“The land of Byamee”: K. Langloh Parker, David Unaipon, and popular Aboriginality in the assimilation era

Popular Aboriginal legendary tales have been one of the most significant ways in which Aboriginality has been constructed in Australia, but they have not received much attention prior to this paper. Beginning with missionary accounts of Baiame, a deity associated with Gamilaraay (Kamilaroi) and Wiradhuri (Wiradjuri) speaking peoples of colonial Australia, the author examines the way in which the theme of the Great Spirit or Baiame is developed in popular mythology. The focus is placed on two key writers: K. Langloh Parker and David Unaipon. It is argued that the popular discourse of “The Land of Byamee” reflected the political constraints of the assimilation era.