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= Junkgowa sisters = Junkgowa sisters (pronounced as Junk-OW-ah) are the marine goddesses of the Australian Aborigines that live in the Dreamtime. All the beings that one sees today have been created during the Dreamtime by spirits. While the deity is singular, it is often depicted in plural form and thus are called sisters. The three sisters are represented even in the present day, as three naked women sailing in a canoe. The trio represents the divine trio of the Maiden, Mother and Crone, which denotes the different stages of life that is, birth (inception), fertility and youth, and death respectively.

Origin
The Aboriginal mythology owes its origin back to 8000 BCE and is believed to be one of the oldest mythology/religion of the world. Like other pagan religions, the mythology of the Aboriginals consists of various gods and goddesses. While, the origin of the goddesses is unknown but are said to have existed during the Dreamtime. These ancestor goddess are responsible for the seas and oceans and all the life within them. The Junkgowa sisters are also related to the Djunkgao goddesses who are associated with floods, oceans and sacred wells.

Historical development and myths
Consistent with the Indigenous Aboriginal Mythology, the sisters are part of the fertility goddesses called Wawalag, who gave birth to all life in Arnhemland. The Junkgowa sisters are said to have created all the creatures that live in the rivers, seas and oceans. They moved around the world, sailing in their canoe, singing. Every time their oar touched the waters, life was created in the waters and every where they dug holes with their oars on dry land, springs of fresh water appeared.

Aboriginal Stories
According to the Aboriginal stories, Junkgowa sisters are water goddesses that inhabited the Earth during Dreamtime. It is believed by the Aboriginals and Torres Strait Islanders that Dreaming is the "timeless time" which exited ages ago. Moreover, it is also connected to areas located throughout Australia even today, where ancient spirits and emblematic ancestors reside. Different Aboriginal clans associate different meaning with Dreaming. The process of Dreaming is often manifested through dancing and singing folk songs. It has been associated with Creation, a symbiotic relationship between the humans, land and all the natural elements. The Junkgowa goddess is assumed to have lived in the Dreamtime and is believed to an ancestor who gave birth to all aquatic forms.

The most common story about the Junkgowa sisters highlights that all the water bodies as well as the aquatic beings of this world like the fishes, turtles, weeds, corals and many others that live in rivers, seas and oceans have been created by these goddesses. As they created the wide waters of the world, it was their duty to inspect and take care of these waters. Many years ago, they explored the waters of the seas and the oceans, sailing in their canoe. They sailed in their canoe and as they paddled across various water bodies, their oar hits the water creating life each time. After sailing through all the seas and the oceans, the sisters came to dry lands. On the dry land, the sisters dug holes that made way for fresh water springs and dug canals making rivers, which gave humans fresh water.

Also, there are variations in the way the different Aboriginal and Polynesian tribes look at the Junkgowa sisters. While in the northwest part of the North Arnhem Land they have been seen as ancestresses, indicating that they are females, in the east, it is said that they were male and female. However, most of the social groups call them as sisters.

Position within Aboriginal Mythology
The Aboriginal people of Australia still believe in Dreaming and that spirits and gods still govern Dreamtime. They have high regard of the Junkgowa sisters as fertility goddess as they symbolize the relationship of the Aborigines with nature. According to R. Holly Montgomery, gods and goddesses of the Aboriginals frequently bear similarity to animals or are the creators of natural elements like water and aquatic life to signify the association of divinity and nature. Aboriginal people still worship the gods and goddess of the Dreamtime and hold them in high regard. The Australian Mythology consists of several other goddesses (mostly in pairs) who are ‘creatresses’ like the Djanggawul Sisters, Kunapipi, Julunggul and Imberombera. All these goddess, including the Junkgowa sisters, have produced the countless elements of the world androgynously. This displays the prominence of female goddesses in the Aboriginal mythology. It also highlights the importance of female deities in the world wherein mothers are shown as creators and therefore, creation of many creatures, in various mythologies are done by goddesses.

Representation and Appearance
Although the goddess is singular and is worshipped as one, it is represented as a group of two or three women. The most common representation of the Junkgowa sisters portrays three women, one old, one youthful and one child sailing in a canoe. D. J. Conway in her book called Maiden, mother, crone: The myth and reality of the triple goddess indicates that this represents the divine feminine trinity of the Mother, Maiden and Crone which connects with the different stages of life. The Maiden symbolizes birth, youth and innocence; the Mother symbolizes fertility and ripeness and the Crone symbolizes wisdom and death.

Depiction in the Present World
Today, the Junkgowa sisters have been represented in paintings and stamps and other items. The three sisters have been depicted on a stamp of the Federate State of Micronesia. They are portrayed as three Aboriginal women, wearing no clothes, sitting in a canoe, sailing through the green-blue waters of the ocean. The stamp appeared in the Sea Goddess of the Pacific series. The stamp was launched in the year 1997. Additionally, the three sisters have also been portrayed in artworks of contemporary artists like Rebecca Guay. The artist has shown the goddess not as a trio but as a pair of two. The two Aboriginal women as shown sailing in a water body with aquatic life surrounding them.