aboriginal art – mimi & serpent

Long ago in the Dreamtime when the earth lay sleeping and nothing moved or grew, lived the Rainbow Serpent. One day the Rainbow Serpent awoke and came out from beneath the earth. Refreshed from her long slumber she travelled far and wide leaving winding tracks from her huge body and then returning to the place she had first appeared.
On her return she called to the frogs “come out!” The frogs came out slowly as their bellies were full with water which they had stored during their long sleep. The Rainbow Serpent tickled their stomachs and when the frogs laughed, the water spilled out all over the earth to fill the tracks of the Rainbow Serpent – this is how the lakes and the rivers were first formed.

With water, grass and trees began to grow which woke all the animals and humans who then followed the Rainbow Serpent across the land. They were happy on earth and each lived and gathered food with their own tribe.
The tribes lived together on the land given to them by the Rainbow Serpent or Mother of Life and knew the land would always be theirs, and no one should ever take it from them…
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Mimi Spirits are shy, sprightly creatures who have lived in the shady cracks and chasms of the rocks of Arnhem Land (Northern Territory, Australia) since the beginning of time.
The Mimi come out at night to hunt, fish, cultivate the land and hold their ceremonies. Once the Aboriginal people were born, the Mimi taught them their hunting skills and how to manage fire, they also taught them how to dance, sing and paint on rocks or bark.