Editing Wawalag (section)

== Characteristics and associations ==
The sisters were from [[Ngukurr]] and they were part of the Wawalak clan which belongs to the Dua [[Moiety (kinship)|moiety]], one of the many&nbsp; [[Australian Aboriginal kinship]] groups of the Yolngu people.<ref name=":7">{{Cite book|last1=Buchler|first1=Ira R.|url=http://worldcat.org/oclc/1089423795|title=The Rainbow Serpent : a Chromatic Piece| last2=Maddock |first2=Kenneth| year=1978| isbn=978-3-11-080716-5 |pages=76–85| oclc=1089423795}}</ref><ref name=":5" /> Most commonly, the elder sister, ''Waimariwi'', is pregnant while the younger one, ''Boaliri'', is going through early puberty.<ref name=":4" /> In other versions, the younger sister is pregnant while the elder sister already has a baby that is around two to three years old. It is unclear what gender the baby is as it is addressed as both male and female. They were creation beings who travelled through Arnhem Land performing [[songline|song and dance cycles]] that revealed, for the first time, the names of the places they were walking through and the plants and animals they gathered along the way.<ref name=":3" /><ref name=":10">{{Cite journal|last=Swain|first=Tony|date=February 1991|title=The Earth Mother from Northern Waters|url=https://www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/10.1086/463227|journal=History of Religions|language=en|volume=30|issue=3|pages=223–260|doi=10.1086/463227|s2cid=162308386|issn=0018-2710}}</ref><ref name=":2" /> Because of this, they are associated with the development of moieties and language in  Arnhem Land.

=== Moieties ===

The myth is closely associated with the importance of moieties and the [[Australian Aboriginal avoidance practices|avoidance practices]] that go along with them.<ref name=":2" /><ref name=":7" /> In Arnhem Land, the Yolngu clans are divided into two [[Australian Aboriginal kinship|moieties]], [[Dhuwa|Dua]], also known as Dhuwa, and [[Yirritja]].<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":3" /> According to the story, the sisters only travel through Dua territory, meaning that everything they encountered also share the same moiety.<ref name=":8">{{Cite journal|last=Hargrave|first=Susanne|date=1983|title=Two Sister Myths: A Structural Analysis|url=http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/j.1834-4461.1983.tb01998.x| journal=Oceania| volume=53|issue=4|pages=347–357|doi=10.1002/j.1834-4461.1983.tb01998.x|issn=0029-8077}}</ref> In some versions of the story, there is a strong focus on the pregnancy being a result of an [[incestuous]] relationship between the elder sister and a Dua clansmen; while they may not be directly related, they share the same moiety, which is why the act is frowned upon.<ref name=":4" /><ref name=":8" />&nbsp;When the baby is born, the sisters encounter for the first time something that does not belong to the Dhua moiety, as children take the opposite moiety from their mother's, making the baby Yirritja.<ref name=":3" />

Similarly, the Rainbow Serpent swallowing the sisters is also seen as an act of incest, as the serpent is also of Dua moiety.<ref name=":3" /> While it is unclear if Yulunggur, the serpent, is male or female because it is often referred to as both, the encounter between he/she and the sisters is often interpreted as a symbolism of sex.<ref name=":8" /><ref name=":0" />

=== Language ===
The story is also associated with the origin of linguistic differences in Arnhem Land. During their journey, the sisters were singing and naming the different  plants and animals they were gathering as well as the territories they were passing through.<ref name=":2" /><ref name=":1" /><ref name=":8" /> They do this by using a range of dialects including Djaun, Rainbarngo, Djimba, Wawilak, and Liaalaomir.<ref name=":3" /> The emergence of linguistic differences is mainly addressed at the end of the story, when Yulunggur gathers with the other totemic serpents and realises that they speak different dialects.<ref name=":8" /><ref name=":7" />