Purukupali- Aboriginal Australian SpiritSpirit

The Death of Jinini

Purukupali and his wife Bima had an infant son named Jinini. While Purukupali was away, Bima left Jinini alone in the shade to go into the forest with Japara, the moon man, with whom she was having an affair. As the sun moved across the sky, the shade shifted, leaving the infant exposed to the heat. By the time Bima returned, Jinini had died.

When Purukupali found his son's body and learned the cause, he was consumed by grief and rage. Jinini's death was the first death in the world.

The Refusal

Japara offered to restore Jinini to life. Give him the body for three days, he said, and he would bring the child back. He possessed the power of renewal, as the moon that dies and is reborn each month. But Purukupali refused. In his grief and anger, he declared that as his son had died, so all living things would die. Death would be permanent.

Purukupali and Japara fought over the body and the decree. Purukupali struck Japara in the face, leaving marks that are still visible as the dark patches on the moon's surface. Defeated, Japara retreated to the sky, where he became the moon, his monthly cycle of death and renewal a reminder of the power that was refused.

Into the Sea

Purukupali took Jinini's body and performed the first funeral rites, the original Pukumani ceremony that every Tiwi death has followed since. Then he walked backward into the sea, carrying his son, and drowned. A whirlpool formed where he disappeared. He did not exempt himself from his own decree.