're hitting the trail to look for the bunyip again. This creature is known to be nocturnal so who knows if we will find it? Grab your umbrella in case of danger, stick to the trail, and don't feed the wildlife!

A HUGE thank you to everyone who listened, downloaded, and rated the podcast and followed me on social media. This concludes season 1 of Supernatural Park. Season 2 will return this winter with new stories and new programs.

Thank you especially to Karen Pierce Gonzalez, who became the first patreon of the Park. Her flash fiction "Amiga Park" was featured on episode 6's Lunchbreak. To see more of her work, please visit folkheartpress.blogspot.com

To learn more about Oodgeroo Noonuccal, her poems, and her work as a political activist, please visit mypoeticside.com/poets/oodgeroononnuccal.

If you’d like to learn more about First Nations Communities and how you can take action to enable Australia's First Nations Peoples provide advice to Australian Parliament on policies and projects that impact their lives, visit FromTheHeart.Com.Au

Sources:
Brown, Susan. “Beware the Bunyip.” World Book, 18 Dec. 2020,

Abookofcreatures. “Yara-Ma-YHA-Who.” A Book of Creatures, 28 June 2015, https://abookofcreatures.com/2015/06/17/yara-ma-yha-who/.

Collections , Special. “The Haunted Swamp: The Mystery of the Hexham Bunyip.” Hunter Living Histories, 18 June 2020, https://hunterlivinghistories.com/2020/06/16/hexham-bunyip/.

Naish, Darren. “Tales from the Cryptozoologicon: Bunyip.” Scientific American Blog Network, Scientific American, 12 Oct. 2013, https://blogs.scientificamerican.com/tetrapod-zoology/tales-from-the-cryptozoologicon-bunyip/.

“Oodgeroo Noonuccal Poems .” Oodgeroo Noonuccal Poems > My Poetic Side, https://mypoeticside.com/poets/oodgeroo-noonuccal-poems.

“Yara-Ma-YHA-Who.” Yara-Ma-Yha-Who | Facts, Information, and Mythology, 13 Oct. 2004, https://pantheon.org/articles/y/yara-ma-yha-who.html. 

Transcript

Today’s episode is brought to you by Great Lakes Great Responsibility. "Great Lakes Great Responsibility is a network of volunteers keeping the Great Lakes basin clean through litter removals. Join their current effort to pick up 1 million pieces of trash by visiting greatlakeslove.org"

This land we live on is full of stories originating from the very earth itself and the people who come from it. What can we learn from those stories? What can we learn from the cultures who share them? I’m Park Ranger Amy and these are the questions we’ll be exploring on today’s episode of Supernatural Park. 

Good morning visitor! Did you sleep well? There’s nothing like camping in the cool spring night under a clear sky full of stars. Even in the night there’s beauty around us. Why don’t you come out when you’re ready and we’ll take a walk around the billabong? The park still hasn’t called us back yet so we may as well get some exercise and explore. 

Great! Looks like you’re all set to go. This is such a strange day; normally the park doesn’t make us camp out. I wonder what is going on that it wants us to stay? It even gave us some umbrellas, one for each of us. It doesn’t look like rain, though I suppose when it’s spring time in Australia the weather can change at a moment's notice. 

The bunyip did not return last night or this morning; so we’ll follow the direction it went and see if we can’t find it again. Maybe there will be more! Are you ready? Let’s head out. 

Now as I mentioned yesterday, when Europeans began to colonize Australia, they learned about the legend of the bunyip and retold its story. As much as they scoffed at the idea of a spirit or creature that could be more powerful than them, they still kept sharing it. Although first nations people warned the Europeans about going into the bushland at night, some naive young men would go out and try to hunt it. Let me tell you about the sightings of a bunyip in Burraghihnbihng (Bur-ang-hin-bing) the first nations people’s name for what is known as The Hexam Swamps. 

In the year 1897, three men named Sam Millgate, Bill Wallace, and Billy Parkes were in the Hexam Swamps, hunting ducks one evening. They heard what they swore was a roar of a lion and saw a creature with eyes like golden orbs in the night. 

These men, who worked in the mines in the city of Plattsburg at the time, were concealed in the brush around 8:30 p.m. There had been no ducks around this particular evening so they prepared to head home. As they gathered up their things a tremendous roar, like that of a lion but much more powerful, rang out in the night. 

