TheYetimarala, also writtenJetimarala andYetimarla and also known asBayali,Darumbal,Yaamba and other names and variant spellings, were anAboriginal Australian people of easternQueensland.
Norman Tindale originally classified the Yetimarala as a clan of either theBarada orKabalbara tribe (1940), but three decades later, affirmed that it was an independent tribe, after realising that he had overlooked the fact that the American anthropologistD. S. Davidson had already determined its autonomous estate in 1938. Tindale then attributed to them a territorial domain of some 3,900 square kilometres (1,500 sq mi), located on the Boomer andBroad Sound ranges, running northwards from theFitzroy River to within proximity ofKillarney. Their western limits were set at theMackenzie andIsaac rivers.[1]
The name of at least onekin group is known:-
The Yetimarala / Yetimarla language, also known as Bayali, Darumbal, Yetimaralla, Jetimarala, Kooinmurburra, Ningebul, Taroombul, Warrabul, Yetimaralla, Ja:mba, Yaamba, Yettimaralla, and Taruin bura, is an extinct dialect of theBiri language.[3]
Two anecdotes with the bare outlines of Yetimarala legends have been passed down. One concerns turtle hunting by two young hunters in theDreamtime.
The brothers,Wulburra andNgni-ya, camped with their grandmother, for whom they supplied, as they hunted and travelled, ample food. The two decided to try to hunt down a turtle, an arduous feat better performed if they scoured the countryside alone. One brother thought they should still keep their grandmother with them, the other dissented. In the end, they agreed to encase her inside a large stone and after much discussion they decided to put her inside a large stone onCardowan run, near the Connors River, a site which was to assume sacred status in Yetimarala lore. Wulburra and Ngni-ya then set off to track the turtle, and finally captured one by the coast at Broad Sound. They hauled it back to camp, encircled it with stones and set it to cook on a fire, and, left it to bake while they went off for further game. In their absence, the turtle escaped, and it required several days for them to track it down and recapture again. The scenario repeated itself a third time, only on this final occasion, it proved to be anchored down too firmly to lift, until they levered up its legs. At this point, the turtle kicked out, flipping the brothers over its head, transforming the landscape into a sea, into which they plummeted. Both the brothers and their grandmother died. The grandmother became one of the bright stars of the stream that is theMilky Way, and the two brothers are believed to be figured as fishers wielding forked sticks by that celestial river.[4]
A second example ofstar lore concernssnakes. In the earliest times, snakes were not eaten. The tribe lived in terror at the existence of two fabulous exemplars, male and female, who succeeded in dodging all attempts to kill them. One day, while the tribe had left the camp to forage, a small boy,Ngnapata, remained, forewarned not to get close to the reptile. His bold curiosity stirred, he fashioned spears and dug out bolt holes in earth in case he needed to hide, determined to try and kill the fearful animals. His efforts paid off, with him slaughtering the male snake after a hectic fight, while the female of the species sought refuge in the firmament, where she was transformed into a star. Ngnapata sliced up the snake, cooked and ate it, finding the flesh very tasty. Taking some of the fat, he oiled his body and suddenly grew into enormous proportions that rendered him unrecognizable. On their return to the camp, the tribesmen were frightened by the child's apparent disappearance, thinking he had been devoured by the serpents. But he allayed their anxieties by recounting his deeds of daring, and the tribe then partook of the remaining portions of the reptile's flesh, establishing thereby the custom of regarding snakes as a food source.[5]
Geoffrey O'Grady also assigned the nameYettimaralla to theGabulbarra people, whose language is unknown but thought byGavan Breen to be a dialect of Biri.[7]