16-436: Waa or WAA may refer to: Crow (Australian Aboriginal mythology) Namatahi Waa (born 1990), New Zealand rugby union player Wa (unit) , a Thai unit of length Waffenamt , a research and development agency of Nazi Germany Wales Airport (Alaska) Walla Walla language War Assets Administration West African Airlines , a Beninese airline Westair Aviation ,
32-458: A Namibian airline Western Association of Architects , a defunct professional body Wiltshire Air Ambulance , serving Wiltshire, England Women's Action Alliance , an American feminist organization Workers Alliance of America , an American political organization World Archery Asia Woolclassers' Association of Australia Topics referred to by the same term [REDACTED] This disambiguation page lists articles associated with
48-404: A large group had gathered around Crow's tree, shouting and demanding that he share the secret of fire with them. The din frightened Crow and at last he flung several live coals at the crowd. Kurok-goru the fire-tailed finch picked up some of the coals and hid them behind his back, which is why to this day firefinches have red tails. The rest were gathered up by Bunjil's shaman helpers, Djurt-djurt
64-541: Is a trickster , culture hero and ancestral being. In the Kulin nation in central Victoria he is known as Waang (also Wahn or Waa ) and is regarded as one of two moiety ancestors , the other being the more sombre eaglehawk Bunjil . Legends relating to Crow have been observed in various Aboriginal language groups and cultures across Australia. One common Aboriginal Dreamtime story features Crow's role in bringing fire to mankind. According to oral storytelling by
80-793: Is a paraphyletic suborder of about 70 species of small to medium-sized arboreal marsupials native to Australia , New Guinea , and Sulawesi . The species are commonly known as possums , gliders , and cuscus . The common name "possum" for various Phalangeriformes species derives from the creatures' resemblance to the opossums of the Americas (the term comes from Powhatan language aposoum "white animal", from Proto-Algonquian * wa·p-aʔɬemwa "white dog"). However, although opossums are also marsupials, Australasian possums are more closely related to other Australasian marsupials such as kangaroos . Phalangeriformes are quadrupedal diprotodont marsupials with long tails. The smallest species, indeed
96-632: The Wurundjeri people of the Kulin nation , in the Dreamtime fire had been a jealously-guarded secret of the seven Karatgurk women who lived by the Yarra River where Melbourne now stands. These women carried live coals on the ends of their digging sticks , allowing them to cook Murnong yams. One day Crow found a cooked yam and, finding it tastier than the raw vegetables he had been eating, decided he would cook his food from then on. However,
112-484: The nankeen kestrel and Thara the quail hawk. The coals caused a bushfire which burnt Crow's feathers permanently black and threatened to consume the entire land, until Bunjil's efforts halted its spread. The Karatgurk sisters, meanwhile, were swept into the sky where they became the Pleiades (the stars are said to represent their glowing fire sticks). The various groups of Western Australia offer two versions of
128-534: The order Diprotodontia , which is split into three suborders , namely the Vombatiformes ( wombats and the koala , four species in total); the large and diverse Phalangeriformes (the possums and gliders) and Macropodiformes ( kangaroos , potoroos , wallabies and the musky rat-kangaroo ). Note: this classification is based on Ruedas & Morales 2005. However, Phalangeriformes has been recovered as paraphyletic with respect to Macropodiformes, rendering
144-494: The Karatgurk women refused to share their fire with him and Crow resolved to trick them into giving it up. Crow caught and hid a number of snakes in an ant mound then called the women over, telling them that he had discovered ant larvae were far more tasty than yams. The women began digging, angering the snakes, which attacked. Shrieking, the sisters struck the snakes with their digging sticks, hitting them with such force that
160-682: The bird was pleased with this as he found he was now able to catch rats more easily. Some accounts have Crow ultimately leaving the earth altogether, having been called up into the heavens where he became Canopus , the second-brightest star in the night sky. The Yanyuwa people have a legend that says that as spirits of the dead approach the afterlife, they are attacked by crows carrying digging sticks. The crows are said to be angry with all people because people often chase them away from campsites when they scavenge. The spirits are saved by hawks and falcons. Phalangeriformes Phalangeriformes / f ə ˈ l æ n dʒ ər ɪ f ɔːr m iː z /
176-477: The live coals flew off. Crow, who had been waiting for this, gathered the coals up and hid them in a kangaroo skin bag. The women soon discovered the theft and chased him, but the bird simply flew out of their reach and perched at the top of a high tree. Bunjil the Eaglehawk, who had seen all of this, asked Crow for some of the coals so that he could cook a possum . Crow instead offered to cook it for him. Soon,
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#1732772177713192-438: The magpie as their totem will tell the story the same, but that the brothers fell into thick black mud, and the magpie only slightly stained his feathers, the crow covered in the mud. As for the crow, as in all Indigenous Australian totems, it is known for its cunning and intelligence, a trickster too, and old spirit with prescient knowledge or carrying old knowledge of many lifetimes (like reincarnation). Very powerful too, as in
208-521: The same story about the Crow and the Magpie. The crow and the magpie are brothers, both born with pure white feathers. Both were vain and would argue as to which was the most beautiful. Perched in a tree, they began to argue and then fought. The people with the crow as their totem will tell you the brothers fell into a fire below, the Crow getting burnt all over, the Magpie only partly burnt. Those whom have
224-817: The smallest diprotodont marsupial, is the Tasmanian pygmy possum , with an adult head-body length of 70 mm ( 2 + 3 ⁄ 4 in) and a weight of 10 g ( 3 ⁄ 8 oz). The largest are the two species of bear cuscus , which may exceed 7 kg (15 lb 7 oz). Phalangeriformes species are typically nocturnal and at least partially arboreal. They inhabit most vegetated habitats, and several species have adjusted well to urban settings. Diets range from generalist herbivores or omnivores (the common brushtail possum ) to specialist browsers of eucalyptus ( greater glider ), insectivores ( mountain pygmy possum ) and nectar-feeders ( honey possum ). About two-thirds of Australian marsupials belong to
240-520: The title WAA . If an internal link led you here, you may wish to change the link to point directly to the intended article. Retrieved from " https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=WAA&oldid=1250066122 " Category : Disambiguation pages Hidden categories: Short description is different from Wikidata All article disambiguation pages All disambiguation pages Crow (Australian Aboriginal mythology) In Australian Aboriginal religion and mythology , Crow
256-544: The totem itself is one of the ones with powerful natural magic, and depending on the language group's own mythology the holder of the totem will either carry great respect, or suspect. In another legend, Crow was travelling down the Murray River when he met Swamp Hawk . Deciding to play a trick on the other bird, he planted echidna quills in the deserted nest of a kangaroo rat and enticed Swamp Hawk to jump on them. The quills stuck and grew into Swamp Hawk's feet, but
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