They looked in the direction of where the sound came from and all they saw were two golden orbs, about the size of soup plates, at a distance of 20 yards. The loudness of the roar and the sight of those golden orbs entirely took their speech away. They were even too afraid to lift their guns and fire. So all they did was walk home for about two miles without saying a word to each other or bidding each other goodnight as they parted ways. 

After a few days, both Sam and Bill met at the mines where they worked when Bill said “My God Sam, what was it?” 

Sam replied “Don’t know. But I wouldn't take 100 pounds and go there again.”

The serious looks on these men's faces attracted the other miners' attention and  questions were asked. And that evening, the tale of the bunyip was common talk all over the district. 

Many parties were formed to look for the bunyip, some of which never reached the swamp, and others returned with very exaggerated accounts of their experience and they’re so called “bravery”. Others were unable to hear the slightest sound on their visit to the swamp. 

A party of 8 men in particular, who had been drinking heavily at the Queen’s Head Hotel in Plattsburg, had made the decision that the bunyip should be caught dead or alive. They arranged to meet at the hotel the next night at 7 o’clock, with guns and ammunition. But the next night at the agreed meeting time only three men showed up-two brothers, Tom and Bill Scott and the witness of this tale. Maybe there’s a bit of wisdom there visitor; if an idea doesn’t sound as good as it did when you were drunk; don’t pursue it. 

So the three hunters took their muzzle loaders, their spring cart, horse, and two dogs and headed into the swamp, taking a northerly direction. They had gone about 100 yards when they heard the sound of a roar ahead. Again, this roar resembled that of a lion and made the air vibrate around them. They came to a halt, wishing for a moment they had not come. They moved forward in silence and reached the spot where the sound had come from, expecting to be confronted with the monster. But another roar, similar to the one that had just broke the night, came from the right of them about 300 yards away. And so they changed direction and made their way towards some trees when a loud screech sounded in front of them.

The dogs they had brought with them barked and ran ahead, bounding along in the water in front of them. The two men followed them as fast as they could  but then the dogs came running back with their tails down and giving low angry growls as if they were afraid. They tried to coax the dogs into going back but nothing they could say or do would entice them.

Suddenly, something white was seen in the reeds. The hunters called to each other, pointed their guns, and fired. 

Immediately, the white object they had fired at rose up about six feet. They fired again, and hit it. But upon looking at what they had killed, discovered that it was nothing more than a white pelican. They kept pushing forward, the dogs refusing to follow, until it got to be 11 o'clock at night when they decided to turn back and return to the Queen’s Head hotel. And after that night, the bunyip was not seen or heard again in Hexam Swamp for a very long time. 

What do you suppose we can learn from the stories about the bunyip today? Since first nations peoples had warned Europeans not to go near waterways at night, they did anyway. Perhaps it’s best to listen to the wisdom of the people who come from this land, who have called this place home for 65,000 years and have lived among these creatures longer than you or I, before making the irrational decision to charge off into the night in search of a dangerous creature. If they had listened to the warnings of the first nations people, and had feared and respected the bunyip like they had been told to, those who had not returned from the swamp may still be alive, as well as any other animals that were harmed from frightened men and fast trigger fingers. 

Speaking of listening to the wisdom of first nations peoples, let’s have a Lunch Break. I believe the Park has chosen a particular poet today, who was from Minjerribah (Men-jer-eh-bah), Queensland, Australia.

Today’s Lunchbreak features the poem Dreamtime by Oodgeroo Noonuccal (Ood-ger-oo Noon-ick-al)

Here, at the invaders talk-talk place,
We, who are the strangers now,
Come with sorrow in our hearts.
The Bora Ring, the Corroborees,
The sacred ceremonies,
Have all gone, all gone,
Turned to dust on the land,
That once was ours.
Oh spirits from the unhappy past,
Hear us now.
We come, not to disturb your rest.
We come, to mourn your passing.
You, who paid the price,
When the invaders spilt our blood.
Your present generation comes,
Seeking strenght and wisdom in your memory.
The legends tell us,
When our race dies,
So too, dies the land.
May your spirits go with us
From this place.
May the Mother of life,
Wake from her sleeping,
and lead us on to the happy life,
That once was ours.
Oh mother of life,
Oh spirits from the unhappy past,
Hear the cries of your unhappy people,
And let it be so.
Oh spirits- Let it be so.

