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The creation of Alice Springs

The Caterpillar ancestors, Yeperenye, Utnerrengatye and Ntyarlke are the major creation forces of this area known as Alice Springs. They came from far ad wide, from the north, the south, the east and the west.

They came to Mparntwe, a particularly sacred place in Alice Springs and they had battles with the Irlperenye, the green stink bug. The whole area around Alice Springs is rich in battle grounds and campsites used by the Caterpillar ancestors. These are called stories and song lines.

The Caterpillars ran away as the Irlperenye (stink bug) killed most of the Yeperenye Caterpillars. The ranges around Alice Springs are the bodies of the Yeperenye and the gaps are the heads that were bitten off by their enemies. The insides of the Yeperenye became the rocks around the area. The Yeperenye that survived created the rivers and the trees.

Individual trees, especially those that have the shape of a warrior engaged in battle are sacred objects. The large trees have great spiritual powers and each one has a different name, when they die the powers pass naturally to the closest small tree. This power gets passed on for generations and generations.

The creation stories of the Central Arrernte people abound with drama, beauty, humour and ecological facts. The creation stories reveal, in a humble and understated way, the triumph of indigenous people as sensitive observers of the natural world. Certainly the Yeperenye demonstrates the cross-cultural potential of the creation stories to educate, inspire and uplift us all.