Series 01

STORY 3
Minnawee
as told by Frank Martin – WA Broome.

Learn about how the crocodile was created and why it always rolls its victims. A story of vengeance.

Synopsis:
The story of the crocodile roll is about a young girl named Min-na-wee. Min-na-wee was a very unhappy girl, she was different to the other girls and always caused trouble between the girls and their mothers.

When Min-na-wee grew into a young woman she still caused trouble. It came to the time when all the young women were to be selected as brides. The old people pointed out which men were to marry which women.

Min-na-wee was the only woman left standing at the end of the ceremony. She had not been chosen to become a wife. Min-na-wee caused more and more trouble now, so the elders agreed that she had to be punished.

Min-na-wee was rolled around in the dirt by the men. When she got away she ran to the sea where she asked the evil spirit to turn her into a vicious animal. She was turned into a large crocodile.

Min-na-wee waited in the water until one of the men who had punished her jumped into the water. She grabbed him and rolled him around as he did to her. This is why every time a crocodile catches it’s prey it always rolls them around in the water, because Min-na-wee’s spirit still remains with the crocodile.

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