Oban's Myths & Legends
The Rainbow Serpent or Mother of Life - Part 2
All the animals lived together in their own tribes, and they were happy on earth. The Rainbow Serpent gave them rules about how they should live together and treat each other. But some of them quarreled and made trouble.
The Rainbow Serpent was angry. “I will reward those of you who keep my rules” she said. “And I will punish those who don’t.”
She turned the animals who did the right thing into people, and those who broke her rules she turned into stone. They became the mountains and hills and could never move around or speak to each other again.
The Rainbow Serpent made the groups of people into tribes and said “each of you will have its own totem. You will be known as the animal, bird or reptile that you once were.” From then on the tribes knew themselves by their totems, such as kangaroo, emu, snake and many others.
The Rainbow Serpent did not want anyone to starve, so she made another rule. “Each of you can eat living things from other totems, but no-one will eat anything from from their own totem.” Because of that rule, there was food for everyone.
The tribes lived together on the land given to them by the Rainbow Serpent, who they also called Mother of Life. They knew the land would always be theirs, and that no-one should ever take it from them.
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