Oodgeroo Noonuccal (Ood-ger-oo Noon-ick-al) born as Kaltheen Jean Mary Ruska and later known as Kaltheen Walker was a first nations Australian political activist and poet who lived from November 3rd, 1920 to September 16th, 1993. She campaigned for first nations rights and served as the Queensland State Secretary for Federal Council for the Advancement of Aborigines And Torres Strait Islanders, was a part of numerous other political organizations and was a key figure involved in changing Australia's constitution that gave more rights to the country’s first nations peoples.

She was also the first of First Nations origins to have a book of verse published and went on to win several literary awards including the Mary Gilmore Award, the Jessie Litchfield Award, and the Fellowship of Australian Writers’ Award. In 2016 the Queensland Poetry Festival introduced the Oodgeroo Noonuccal Indigenous Poetry Prize in her honor. She is buried at Moongalba (Moon-gal-ba)  on North Stradbroke Island. You can read more about her and her poetry at mypoeticside.com/poets/oodgeroononnuccal.

Look in the distance visitor! Through all this debris and ash from the bushfires two years ago, I can see a treeline up ahead. Perhaps there is a portion of this area that remains mysteriously untouched. I’ll tell you more about the bunyip as we walk over there. Since the bunyip is a nocturnal creature, I imagine we won’t be seeing it anymore on this trip. But there’s so much lore to cover about it, so many stories to tell, that it would be impossible to tell them all here. I highly recommend that, when you go back home, to find books on the bunyip since it  appears in so many different children’s books. There is one in particular called The Bunyip and the Black Swans of Australia that can be found in a book called Fabulous Beasts, a compilation of monster stories from mythology, legend, and fiction and is written by Fiona French and illustrated by Joanna Troughton.

In this story, hunters from a village bring a captured baby bunyip back with them. Many of the locals of the village become upset and protest that they had done so, thinking they are all surely doomed. Sure enough, the mother of the Bunyip and other members of its pack arrive at the village by a great tidal wave.  The enchanted waters of the Bunyip turned the villagers into black swans and those who escape from being touched by the water are carried off and devoured by the angry adult bunyips.

Yes, the story does sound scary. But remember the bunyip started out as a cautionary tale to first nations peoples. There’s a reason they wanted others to respect the waterways and the wilds of Australia. So the lesson of that story? If you see a baby bunyip (or any young animal for that matter) it’s best to leave it there and let nature take its course. Some species of animals leave their young while they look for food. It’s actually the best way to guard them from predators.

Looks like we’re at the tree line; and what a beautiful bunch of trees they are. By the looks of it, these are Ficus macrophylla, or more commonly known as Moreton Bay Figs or Australian banyans. It’s also nicknamed the the strangler fig, because it usually requires a host tree in order to germinate its seeds. The seedling will live on the surface of the plant, until the roots of the tree connect with the ground. That’s what gives them their buttressed roots they are famously known for.

Here’s a fun fact: these trees can only be pollinated by fig wasps and fig wasps can only reproduce in fig flowers. In the scientific community, that’s known as obligate mutualism. It’s an ecological interaction between two species where each species has a benefit.

Since the park hasn’t called us back yet, why don’t we take a moment to wander through these trees and enjoy their beautiful structure. Do you still have your umbrella with you? Good. Perhaps you should open that up and hold it above your head while under these branches. Now that we’re here I understand why the park gave them to us. We’re in the area where Yara Ma Yha Who’s may be living. They look like little frog-like men or women (perhaps similar to the loveland frogman we had seen earlier this year) and are about 4 feet tall with red hair and skin and little suction cups on their fingers. They live in the branches of these trees and will pounce on unsuspecting wanderers below them to suck their blood with their suction cup fingers, and when their blood is almost gone, swallow them whole.  So it’s best to use your umbrella as a shield, just in case.

