Despite the wide familiarity, few Australians would know the bizarre and wonderful Indigenous tale that lies behind our Bunyip. Paul Donovan joins us to explain how his compelling and fascinating research may have shed light on this ancient legend, and provide a pretty good case for just what exactly the original Bunyip was.
Sketch of the Challicum Bunyip geoglyph, 1867 by J.W. Scott
Diagram of the site of the Challicum geoglyph, 1867 by J.W. Scott
‘The so-called Bunyip skull’, Henry Dowling, John Murray – Reproduced from The Tasmanian Journal of Natural Science
An 1882 illustration of an Aboriginal man telling the story of the bunyip to two children, Troedel & Co – State Library of Victoria
Photograph of the ‘Bunyip skull’, later identified by William Sharp Macleay (1792-1865) as a malformed horse foetus.
Tales from Rat City 
I created a show a few years ago called I bunyip which explored the bunyip folklore around australia from the blue mountains, to arnhem land, to east Gippsland, to the Coorong, . thanks for your pod cast , it’s great to hear others making investigations into culture that has suffered greatly from white occupation.
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The puppets look incredible, Scott! (Found a video here https://youtu.be/E7wAl1XWVCg)
Would have loved to have seen it. Covering lots of different indigenous mythic animals in a format accessible for kids is a wonderful ideal.
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Congratulations…great episode!
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Thanks Janice 🙂
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Thanks Janice. That’s quite the accolade from my supervisor’s supervisor. 🙂
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Reblogged this on and commented:
This is an insightful podcast in terms of Australia’s Aboriginal culture and intangible heritage
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what a wonderful podcast! it got me through a 6 mile walk on a hot muggy afternoon, so well thought out and acted/recorded. just smashing! well done! 🙂
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Thank you David! We super appreciate the feedback 🙂
Paul tells the bunyip story so damn well.
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