The Tiddalik story helps to teach children a number of different lessons: The importance of our environment and the preciousness of our water resources The value of our Elders and the importance of listening to those whose life experiences can help us make good decisions To share and not be greedy or selfish

In Australian Aboriginal mythology, Baiame (or Biame, Baayami, Baayama or Byamee) was the creator god and “Sky Father” in the Dreaming of several Aboriginal Australian peoples of south-eastern Australia, such as the Wonnarua, Kamilaroi, Eora, Darkinjung, and Wiradjuri peoples

The Rainbow Serpent This legend is the quintessential Dreaming story, and easily the most widely known around Australia

These stories are told to children to teach them about their ancestors, the spirit world and their place in that world Students to illustrate a Dreamtime story through the use of Aboriginal art symbols

Why Koala Has a Stumpy Tail is an Australian folktale about two friends, Tree Kangaroo and Koala Long ago they were very close, but their friendship soured after the events that transpired during a long drought in Australia Tree Kangaroo was a hard worker and resourceful while Koala was lazy and selfish

Unlike other arboreal marsupials such as the tree kangaroo, the Koala does not have an external tail However vestiges of a tail are still present in the skeletal structure of the Koala, indicating that at some time in its evolutionary history an external tail was present

This is a picture of ice fishing Well, the bear did as the fox said, and though he felt very cold, and his tail got stiff he kept it a long, long time down in the hole, till at last it was frozen and stuck in the ice To this day, this is why bears have stumpy tails

Well, that short-armed kangaroo threw his stick and it stuck right into the big kangaroo The big kangaroo went back to the low country where the sugar-grass grows, and the short-armed kangaroo hopped away up into the hills And they are still there today When you see them you will know how they got their tails

Scientists previously thought kangaroos used their tails for balance or support as they walked But the new research shows they use their tails like an extra leg to propel themselves In fact, the tail provides more power to help them move than their front and hind legs combined

Tree Kangaroo had the idea of digging a hole for water in a dry streambed Emblazoned with anger at Koala’s selfish acts, Tree Kangaroo grabs Koala by his long, furry tail and pulls so hard that it breaks off at the base Now Koala is left with a short, stumpy tail

Aboriginal Dreamtime Stories

• Read the Rainbow Serpent here
• Read Tiddalick the Frog here
• Read the Aboriginal Creation Story here
• Read Eaglehawk and Crow here
• Read Emu and the Jabiru here
• Read the Explanation of Emu and the Jabiru here
• Read the story of Gulaga here
• Discover how the water got to the plains here

Long, long ago in the Dreamtime there lived a flock of emus The bird spirits heard about it and they made the emus wings shrink They became so small that the emus could no longer fly Now that’s why emus can’t fly

This story shows that the aborigines spiritual beliefs often show us that if you are to do something wrong or against those of your group then you will be punished or unexpected things will occur, just like the platypus

Tiddalik the Frog is a traditional Dreaming story which originated on the east coast of Australia

Tiddalik the Frog is an Aborigine ‘Dreamtime’ story from Australia Long ago there lived a very thirsty frog called Tiddalik Tiddalik was so thirsty that he drank all the water in the land – the stream, the river and the billabong

The tale of Tiddalik the Frog is a creation story from Australian Indigenous Dreaming Stories This was successfully coordinated by a wise old Owl, when Nabunum the eel made Tiddalik laugh when he tied himself in comical shapes As Tiddalik laughed, the water rushed out of him to replenish the lakes, swamps and rivers

When the old people sat around their campfire, they would tell the dreamtime story of the platypus “Once there was a water rat named Bilargun, while he was out hunting one day, he saw Daroo the duck, and decided that he wanted her as his wife They are now called the ‘Platypus’

The animals through that they were the most special because they had fur on their bodies and could run across the land The birds thought that they were even more special because they could fly and lay eggs But as he had done with the animals, Platypus asked them to come back after had thought about their offer

Aboriginal people had many different regional names for the platypus, including “boondaburra”, “mallingong” and “tambreet” According to Aboriginal legend, the platypus originated when a young female duck mated with a lonely and persuasive water-rat

The platypus is one of the most unusual creatures in the animal kingdom They thought that a trickster had sewn two animals together, according to the BBC Platypuses are among the few venomous mammals Males have a spur on the back of their hind feet that is connected to a venom-secreting gland

The Duck-Billed Platypus These cuties found here have venom that can be lethal, but there are no recorded cases of them killing humans Duck-billed platypus have venom glands connected to a spur on each of their hind legs In captivity, where a platypus can’t escape attacks as easily, this can be deadly

But the platypus is doing fine across its range, and those rare sightings are simply due to the fact that they’re super-shy, and great at hiding in the murky depths of the freshwater pools and streams they inhabit And that’s not the only strange thing about platypuses

Although powerful enough to paralyse smaller animals, the venom is not lethal to humans However, it produces excruciating pain that may be intense enough to incapacitate the victim Swelling rapidly develops around the entry wound and gradually spreads outward