Wuriunpranilli - the Sun Woman

Aboriginal people of northern Australia tell this story to explain why there is night and day.

The sun that gives us light and heat is Wariunpranili, the Sun Woman, who travels across the sky from east to west carrying her blazing torch from a stringy bark tree.

Each morning, while it is still dark, she stirs from her sleep and lights a small fire. It is this small fire which gives the dawn. To make herself beautiful she decorates her face and body with red ochre powder. Often this powder rises into the air and settles on the clouds to give red sunrises.

As Wuriunpranilli decorates herself, the birds give their musical calls to awaken the people of Earth.

Using the flames from the small campfire, she lights her giant torch of stringy bark and travels across the sky. Every day she makes the long journey from the Earth to her evening camp-site on the west. Her torch is so bright it lights up the whole world so that people and animals can see when they go about collecting and hunting their food.

As she reaches the west, she disappears over the horizon where she stops and smothers her flaming torch, so that it gives off only very little light and heat. She redecorates herself with red ochre, causing the red sunsets.

Every evening she enters the long underground tunnel that she walks through to return to the morning camp. The birds remain silent until once again she stirs from her sleep at her morning camp in the east.

Original Source: Questacon.