An Aboriginal God in colonial New South Wales

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Contents

1. God or no God?
2. Colonial S.E. Australia
3. Creation story
4. Stairway to Heaven
5. Debbil debbil
6. Glossary
7. References

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If God is the Alpha and Omega, then God has always been everywhere. So why wouldn’t God be here in Australia? You have theological wrestling to do if you say that this was a godless place, and that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people were heathens... Caring for Country is caring for creation. (Wolfe 2021)

1. God or no God?

When investigating Australian Aboriginal spirituality and the concept of a God-like figure, Google AI tells us:

Aboriginal Australian spirituality doesn't have a single, universally recognized "God" figure like in some Western religions. Instead, it centers around ancestral creator spirits and powerful beings who are often associated with the Dreamtime, a creation period believed to be central to Aboriginal cosmology. These beings, sometimes depicted as humans, animals, or other natural elements, are revered as the creators of the world and its inhabitants. (Google AI 25 August 2025)

Are not "ancestral creator spirits and powerful beings" God / Creator / Source / The One / Cosmic Consciousness and similar entities responsible for all that is in the universe, both material and non-material, just as it is with all other races, groups, civilizations and belief systems on planet Earth over time and up until the present day? The answer is obvious: Yes!

Of course, the above statement by Google AI is wrong as it denigrates the depth of Aboriginal spiritual beliefs and practices. In fact, the description reminds one of Pantheism, whereby God - the Creator, Source, The One, Cosmic Consciousness - is seen in everything, in the universe and in nature or, as Aboriginal society refers to the latter, as Country. Rather than being anti-religious, this definition expands upon the, for example, limited Catholic definition of God and the Blessed Trinity, to give it a universality that is fundamental and foundational, before which there was only Nothing. The Australian Aboriginal belief in an "ancestral creator spirit" is nothing less than the pantheistic God figure, the idea that the Creator is pure existence, and as such"present" everywhere, from the beginning of time. Whilst variations in such beliefs are almost endless, the core issue of the existence of an intelligent entity as the Creator of everything that is known is almost universally accepted, apart from those who belief there was no intelligence behind creation, but merely serendipity and the spontaneous creation of something out of nothing. The present writer rejects this, as did Australian Aboriginal society.

Aboriginal Australia, prior to the arrival of the Christian British invaders in January 1788, had a clear concept of God, of an intelligent creator being similar to all other societies around the world. To deny this, as the Google AI response does, is a carry over of the original British racist view of the local Indigenous people as "primitive savages" rather than an advanced civilization which happened to be close with nature and Country, but not technologically advanced or socially constructed in a manner near identical to most Western societies during the late eighteenth century. It can be said that Aboriginal society was pantheistic prior to the invention of the term, or Western understanding of the intimate relationship between the Creator and creation as evidenced on planet Earth. Having said this, one should not limit the complexity of Australian Aboriginal spiritual beliefs to the limitations imposed by the modern scientific and psychologically based term pantheism. It is so much more than that, and unique, having developed largely in isolation over the millenia.

In southeastern Australia, for example, the God figure was called Baiame,. It was also known, according to accounts by early colonial non-Indigenous writers, as the creator god and sky father. This is the closest to the traditional God of the Christian churches that arrived in Australia after 1788 and was often taken up by Aboriginal society as it was closest to their own long held beliefs (Wikipedia). This flies in the face of the traditional narrative that Indigenous society was "godless", without religion, and therefore inherently evil. In fact, Australia was referred to as "the most godless place under heaven" by the radical Christians who were part of the first contact process (Cruickshank 2021). Another New South Wales God figure was Dharamoolun, cited as the supreme being and primordial god of the Yuin people of the south coast of New South Wales (National Native Title Tribunal 2018). The small "g" God of Australian Aboriginal society was never given, by the non-Indigenous invaders, the status it naturally bore as the creator of all that is. Likewise, its power was only referred to as magic, not anything real or foundational, as was considered the faith of Western religious beliefs.

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2. Colonial southeastern Australia

Q: Why this time and place?

Ans.: Because this was the location of the earliest European settlement in Australia, coinciding with the arrival of the First Fleet at Sydney Cove in January 1788 and with it the appearance of the first written records on Australian Aboriginal cultural and spiritual beliefs. This remained so for at least half a century, until the expansion into Victoria and Tasmania and north to Queensland. Therefore the colonial New South Wales period and place is the focus of the present article.

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3. Creation story

The following Gadigal, Eora, Darug, Gwegal and Dharrawal creation story is to be found ......

