Mangar-kunjer-kunja

by Dr Anthony E. Smart

 
The lizard creator god of the Aranda of Central Australia. It is said that he found the undeveloped first beings, the Rella manerinja, on the slope of a hill; these beings were in fact two fused together. Mangar-kunjer-kunja separated them with a stone knife, and cut the openings for their eyes, ears, noses and mouths. Next he presented the stone knife, fire, the spear, the shield, the boomerang, and a sacred object called the Tjurunga to his new creatures. Finally he regulated their marriage system.