The
swan history or dreaming site at lake Gregory, north of Flinders
Ranges, is also associated with a mythological boomerang. This history
describes how the ancestors of the eastern lake Eyre people obtained
fire in the dreaming. At that time, these human ancestors had fire
until
it was stolen from them by Simpson desert people. One of the ancestors,
Watapijiri, then turned into a black swan and flew south in search of
fire. When she reached lake gregory she discovered an old woman,
Ngardutjelpani, who had a fire-stick. The two women fought over the
fire stick.Watapijiri threw a boomerang at Ngarutjelpani and after
falling to the ground it became a curved peninsula in the lake, known
to Aboriginal people in historic times as a favourite place for
gathering swan eggs.During the struggle Watapijiri snatched away the
fire-stick and flew away with it in her beak.The red beak of the black
swan thus had a particular significance for the eastern lake Eyre
people.
