THE STORY BEHIND KURTARRA
The Kurtarra Painting Black Goanna Story
In the Dream time all the goanna's started painting each other by doing dot paintings. The black goanna which was the biggest goanna of them all had the privilege of painting all the other goanna's first. He vowed and made certain to paint them all very beautiful and pretty.
He went about painting each goanna carefully one colour at a time.
When he had finished painting all of the goanna’s he felt the joy of happiness from the other goanna’s dancing with there new beautiful dot paintings that he had painted on them. He felt very proud.
Then it came time for the other goanna’s to paint him. He would be the last goanna’ to be painted.
The final masterpiece.
But little did he know the other goanna’s had something else in mine for him.
Because he was the biggest goanna of them all they painted him ugly, black first, then yellow with white spots, all the odd colours.
The black goanna was feeling very proud about having the other goanna’s paint him and that he to would be painted very beautiful and pretty like the goanna’s he had painted.
When all the other goanna’s had finished painting him, the black goanna went straight down to the waterhole to look at himself in the waters reflection.
But when the black goanna looked at his own reflection in the waterhole he noticed he didn’t look anything like the other goanna’s. He looked different. He wasn’t as beautiful or pretty like the rest of them. He was ugly with odd colours.
He asked them why did you paint me like this.
All the other goanna’s replied that’s the colour we wanted to paint you and now you have to stay like that they laughed.
The other goanna’s had done wrong by painting him ugly with these odd colours.
The black goanna got so angry and upset that he faught with them. He then moved away from them all into the rocks never to speak to them again.
He never liked any of the other goanna’s or any other sort of lizard from that day on.
From that day on he has always lived alone, living around and on the rocks always standing up and looking out for those other goanna’s that painted him that way. Ugly with odd colours.
This dream time story was taught to me by my old people from the desert to the Pilbara.
But this story also goes throughout Australia and is story told in many different ways and versions because of the many languages and dreamings in our aboriginal culture.
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