For the Ngaro (canoe) people who live on what will become the Whitsunday Islands, Gubulla Munda Dreaming tells the story of how the islands were formed and the colours of the Great Barrier Reef came to be.
Before this, there was just blue ocean.
Gubulla Munda, a rainbow serpent, travelled through the waters and up to the dry land and she rested.
The perspiration off the Gubulla Munda formed the hills and mountains and rivers and streams.
Then Gubulla Munda travelled back down to the water and she rested.
And as she moved through the waters again, her droppings formed the 74 islands.
Her native travelling companions, the two brolgas, have passed down the stories of the song and the dance to their people.
When Gubulla Munda rested for the final time she shed her skin, as pythons and carpet snakes do.
All the colours of the rainbow on her scales, yellows and greens and blues, travelled through the water to form the Great Barrier Reef and the colours of the coral.
This sacred dreaming story is passed down from grandfather to grandson, grandmother to granddaughter.
It’s often told using drawings in the sand, depicting the streams and rivers and mountains travelling across the country.