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Natives of Australia l!i|!llllli!l!lll!!)illlli|l|!!l!l!!l!l!HIIII!lllll!^ ]itiinil))niMi||lli)MtMMM1)fMHtn!!tllMHttUM(M)!MM*MMHC iitiiiituiiiHtiniiitHiiti tMiiiiMtt tMti'Mtf tiniHiiiiiiMtsoiitjn tnriiiiiiiiiiiiitiifiinniiitifhiiiniHiiiiiii'iiniMiHitM :H;r,H>n 1 1 ^ 1 i 1 1 1 l-H ) 1 ! H 1 1 m 1 1 ! f CNJ llllilDku iiiiiiiiiiHiniiiiiHiiiiiiiiiiniiiiiiiuiininiiiiMii^^ IXLBRIS KIVFJPi^RAITlM NATIVES OF AUSTRALIA Zbe flative IRaces of tbc Britisb JEmpicc N AT IVES OF AUSTRALIA BY N. W. THOMAS, M. A. CORRESPONDING MEMBER OF THE SOCI^T^ d'aNTHROPOLOGIE DE PARIS, AUTHOR OF 'kinship ORGANISATION AND GROUP MARRIAGE IN AUSTRALIA' WITH THIRTY-TWO FULL-PAGE ILLUSTRATIONS AND ONE MAP LONDON ARCHIBALD CONSTABLE AND COMPANY, LTD 1906 3)U i u :? J 4 i* • Edinburgh : T. and A. Constable, Printers to His Majesty CONTENTS PAGE LIST OF PLATES, ix PREFACE, xi CHAPTER I INTRODUCTORY Geographical : area, ocean depths, mountains, river system, rain- fall, temperature. Flora : woodlands, pastures, scrub, spini- fex. Fauna : marsupials, birds, reptiles, insects. The dingo. Antiquity of man : Warnambool footprints, age of man in New South Wales and Victoria. Tasmanians and Australians. Origin of Australians : Negrito and Dravidian elements, Papuan influence. Early theories. Culture of Australia, . i CHAPTER II PHYSICAL APPEARANCE Stature of the Arunta. Physiognomy. Pigmentation, skin, hair. Body scars. Small extremities. Natives of South Australia and Queensland. Racial foetor. Track of foot. Carriage of body, 19 CHAPTER III LANGUAGE, ART, SCIENCE Language. Message Sticks. Tribal messengers. Gesture lan- guage. Art, ground-drawings, rock-drawings, paintings, the red hand. Grey's figures. Science, astronomy, sun, moon, stars, eclipses. Medicine, magic, bleedings, healing of wounds, snake-bite ; herbal remedies, treatment of burns, diseases of aborigines. Relative mortality from wounds and diseases, .......... 26 — vi NATIVES OF AUSTRALIA CHAPTER IV ARTS AND CRAFTS I'AGE iVrts and crafts : stone axes, knives, drills, etc. ; bones, teeth, shells as tools. Water-carriers. Fish hooks. Gum. Pig- ments. String-making, hair, fibre; knots and splices. Baskets and nets. Contents of woman's bag. Fire-making, drill, saw. Clothing and ornaments. Oiling and painting of body, 48 CHAPTER V ARTS AND CRAFTS Continued Huts. Arrangement of camp. Salutations. Weapons : boome- rang, club, spear, wommera, etc. Canoes : raft, bark, dug- out, outrigged canoe, ........ 70 CHAPTER VI FOOD Fishing, hooks, nets, weirs, etc. ; cooking. Fowling, snaring netting, etc. ; cooking. Tracking. Hunting, spearing kan garoos, cooking, opossums ; tree-climbing. Crocodile noos ing. Food tabus. Division of game. Cannibalism, food ceremonial, magical. Moths, grubs as food. Honey. Fer mented liquors. Water-finding. Cultivation of plants, Nardoo, zamia nuts, yams, etc. Pituri, .... 88 CHAPTER VII THE PLEASURES OF LIFE Dances : Kuri dance, Molongo; religious dances ; dramatic dances; mimetic dances. Musical instruments, corroboree music, songs and bards. Amusements, domestication of animals; games, cat's cradle, imitating footprints, bogy games, make- believe games, dolls, imitating elders. Athletic sports. Hand games. Toys, throwing sticks, ball, hide-and-seek, wit-wit, . 119 CHAPTER VIII LAW AND ORDER Tribal governments, headmen, council, meetings of totem-kins. Justice, public and private, pinya ; duel, kurdaitcha shoes. Illapurinja. Blood feud, solidarity of kin. War, . 142 CONTENTS vii CHAPTER IX SOCIAL ORGANISATION PAGE Phratries, classes, male and female descent. Four- and eight-class tribes. Totem-kins. Origin of these arrangements. Results of change to male descent. Local exogamy, . .156 CHAPTER X MARRIAGE Exchange of sisters, betrothal. Polygamy. Courtship. Elope- ment. Wife-lending. Pirrauru. Infanticide. Birth, child- hood, naming. Kinship, classificatory system, avoidance of relatives, etc., . -173 CHAPTER XI INITIATION CEREMONIES Eastern and western types. Yuin rites. Knocking out of teeth. Victorian customs. Kurnai rites. Central Australian rites, circumcision, mica operation, ...... 184 CHAPTER XII DISPOSAL OF DEAD. THE SOUL Burial customs. West Australia, Arunta. Exposure in tree. Divi- nation of murderer. Ghost of dead. Burial cannibalism. Dieri burial customs. Adelaide tribe. Victoria. Corpse roasting and burning. Exposure in Queensland. Mourning customs. Hair of dead man. Widow. Future life, ghosts, land of dead, dreams. Idea of the soul in Queensland. Where the children come from. Arunta reincarnation, . 192 CHAPTER XIII RELIGION Definitions proposed. Mythical beings of Dieri and Arunta. Baiame. Combats with and of birds. Etiological myths. Arunta religion. Baiame again. Daramulun. Nurrundere. Bunjil. Koen. The tikovina. Other gods and evil spirits. Spirits of dead feared. Totemism. Nagualism, . , 2II viii NATIVES OF AUSTRALIA CHAPTER XIV MAGIC I'AGE Intichiuma ceremonies. Evil magic, pointing. Woman's magic. Hair in magic. Crystals. Kidney fat. Rain-making. Ini- tiation of medicine-men. Queensland magic, dooming a person, ........... 