I slept very badly last night, even though I was very tired. I thought I would collapse into bed and go straight to sleep, but instead laid there watching telly until I got sleepy at 11pm. But that’s not the end of my story. Sometime later, my mobile phone woke me up. I thought someone was sending me a text message. I woke up and looked at my phone but there was no text message and no missed call. It had definitely made a noise because the phone was lit up too. But whatever noise my phone was making was totally unexplained. It was just after midnight. I fell back into sleep easily but woke up a couple of hours later and couldn’t go back to sleep. I sat there awake for a while, getting eaten by mozzies. Eventually, I sat up and reached for the fan switch to turn it up. At the exact moment I turned the fan up, the touch lamp on the other side of the room went on. In two years, this touch lamp has never turned on for no reason.
So this afternoon, I told this story to my two brothers and one gagu (grandfather) who were here at the language centre. They automically said it was something of significance. My baba said someone or something was playing around. He thought it was a little person. I’m not sure what it was, but it was definitely strange.
I’ve always been intrigued by ‘little people’. I was an exchange student in Iceland and lots of people there believe in them. My best friend when I was there was a mexican-american who knew stories about little people from California and Mexico that were remarkably similar to those of the Icelanders. And since then I’ve heard plenty of stories from Aboriginal people about little people. Similar stories from three parts of the globe is a bit of a coincidence and I still can’t explain what was happening last night.
So this afternoon, I told this story to my two brothers and one gagu (grandfather) who were here at the language centre. They automically said it was something of significance. My baba said someone or something was playing around. He thought it was a little person. I’m not sure what it was, but it was definitely strange.
I’ve always been intrigued by ‘little people’. I was an exchange student in Iceland and lots of people there believe in them. My best friend when I was there was a mexican-american who knew stories about little people from California and Mexico that were remarkably similar to those of the Icelanders. And since then I’ve heard plenty of stories from Aboriginal people about little people. Similar stories from three parts of the globe is a bit of a coincidence and I still can’t explain what was happening last night.
Comments
And what is it about sleeping poorly when you're tired? It's sooo frustrating!
And Wamut - well done on your dancing! (to add a little cross-blog reference)
Anyway, there are so many stories of both "little people" and giants around the world in totally diverse mythologies. I think the mythologists and psychologists would have something to say about how size relates to power from our earliest days (little children are keenly aware of how much bigger adults are and also take note of whether other children are bigger or smaller than they are, etc.).
I wonder if helpful little people are more common than mischievous ones...
Can you share some of the ideas/stories about "little people" that you've heard from indigenous Australians?
And I've heard stories from a diverse range of Aboriginal people too.. my friend from Bundaberg area in Qld who would be labelled as 'urbanised' told me detailed stories about little people there and sightings and it's on the internet too ... can't find it tho... his stories are not different from the few i've heard around here in arnhem land