Baijini facts for kids

The Baijini are a group of people mentioned in the ancient stories of the Yolngu people. The Yolngu are an Aboriginal Australian group living in Arnhem Land in the Northern Territory. The Baijini are part of a special collection of songs and stories called the Djanggawul song cycle.

Many people wonder if the Baijini were real visitors to Australia long ago. Some think they might have come from China or other parts of Southern Asia.

What Does "Baijini" Mean?

The word "Baijini" might come from the Makassarese language, where it means "women." This is interesting because the Baijini in the stories are said to have brought their families with them. This was different from later visitors, the Makassans, who were mostly men fishing for sea cucumbers.

Some researchers, like Joseph Needham, have also wondered if "Baijini" could come from Chinese words. It might mean "white people" (people with lighter skin), "northern people," or even "people from Beijing."

The Baijini in Yolngu Stories

In the Djanggawul song cycles, there's a story about three special beings called the Djanggawul. They were a brother and his two sisters, along with another man named Bralbral. They traveled a long way from a distant land, stopping at an island called Bu'ralgu.

After many ceremonies, they rowed from the island to Arnhem Land. They followed the coast until they reached a place called Yalangbara. From there, they traveled inland to Wabilinga Island.

It was on Wabilinga Island that they met the Baijini. The Baijini were cooking sea cucumbers (also called trepang) near a group of tamarind trees. The Djanggawul claimed this spot as their own and asked the Baijini to leave. The Baijini then moved to another part of the island or to the mainland.

The stories also say that Yalangbara, where the Djanggawul first landed, was later a place where the Baijini lived.

Who Were the Baijini?

Many people have tried to figure out who the Baijini might have been in real life. Some think the stories might be based on what some Aboriginal people saw when they traveled to Sulawesi with the Makassans and then returned home.

If the Baijini were real, we don't know exactly when or where these Asian visitors came from. Some ideas suggest they might have been the Sama-Bajau people, also known as Sea Gypsies. These fishing people from Southeast Asia often traveled with their families.

Ronald Berndt, an Australian expert, studied the Yolngu people in the 1940s. He believed the Baijini were partly mythical but also partly real. He thought they were visitors who came before the Makassans. They were traders and strangers to the coast.

Berndt noted that the Baijini in the stories were "cooking trepang where the tamarind trees stand today." Tamarind trees are believed to have been brought to Australia by the Makassans. Some legends even say the Baijini built stone houses and grew rice!

Chinese Connections?

In 1953, a Chinese expert named C.P. FitzGerald suggested that Chinese people might have visited Australia before Europeans arrived. He mentioned a Chinese statue found near Darwin in 1879.

This statue was found deep in the ground near a banyan tree. It was a figure riding an animal, possibly a gazelle or antelope. At first, no one knew what it was. Later, in 1928, Norman Tindale said it was a Chinese god from the Tang dynasty (a very old time in China). This god was Shòu lǎo, the Chinese god of long life.

Peter Worsley also discussed the Baijini myths in 1955. He said that the Yolngu people clearly stated that the Baijini came before the Makassans. Like the Makassans, the Baijini came to collect sea cucumbers.

Worsley mentioned that the Baijini were said to have advanced technology. They had hand-looms, farmed, and built huts. An interesting detail is that the Baijini were described as having lighter skin. While it's possible they were Chinese, sea cucumber trading was often done by non-Chinese people. So, the Baijini might have been another group from Indonesia, not necessarily Chinese.

Some have even suggested that if the Baijini were Chinese, they might have been from a ship that separated from the famous fleet of Zheng He, who sailed south from Timor.

New Ideas About the Baijini

Anthropologist Ian McIntosh has a different idea. He thinks the Baijini stories are a way the Yolngu people explain their history of trading with Asian visitors. He suggests that the stories helped them understand and manage their relationships with outsiders.

McIntosh points to a figure named Birrinydji in the stories. Birrinydji was a powerful sea-captain and blacksmith. He was said to attract people from far away to the coasts of Arnhem Land. The name "Birrinydji" might even come from a term for Portuguese crusaders.

Birrinydji could change his skin color from white to black. His people wore sarongs and unique hats. Their boats had flags with blue, red, and blue stripes. McIntosh connects these details to a Makassan story about a group who sailed to Arnhem Land for safety after their kingdom was attacked in 1667.

However, the stories also seem to include hints of even older visitors, possibly Islamic or Portuguese. For example, a moon-dwelling god called 'Allah' is mentioned in some ceremonies. And some elders referred to a place called Dholtji as Mecca.

McIntosh believes the Baijini part of the legends talks about an older time before the Makassans. For example, the Dholtji songs don't even mention sea cucumbers, which were what the Makassans wanted. The Birrinydji stories describe tall, bearded people with a king named Luki.

Whatever the real history, McIntosh thinks these Yolngu stories help them understand the difference between their traditional way of life and the modern world. They help them deal with outsiders who want to use their land and resources.

Recently, the idea that the Baijini might have been Chinese has been brought up again by American journalist Louise Levathes.

See also

• Makassan contact with Australia
• Trepanging, the act of collecting sea cucumber
• Patorani and padewakang, two types of perahu used for trepanging by Makassan
• Yolngu