229 CHAPTER XV MYTHS AND TALES Deluge. Bunyip, Mindi. Origin of death. Origin of man. Origin of fire. Origin of the sun, . ..... 243 BIBLIOGRAPHY, 251 INDEX, 252 LIST OF PLATES PLATE I. Kaltish man, Frontispiece II. Central Australian landscape, facingpage 4 III. Central Australian water-hole, 6 IV. Victorian woman, . 20 va. N. Queensland man, b. Weipa native with ear cylinder, c. Native of Mapoon, . VI. N. Queensland natives at work, 29 VII., VIII. Cave paintings, N.W. Australia, 39, 40 IX. Fire-making, 61 X. Victoria River women, 64 XI. Etheridge River man, 66 XII. Barwon River man, 68 XIII. N. Queensland camp, 70 XIV(7. Two-storied humpy, 74 b. Outrigged canoe, . / XV. Throwing the boomerang, . 77 XVI, Arunta warriors, 80 XVII. Spear-throwing, 82 XVIII. Grave mound, N.S.W., 84 XIX. Bark canoe, 86 XX, Tree-climbing, 105 b X NATIVES OF AUSTRALIA XXI. Arunta decorated for a corroboree, facingpage 120 XXII. Molongo (corroboree), 124 XXIII. Arunta children, . 137 XXIV., XXV. Shields, 150 XXVI. A Queensland belle, 175 XXVII. Arunta boys, 178 xxvina. Duel, 188 3. Initiation ceremony, } XXIX., XXX. Kaitish totemic ceremony, 200, 226 XXXI. Arunta „ „ 228 XXXII. Strangling cord, . 236 Map of Australia. PREFACE Savages, or, as they are better termed, peoples in the lower stages of culture, are studied by anthropological experts more and more closely every year, though in England and British possessions generally there is little money, public or private, available for expeditions, costly or otherwise ; but the results of these researches appear in a form at once too technical and too bulky to attract the ordinary reader, who wishes to learn something of the life of these children of nature. In the British Isles, where there are few families but send some member into our dependencies as Government official, soldier, or colonist, interest in the subject races of the empire should be especially keen ; the present series is intended to supply, in handy and readable form, the needs of those who desire to learn something of the life of these races, who, even if they are less civilised than ourselves, are perhaps not less worthy of study than beetles and jellyfish. The contributors to the series will, as a rule, be per- sonally acquainted with the peoples of whom they treat ; in other cases, the present work included, no statement will be made for which good authority can- not be cited, though, in the interest of the general reader, the text will be unencumbered with footnotes. There is in preparation a bibliography of the literature relating to the aborigines of Australia ; from this it xii NATIVES OF AUSTRALIA will be possible to verify all the statements in the present volume. I am indebted to my friend Mr. Norman Hardy's artistic and anthropological skill for the sketches re- produced in Plates XV. and XVII. Dr. R. H. Marten, of Adelaide, was good enough to obtain from Mr. P. E. Cowle a number of photographs taken by Mr. F. R. Scott, of which ten are reproduced in this volume. I owe to Captain Bradshaw the photograph for Plate X., and to Dr. Haddon the loan of Blandowski's rare work for Plate XXVIII. I am indebted to the Council of the Moravian Missions for the loan of the blocks for Plates IV., v., VI., xill., and XIV. ; and to the Council of the Anthropological Institute, for Plates VII., VIII , XIX., XXIV., XXV., and xxxil. Dr. Seligmann has been good enough to communi- cate to me the result of some inquiries into gesture- language in North Queensland, made for him by Captain Pirn ; I have learnt much from Mrs. Stow (Mrs. Langloh Parker) ; and Madame Bird's reminis- cences have also been put at my disposal. My heartiest thanks are due to all the ladies and gentlemen named here, and to others who have promised information, which I hope to utilise in a general work on the aborigines, now in preparation. I shall be glad to send a list of questions to any one who will either supply me with information on special points, or send photographs, with brief descriptions. NORTHCOTE W. THOMAS. August 24, 1906. NATIVES OF AUSTRALIA CHAPTER I INTRODUCTORY Geographical : area, ocean depths, mountains, river sys- tem, rainfall, temperature. Flora : woodlands, pastures, scrub, spinifex. Fauna : marsupials, birds, reptiles, in- sects. The dingo. Antiquity of man : Warnambool footprints, age of man in New South Wales and Victoria. Tasmanians and Australians. Origin of Australians : Negrito and Dravidian elements, Papuan influence. Early theories. Culture of Australia. Australia has been
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