Parrtjartanya – The Story of The Native Cat

This is the story of the Native Cat and Possum Brothers. This is a story associated with Warakurna but it can be relevant further north in Tjukurrla. The big brother was a native cat and the younger brother was a possum. They would go out in the middle of the night as they were afraid of the daylight. The possum boy was blind and couldn’t see, but the native cat man had good eyes and he could see to kill the kangaroos for food. Sometimes the cat man would find meat that had been killed by others and left. The meat was often rotten and not good for eating but the cat man ate it anyway. One night when they were out hunting they misjudged the time and the native cat man was travelling along the top of the ridge when he saw the sun come up. He ran away in fear. He went backwards as quickly as he could and went right into the cave. The possum boy who was blind went in after him and they are still in that cave today.