Bangawarra Nura – Story of creation

In the beginning from the creation time Gurugal (long ago) there existed only minak (darkness). Biami / Dharamulan the great creator gathered his dulumarh (magic) from the 4 directions of the Garrayura (sky world) and from the dust of Birrung (the stars) he bangawarra (made/crafted) the Warawal (Milky Way – Universe). Biami / Dharamulan dulumarh (created) a marri guwiyang (great fire) to light up the darkness and gili (shine) throughout the world. In this way he created the bad (water), giba (rocks), djaramada (plants) and guwara (wind). As Biami / Dharamulan gave life to the world he spun his creations around the Marri Guwing and carved the song lines into the bebul (land) and Garrigarang Nura (Saltwater Country). In the Garrigarang Nura (Saltwater Country), he created the ancestor beings known as gawura (whale), guruwin (shark), wulumay (snapper), waradah (waratah) and many plants and animals that exist within Gadigal cosmology and kinship system we call moodjingal. Today the Gadigal, Eora, Darug, Gwegal, Dharrawal and many clan groups follow the teachings given to us by Biami / Dharamulan and maintain the cultural practices that we continue to practice on nura (Country).

The following are Aboriginal words presented in this creation story:

• bad - water
• Baiame - Creator
• bangawarra - made, crafted
• bebul - land
• Biami - Creator
• birrung - the stars
• Darug - clan group
• Dharamulan - Creator
• Dharrawal - clan group
• djaramada - plants
• dulumarh - magic
• Eora - clan group
• Gadigal - clan group
• garrayura - sky world
• Garrigarang Nura - Saltwater Country
• gawura - whale
• giba - rock
• gili - shine
• Gurugal - creation time, long ago
• guruwin - shark
• guwara - wind
• Gwegal - clan group
• Marri Guwing / Guwiyang - Great Fire
• minak - darkness
• nura - Country
• waradah - waratah (flowering bust)
• Warawal - the Milky Way constellation of stars
• wulumay - snapper (fish)

 ......... 

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4. A Stairway to Heaven

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5. Debil debil

Isaac Nathan was a Sydney songwriter/composer who also collected Aboriginal songs and stories. The following tale of the Aboriginal Devil includes reference to the Five Island people. It should be noted that Gerromah is listed below as an Aboriginal word for devil. It is possible . likely that debil debil is of English derivation and is a plural word for devil. Reference: Isaac Nathan, The Southern Euphrosyne..., Sydney, 1848. 

An Aboriginal Devil

It is odd enough that the Aborigines of Australia should, in the category of their fancies, have enrolled a belief in a spirit of evil, and according to their own accounts, the awful demon is by no means famed for his beauty. All the spiritual agents whom they acknowledge are remarkable for their size, but this ugly old gentleman seems to be the most gigantic - horns, wings, and a garment of chains, are but slight adjuncts to the fire emitted from his nostrils, or the crimson tongue that lolls from his mouth; and the untutored savage gives a shudder when the Debbil Debbil gives token of his vicinity. All this we have heard, but we are really much disposed to doubt whether the native tribes of Australia entertained any idea of the existence of a devil, before their credulous brother of the north instructed them in the belief. We have had many opportunities of corroborating this opinion, but the following instance we may adduce as one among the many to evince that if superstition is found to hold its sway over the ignorant and untutored, this fault is more to be attributed to the ignorance of a semi-civilization, in encouraging, through its own weakness and want of knowledge, the errors of the untutored races of humanity with whom it is brought in contact.

We have been permitted to transcribe the following incident from some rough notes which have been with much taste collected in the interior, by a gentleman now residing in Sydney: - "I halted at B.'s station - he was exactly one that I should have termed of the yeomanry class in England, a component portion of society of which Australia is so woefully deficient. B. was not without intelligence, but he was only a half read man. Our conversation in the evening turned upon the habits and manners of the aborigines, and I was not a little surprised when he assured me that they believed in the existence of a demon of evil. We had some little argument on the matter, and B. grew a little evasive upon the subject, but I thought my laughter would have had no end when he assured me that he also believed that there was a naughty fiend who played "puck-little tricks" upon the poor children of the soil. "I tell you it's a fact sir - why, it's not a month ago since a black fellow, called `black John," came to the hut and asked me for some flour: I told him he was a lazy vagabond, and that I should not give him any flour unless he would work for it: he said he was sick and not able to work: I gave him a piece of damper and away he trudged. Now sir do you know, that on that very night the cock never ceased crowing. I was certain there was something up and I felt very uneasy, and the very first thing the next morning, all the gins of the camp came up in a body, and declared the gentleman John was dead. `The devil!' exclaimed I; "and sure enough sir it was he" they all vociferated; and then told me that the devil had come down upon them during the night, and had struck poor John several times across the chest until he died, and that the gins had followed the tracks of the fiend, which had actually scorched the grass. Talk of the devil sir! (and B. struck the table with his clenched fist,) I do believe sir, that he exists, and think he walked off with John that night; and I say that whoever says it's not a fact' - "stop there said I - I'll believe anything you like, but don't let us quarrel."

We think we may ask, after this specimen, who is the most likely to have coined a faith in the Prince of Darkness? the civilized man or the savage? The belief in the existence of a demon would appear, from all analogy, to be foreign to the Australian aboriginal. Derwent Convey remarks, "the superstitions of one country differ from another, according to the peculiar character of its scenery and productions, the latitude in which it lies, and its proximity to or distance from the sea;" and pursuing this enquiry through the primary races of the world, we shall find reason to conclude that Australia was not favored by the visits of any walking gasometer, or gas-vomiter, in the opinion of its earliest inhabitants.

