Caterpillar Dreaming Traditional Cache

A typical magnetic nano with log scroll only

Mparntwe or Alice Springs is home to the Arrernte people, Indigenous Australians who have called this beautiful place home for at least 45,000 years.  It is at the geographical centre of Australia. . In the Arrente culture,  three caterpillars named Yeperenye, Ntyarlke and Utnerrengatye created the MacDonnell Ranges.

 The Arrernte people, believe the ranges were formed by giant caterpillars that entered this world through one of the gaps in the escarpment of the area. In traditional stories the caterpillar ancestors, Yeperenye, Utnerrengatye and Ntyarlke are the major creation forces of the Alice Springs area. These stories tell how they arrived from all directions, first stopping at Mparntwe, a particularly sacred site in Alice Springs, where they battled with the Irlperenye (green stink bug). 

Three Caterpillars' - Emily GapThe Caterpillars fled when the Irlperenye (stink bug) started to kill them. The ranges around Alice Springs are the seen as the remains of the many caterpillars. The gaps in the ranges like Emily Gap indicate where the stink bugs tore the heads from the bodies of the caterpillars. The rock formations around the area are and the few surviving Yeperenye went on to sculpt the rivers and trees along the tops of the ranges.

Indigenous Dreamtime stories are associated with specific Indigenous clans and nations and their lands and these stories are passed on to younger generations by elders and storytellers. They have survived for thousands of years but the loss of traditional languages and the separation of many Indigenous people from their traditional land is a threat to their survival. While some of these stories are secret, or are seen as of such a sacred nature that they are only told by specific people to certain people (e.g. told by men to men, or by women to women), in the last 40 years many Indigenous Dreamtime stories have been shared through children's books.