Indigenous Astronomers: Tchingal – The Emu In The Sky

Indigenous astronomers: Tchingal – the emu in the sky

The presence of Tchingal in the night sky is a constant reminder of the forces of good and evil and the ultimate triumph of ordinary people, with some help from the protector ancestors. This story is identified with the Boorong people of western Victoria and has been retold to John Morieson.

Tchingal was the giant emu who ate people and therefore made families live in constant fear of their lives. Crow grew tired of the constant harassment and told of his dread to the Brothers Bram, or Berm-Berm-Gle. They promised to help him if Crow would lead them to the fearsome giant. The ensuing battle raged over a wide region and ultimately their quarry was cornered. To their surprise it was Weetgurrk, the singing bushlark, that delivered the death blow, the final spear thrust which secured the future safety for all people.

Once it is killed, the body crumpled in a heap at the foot of the tree up which Bunya (the ringtail possum) has sought refuge, with one spear through the rump and another through the neck.

The heroic brothers then split each feather of the giant emu down the middle, casting one half of the feathers on the right hand side and the others on the left hand side, making two heaps. One of these heaps became the male, the other the hen of the present race of emus which are much, much smaller in size. It was arranged that all future emus should lay a number of eggs instead of one only as the giant emu had. The splitting of the feathers is still easily observable in the twin-shafted feathers of all emus today.

Tchingal occupies a large amount of the night sky and is easiest seen in the evenings of the months of May through to July. Its head occupies part of the Southern Cross, what western astronomers call the Coal Sack. Its neck stretches down through the Pointers (Alpha and Beta Centauri) and its body is the large dark patch just before reaching Scorpius. Its legs hang down into the tail of Scorpius, and the nebulae in Sagittarius are its eggs. The tree that Bunya climbed is the Southern Cross.
Western astronomers are aware of dark nebulae like the Coal Sack because they can be seen with telescopes. Aboriginal people were able to distinguish them with their ordinary vision.