A sourced illustration has not yet been added. This gap is included in the coverage record.

Overview

Piggiebillah hears the younger Weeoombeen brother celebrate a successful hunt and demands to know what was caught. He threatens to kill both brothers until they reveal their emu, then drags it to his own camp and cooks it. Despite their assistance with the fire, he refuses to give them any food. The brothers bring neighbours who surround and spear him; even his offer to surrender the carcass does not stop their attack.

He is left unable to cry out and covered with spears. The concluding explanation says his memory is perpetuated by a kind of porcupine ant-eater bearing his name, whose skin is covered with miniature spears. It does not explicitly describe the wounded man changing before the attackers’ eyes or state his later death. The account’s spear-to-spine comparison and historical animal terminology are retained without assigning a modern scientific species.

Strong food seizerThreatens two brothersCovered with spearsSpear-to-spine animal explanation
01

Origins & earliest records

K. Langloh Parker, Australian Legendary Tales (1896), The Weeoonibeens and the Piggiebillah. Narran-region collection; individual narrator unspecified.

02

Records & interpretation

The complete English narrative distinguishes directly described pursuit and wounds from the final inferred or commemorative animal identifications.

Selected bibliography

Documented works and useful reading. This is not a list of every appearance.

  1. 01

    Australian Legendary Tales: The Weeoonibeens and the Piggiebillah

    K. Langloh Parker · 1896

    Complete selected chapter; heading/body spelling variation retained. Bird change inferred by searchers, Piggiebillah conclusion phrased as perpetuated memory.

Family & connections

A source-supported family tree or inspiration record has not yet been compiled for this profile. Related reading below indicates a connection in subject matter, not a proven lineage or creative influence.

References

Sources supporting this profile. Linked pages have their own scope and editorial standards.

  1. Primary historical collected narrativeParker: Weeoonibeens and PiggiebillahResearch access: 2026-10-05

Image credits

A sourced illustration has not yet been added. This gap is included in the coverage record.

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