Global InformationDirawong information
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In Australian Aboriginal mythology (specifically Bundjalung, from the northern New South Wales coast and South-East Queensland) Dirawong is a goanna Ancestral Being who taught humans how to live on the land, as well as important ceremonies and rituals. Dirawong is known as a benevolent protector of its people from the Rainbow Serpent. Dirawong's gender is ambiguous.
Dirawong and the Rainbow Serpent together created parts of the Richmond River, Goanna Headland, Snake Island, and Pelican Island. In Aboriginal mythology, a deposit of red ochre on top of Goanna Headland is believed to have originated from the wound where the Rainbow Serpent bit Dirawong during the Dreaming.
Dirawong is also believed to have been transformed into, and still resides within, the Goanna Headland.
Dirawong is associated with rain, and there is a rain cave on Goanna Headland where the elders of the Bundjalung people went in the past to organise ceremonies for rain. Dirawong is also associated with birds and snakes.