# Folklore and Science Meet at Tiwi

- By: NASA Earth Observatory images by Joshua Stevens, using Landsat data from the U.S. Geological Survey. Story by Kasha…
- Date: 2019-08-10
- Classification: Photograph
- Credit line: https://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/images/146028/folklore-and-science-meet-at-tiwi
- Museum: [Wikimedia Commons](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Folklore_and_Science_Meet_at_Tiwi.jpeg)
- Rights: Public domain
- Picture: https://invisiblenetwork.ai/thumbs/commons/thumb/3/3f/Folklore_and_Science_Meet_at_Tiwi.jpeg/1920px-Folklore_and_Science_Meet_at_Tiwi.jpeg
- Who can see it: Teens profiles and older (museums give no ratings; placed by Invisible Network from the museum's own words)

According to ancient folklore, the creation of the main Tiwi Islands—Bathurst and Melville—can be traced to an old blind woman named Mudungkala. As the world was taking form during the Palaneri (or “dreaming” phase), Mudungkala rose from the Earth in the southeast of Melville Island. Crawling on her knees, she carried her three infants and slowly traveled north.

As she made her journey, fresh water bubbled up in her wake, creating tides and the Clarence and Dundas Straits that separate the islands from mainland Australia today. As she continued around the landmass, she decided it was too large and formed the Apsley Strait to divide the island into two. She then covered the bare islands with vegetation and animals so her children could have food once she left. Once the islands were complete, she vanished, leaving no clues about where she went.

The images on this page show various scenes of the Tiwi Islands, which are part of Australia’s Northern Territory and located about 60 kilometers (40 miles) north of Darwin. Both images were acquired on August 10, 2019, by the Operational Land Imager on the Landsat 8 satellite.

The Tiwi folklore may not be far off from how the islands…