Among the many superstitions of the aboriginal natives of Australia may be noticed, that no inducement whatever, not even extreme sufferings of hunger, will tempt them to eat a particular small fish which they use for bait, from the belief that if they did so all future success would forsake them; that the fish in the sea would, as a punishment for such ingratitude, all swim far away from their reach.

The Wollongong or Five Island tribes, like those of Yas Plains, before going into the water, where they swim like ducks, first wet their ears; and before taking water from a pond or river, they invariably throw in a stone or pebble. No precise reason for this custom or superstition has hitherto been ascertained. These natives, as well as all the other tribes of Australia, are, without exception, the most abominable liars under the sun: lying seems almost consentaneous with their natures, for they will actually lie for lying's sake; and it is only by the greatest perseverance and severe questioning that any true explanation of their manners and customs can be extracted from them.

It is a singular fact, that there is as much difference in the language of the various tribes of the aborigines, as there is between that of the French, Italian, German and English. We here subjoin a few words which we have collected from the Wollongong or Five Island Tribe: -

In reading these Aboriginal words let every consonant be distinctly pronounced observing throughout the true intonation of the Italian u and French a.

Duckan - Thunder
Narraga - Lightening
Bunha - Rain
Nawah - Sun
Currendelella - Stars
Mulla-Mulla - Pleiades
Parrawarry - Morning
Burrai - Night
Kian - Big-large
Bengah - Old man
Mouletha - Old woman
Murragangan - Small
Bundowrie - Tall-high
Bunbarree - Young man
Nabung - Mother
Coudjagah - Child
Culliagh - Good
Weirah - Bad
Goyngah - Ghost
Gerromah - Devil
Nadjung - Water
Taygne - Fish
Goundah - Tree
Weyahgany - Spear
Ourraih - Camp
Warrangal - Native dog
Wulloah - Tree-for poisoning fish
Meagh - Eyes
Tanne - Feet
Wallah - Chin
Gerarah - Hair
Wallarah - Head
Yiyrrah - Teeth
Tullegan - Dead tree
Cudgea - Green Tree
Weagh - Fire
Canby - do. (Shoalhaven tribe)
Karmung - To Speak
Eatamogoh - I must, or I'm going to drink
Thaumogoh - going to eat
Palmogoh - do. to fight
Nangayogon - do. to sleep
Goulougan - Short
Gourogomah - West
Ganangan - East
Baleng - North
Warrangang - South
Pollyogoh - going to die
Jowahgoh - do. to run
Yandahgoh - go away
Canangahn - to burn myself
Ajaja - Brother
Narangul - Woman
Baba - Father
Couledgah - Broken
Prurramul - Hand
Nugora - Nose
Gelling - Mouth
Pandeire - To see
Eiribie - To hear
Courourah - Opossum
Nurrowry - Shells
Bango - Squirrel

Although the unfortunate aborigines of Australia cannot justly be termed the most intellectual race of known savages that are scattered over earth's surface, they are, by no means, by nature so viciously disposed as they have been portrayed:the origin of many of their propensities, their insatiable cravings after tobacco, ardent spirits, &c., may, without difficulty, be traced to those who are designated their civilized brethren: certainly not to their present hospitable and intelligent race of currency brethren, but to some of those heartless and depraved emigrants, mere adventurers, whose idol is gold, and who land on these shores for the sole object of enriching their coffers at the expense of every feeling of honor and humanity

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6. References

Baiame - The maker of all things, Country Life and Death [blog], 18 December 2013.

Breward, Ian, Australia: the most godless place under heaven, Melbourne College of Divinity, Beacon Hill Books, 1988, 111p.

Cruickshank, Joanna, Religious freedom in 'the most godless place under heaven': making policy for religion in Australia, History Australia: Research Forum on History and Policy, Issue 1, 1 March 2021, 42-52.

Dixon, Nadeena, Bangawarra Nura - Creation Story, Reconciliation Action Plan, The Rocks Discovery Museum, Sydney, n.d.

Organ, Michael, A Documentary History of the Illawarra and South Coast Aborigines 1770-1900; including a Chronological Bibliography 1770-1990, Report for the Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies, Canberra, 1 December 1993, 364p.

-----, The Bunan ceremony of New South Wales, R.H. Mathews, 1896, blogger.com, 3 August 2025.

South Coast People - Application Details, National Native Title Tribunal, Canberra, 30 May 2018.

Wikipedia, Baiame, Wikipedia, accessed 17 August 2025.

-----, Dharamoolun, Wikipedia, accessed 17 August 2025.

-----, Pantheism, Wikipedia, accessed 31 August 2025.

Wolfe, Naomi, 'It is good': a reflection on land, healing and hope, VOX, University of Divinity, 1 July 2021.

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Last updated: 15 September 2025

Michael Organ, Australia