Miwi — behind the stomach

Ngarrindjeri soul substance · sense of self

Miwi is rendered at the belly because contemporary Ngarrindjeri testimony identifies it as the soul substance or sense of self located behind the stomach. The point is regional and relational, not a universal Aboriginal anatomy or a biomedical claim about the stomach.

Miwi — behind the stomachMiwi — behind the stomachSpirit-bonesTotemic locus

Point 1 of 3 in Aboriginal Miwi — Belly Soul

Cross-tradition overlaps

No overlapping points are registered for this point.

Open in interactive explorer

Sources

Kynesha Temple, Rhanee Lester, Nari Sinclair, and Kelli Owen, 'WANNAPI; MIWI; TUWILA' (primary)

Ngarrindjeri authors identify miwi as human spirit or soul substance and state that it is located behind the stomach; this is the direct source for the belly anchor.

Ronald M. Berndt and Catherine J. Berndt with John E. Stanton, A World That Was (scholarly_modern)

Yaraldi/Ngarrindjeri ethnography supplies regional context for beliefs about personhood, healing, and the supernatural; it does not turn the normalized coordinate into anatomy.

Tags