Gloria Gavenor

“This story tells of two sisters. They both had a few children each. Emu was the big sister and Turkey was the smaller sister. They were hunters but Emu was better than her sister. One day they went hunting together and they did a lot of hunting but Turkey decided to go back early to cook all her roots and nuts. When she had finished, she hid her cooking stick. Turkey was waiting for her sister. When Emu came home, Turkey said to her “Sister, put your hands in the fire to open up the ashes, that’s what I did.” But Emu burnt all her hands from the hot fire, so that is why you see Emu can’t fly today. Then next day they went hunting again as usual. Emu returned early and she hid some of her children in the grass and was waiting for Turkey. Emu cried “Sister look, I’ve got only two children – I killed the others so that there would be more food to go around. You’ve got many kids, why don’t you kill them and just keep two.” After Turkey killed her babies, Emu called to her chicks to come out from the hiding place and eat tea. Turkey cried out “You’ve tricked me!” Turkey got her two children and flew away. So today you can see Emu and she’s got more chicks than Turkey. The moral of this story is that sisters should not lie to each other, otherwise you’ll make bad enemies with your families. That is the story of the two sisters, Emu and Turkey.”