Conflict: how people contest the landscape

Abstract

[Extract] Conflict is fundamental in shaping the Queensland landscape. When Coonowrin failed to take his pregnant mother Beerwah and brothers and sisters to safety during a storm his father, Tibrogargan, broke his neck with a club. Tibrogargan was so ashamed of his son that to this day he sits with his back to Coonowrin, creating what is commonly known as the Glasshouse Mountains. Beerwah remains there too, heavy with child, her tears forming the creeks running out to sea.

In the Gulf of Carpentaria, the Dugong River which dissects Mornington Island was created after Bulthuku burnt down her brother Thuwathu's wet weather shelter. Thuwathu had repeatedly refused to let Bulthuku and her child take shelter inside during the rain. The child died from the cold and in her rage Bulthuku set fire to the shelter. Thuwathu, the Rainbow Serpent, was badly burned and his death throes created the river as he writhed in agony across the landscape.