At Murujuga on WA’s Pilbara Coast, a songline about the marsupial lion (Thylacaleo) will be passed down for thousands of generations.
This meat-eating mammal is one of the land’s top predators.
Ngarluma-Yaburara ancestors share a story and create art about a cat-like being that is known to climb big trees, sometimes jumping down in ambush attacks.
Although the cat is considered to be good, it is dangerous.
The way that the stories are shared in songlines paints a vivid scene of the animal’s behaviour.
Large animals, including giant birds, goanas, kangaroos and the rainbow serpent feature strongly in Ngarluma-Yaburara peoples’ dreamtime.