Description

In the beginning the old woman Eelgin the Grasshopper had a big dog, Gaiya the Dingo. This dog was huge, much bigger than a horse and old Eelgin used Gaiya to hunt and kill men for food.

One day when the dog was away hunting two young men came to Eelgin’s camp. They were Choocoo-Choocoo or Butcher-bird men. Eelgin greeted them and said they could camp with her but the men asked where her dog was as they did not trust her and they then left.

Long after they had gone the dog returned and Eelgin put Gaiya on their track. He chased the brothers for many hours and the brothers knew he would be after them. The brothers ran on until they reached a big rocky pass named Bullinmore. They climbed up the sides and waited in ambush and as they hid there they could hear the dog howling from a long distance.

Finally Gaiya appeared and they threw many spears into him until he was dead. The brothers then called the people to cut up and cook the big dingo. They cut off the tip of Gaiya’s tail and told it “now go back and meet your boss” as the spirit of the dingo was in the tail. They followed the tail till it came to Eelgin and then they killed her. Her spirit now lives in a big rock at a salt water arm near Barrow Point.

Whilst the people were cutting up Gaiya they asked Woodbarl the White Cloud what he wanted. He asked for the kidneys and the head and all the bones. He made two small dogs out of the bones, one male and one female and blew life into them. He then said to them that from now on you will be afraid of people when you see them and run away.