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https://www.theguardian.com/books/2026/jan/28/rainbow-serpent-dick-roughsey-spirit-australia-childrens-book>
"It’s with good reason that
The Rainbow Serpent by Dick Roughsey has
continued to be an Australian children’s classic for 50 years.
This beloved work, which was first published in 1975 and is competing in
Guardian Australia’s reader poll of the best Australian children’s picture
books of all time, tells the powerful creation story of the Rainbow Serpent
from the perspective of Roughsey (1920-85), a senior Lardil man from Mornington
Island in the Gulf of Carpentaria and a gifted author and artist, whose
traditional name was Goobalathaldin, meaning “rough seas”.
We should celebrate this book’s longevity and its legacy, and consider why
Goobalathaldin’s story continues to be read to children around the world.
The stories of the Rainbow Serpent remain foremost at the heart of Aboriginal
people, and should be for all people who live in Australia. These are stories
of deep spiritual belief that connect us to the power of this country. They
reflect a caring for country, and the cultural principles and laws that have
remained steadfast and strong across millennia.
The Rainbow Serpent presents this ancestral being, also known as Goorialla,
as a huge and powerful force shaping the world, whose dramatic movements
creates the landscape. The serpent is at once inspiring and frightening,
causing people to flee and take the form of Australia’s rich variety of birds
and animal life – including the form of emu, turkey, brolga, barramundi,
tortoise and possum.
The serpent creates the laws of human society and shows people how to perform
ritual song and dance and how to care for their country and each other.
Although the events in this story take place in the past when the world was
being made, the Rainbow Serpent continues to live in the life of its people
today."
Share and enjoy,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