However, on the off chance you DO end up getting swallowed by a Yara Ma Yha Who, do not be afraid. You’ll still be alive, though probably a little weak from blood loss. After it swallows you it will do a little dance, until you are well inside it’s stomach. It’ll go to the billabong next to us, drink a lot of water and then fall asleep. After it wakes up it will vomit you back up and either poke you with a stick or tickle you to make sure you aren’t feigning death. Visitor. At this point it is IMPERATIVE that you keep faking death. By giving it no response, it will become bored and then go to back sleep. At which point you can take the opportunity to run away.  The main thing to worry about here is not to be swallowed by the Yara Ma Yha Who multiple times. Each time a person becomes swallowed, they will get shorter with each capture until they become a Yara Ma Yha Who themselves.

Have you got all that? Good. Umbrellas up!

-yara Ma Yha Who attacks-

Ah! Visitor! It’s on you! Quick! Use your umbrella to shake it off!

Oh no-we’re surrounded. Why hasn’t the park called us back yet? Quick, get out of these trees; get back to the billabong! Visitor? Visitor! Oh no…

-Back at the park-

Oh, Thank goodness visitor. You're alive. Do you remember what happened? We got caught in a Yara Ma Yha Who ambush. I was able to make it to the lake and hide in some reeds but you were swallowed…don’t worry! It only happened once. I don’t think we’ll be here again for some time so you won’t turn into them. Luckily I was able to sneak in when they fell asleep and bring you back to the Park. I’m so glad you remembered to play dead!

As for the park…well. That’s a story for another day. There’s a reason it wasn’t able to call us away from danger. But it has just enough energy to send you home. Let me help you get up and you can be on your way. Oh-but don’t worry. You’ll be able to return for the new Campfire Stories at the end of this month. I’m going to take care of the park so it feels well enough to get you here again. Sometimes, nature needs a little TLC to work properly.

If you’re ready to head home now, then safe travels visitors. And please remember, although it wasn’t intentional today, do not feed the wildlife.

Sources cited from today’s episode can be found in the show description. If you’d like to learn more about First Nations Communities and how you can take action to enable Australia's First Nations Peoples provide advice to Australian Parliament on policies and projects that impact their lives, visit FromTheHeart.Com.Au

If you have a short story, flash fiction or  poem you would like to feature on a future episode’s Lunch Break, please send the written version along with a short bio of yourself to thesupernaturalpark@gmail.com

If you liked this episode and want to hear more as well as gain access to behind the scenes content and in the works of poetry, visit my patreon account at patreon.com/supernaturalpark. You can also find the website, facebook, twitter, and Instagram for the podcast by searching Supernatural Park

The music intro used in the show is titled “Magic Forest” by Kevin Macleod. To hear the full version of the song or hear to hear more of his music, please visit incomptech.com

Thank you so much to the dedicated visitors of Supernatural Park. This concludes season 1 of the podcast. Season 2 will return this winter with new content. A special thanks to Karen Pierce Gonzalez of Folk Heart Press for becoming the Park’s first patron. Her flash fiction “Amiga Park” was featured in episode 6’s Lunch Break. To read more of her work, visit her website at Folkheart Press Blog.blogspot.com 

Sources:

Brown, Susan. “Beware the Bunyip.” World Book, 18 Dec. 2020,

Abookofcreatures. “Yara-Ma-YHA-Who.” A Book of Creatures, 28 June 2015, https://abookofcreatures.com/2015/06/17/yara-ma-yha-who/.

Collections , Special. “The Haunted Swamp: The Mystery of the Hexham Bunyip.” Hunter Living Histories, 18 June 2020, https://hunterlivinghistories.com/2020/06/16/hexham-bunyip/.

Naish, Darren. “Tales from the Cryptozoologicon: Bunyip.” Scientific American Blog Network, Scientific American, 12 Oct. 2013, https://blogs.scientificamerican.com/tetrapod-zoology/tales-from-the-cryptozoologicon-bunyip/.

“Oodgeroo Noonuccal Poems .” Oodgeroo Noonuccal Poems > My Poetic Side, https://mypoeticside.com/poets/oodgeroo-noonuccal-poems.

“Yara-Ma-YHA-Who.” Yara-Ma-Yha-Who | Facts, Information, and Mythology, 13 Oct. 2004, https://pantheon.org/articles/y/yara-ma-yha-who.html.