Classification of kin, age structure and marriage amongst the Groote Eylandt aborigines: A study in method and a study of Australian kinship [Reprint 2021 ed.] 9783112529621, 9783112529614

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CORRIGENDA Page

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11 th line reading "Groote Eylandt and Environs" etc. should be deleted and appear under the heading " S K E T C H M A P " in the middle of the page. Footnote, second line, "1952/53)". should read "1952/53". Bottom line, "(p. 8)". should read "(p. 18)". Bottom line should read " N o t e : See pps. 50—51 for comment on population sample. The percentage of males in 21—30 years age group may be somewhat underestimated but not significantly, the main deficiency of unmarried adult males in the sample being in t h e 16—20 years age group". Line 20, "(pp. 47)" should read "(p. 47)" Second bottom line, " p a t t e r n s " should read " p a t t e r n " . Second bottom line, "(pp. 50)" should read "(p. 50)" Page heading, "Geron tocracy" should read "Gerontocracy" Line 16 " a m a n " should read " a m a n " Footnote, second line from bottom, "tenous" should read "tenuous" Left hand side, line 7, should read "tion, 5, 22, 150, 151, 179" line 9, should read "134, 140"

2079/3 Rose, Classiflkation of Kin

Deutsche Akademie der Wissenschaften zu Berlin VÖLKERKUNDLICHE

FORSCHUNGEN

Herausgegeben von der Sektion für Völkerkunde und Deutsche Volkskunde Band 3

FREDERICK

G.G.

ROSE

CLASSIFICATION OF K I N , AGE STRUCTURE AND MARRIAGE AMONGST T H E G R O O T E EYLANDT ABORIGINES A Study in Method and a Theory of Australian

Kinship

397 Abbildungen, 1 Karte

AKADEMIE-VERLAG 1960

•

BERLIN

Alle R e c h t e v o r b e h a l t e n i n s b e s o n d e r e d a s d e r Ü b e r s e t z u n g in f r e m d e S p r a c h e n C o p y r i g h t 1960 b y A k a d e m i e - V e r l a g G m b H , B e r l i n E r s c h i e n e n i m A k a d e m i e - V e r l a g G m b H , B e r l i n W 1, Leipziger S t r . 3/4 L i z e n z - N r . : 202 100/99/60 K a r t e n g e n e h m i g u n g : M D I N r . K 11/5377 Satz, Druck und Ginband: Druckhaus „Maxim Gorki", Altenburg Bestellnummer: 2079/3 P r i n t e d in G e r m a n y E S 15 F

To

the Australian

working

class

who alone can ensure the full emancipation Australian

of the

aborigines.

CONTENTS Tables included in the text List of Diagrams List of Illustrations Acknowledgement Note Preface Chapter

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14

,, Appendix

15 1

,, ,,

2 3 4

,,

5 6 7 8

,, ,,

Introduction The Aborigines of Groote E y l a n d t Method of Collecting t h e D a t a Aggregating and Checking Classificatory D a t a Re-assessment of Age D a t a Analysis of Classificatory and Age D a t a Marriage: its Dynamics and Basis amongst t h e Groote E y l a n d t Aborigines The N a t u r e of Australian "Gerontocracy" Wife's Mother a n d H u s b a n d ' s F a t h e r amongst t h e Groote E y l a n d t Aborigines Sister Exchange and Cross Cousin Marriage Australian " T y p e s " of Kinship Classification Some Characteristics and Features of t h e Classification of Kin a m o n g s t t h e Groote E y l a n d t Aborigines The Homogeneity of Australian Kinship Systems—a Critique . . . . The Influence of "Gerontocracy" on t h e Development of Australian Kinship Systems Comments and Criticisms Table showing original unsystematic numbering of aborigines during field work List of aborigines photographed Cross references to aborigines photographed List of aborigines (mainly deceased), mentioned in pro forma a n d cross referenced Principal totem(s) or origin of g r a n d p a r e n t s of photographed aborigines Ritual Objects—1948 Blood grouping of some Groote E y l a n d t aborigines Identification of aborigines depicted in photographs illustrating TINDALE'S article 1925/26

VII VIII IX XI XIII XV 1 10 22 35 42 52 63 91 105 117 129 142 153 166 178

185 186 189 192 197 201 204 206

Contents

VI ,, ,, „ ,, ,,

9 10 11 12 13

A note on the population of the Groote Eylandt aborigines 208 Additional notes on the ethnography of the Groote Eylandt aborigines . 210 Western and eastern usages and beliefs on Groote Eylandt 220 A comment on the Omaha and Crow kinship systems 229 "Gerontocracy" in Tasmania and its theoretical importance 234

Tabular Data

245

Literature Cited

469

Postscript

474

Aboriginal Word List

495

Index

496

Groote Eylandt and Environs

21

Illustrations

511

Photographs of Aborigines

523 S K E T C H MAP

TABLES INCLUDED IN THE TEXT Table ,, ,, ,, ,, ,, ,, ,, ,, „ ,, ,, ,, „ ,, ,, ,, ,, ,, ,, ,, „

„ ,, ,, „ ,, ,, ,,

1 Number of varieties of foodstuffs consumed by the aborigines of Groote Bylandt and the Dieri (after W O K S L E Y and G A S O N ) 2 Classificatory terms of relationship of the Groote Eylandt aborigines . 3 Original lettering of classificatory terms of relationship 4 Estimation of "experimental error" in identification: sample 1 . . . . 5 Estimation of "experimental error" in identification: sample 2 . . . . 6 Categories of relationship: relationship A 7 Categories of relationship: relationship B 8 Categories of relationship: relationship C 9 Categories of relationship: relationship D 10 Categories of relationship: relationship E 11 Categories of relationship: relationship F 12 Categories of relationship: relationship G 13 Categories of relationship: relationship H 14 Categories of relationship: relationship I 15 Categories of relationship: relationship J 16 Categories of relationship: relationship K 17 Categories of relationship: relationship L 18 Categories of relationship: relationship M 19 Categories of relationship: relationship N 20 Categories of relationship: relationship O 21 Groote Eylandt population sample according to age groups and sex . . 22 Groote Eylandt population sample: age groups above 21 years expressed as a percentage of totalled population sampled above 21 years according to sex 23 Age of man and wife (wives) according to moieties 24 Age of man and wife (wives) where wife is 20 or less years old, according to moieties 25 Age of man and wife (wives) where wife is over 20 and less than 36 years of age 26 Age of man and wife (wives) where wife is 36 years of age or over . . 27 Number of men in each age group according to the number of wives each man has 28 Number of wives per married man according to age group of man: and number of women per man (all men) in each age group . . • 29 Number of men to whom a woman has been wife 30 Number of men to whom a man has been initiate

15

18 30 40 40 55 56 56 56 57 57 57 58 58 58 59 59 59 60 60 61

61 64 65 66 66 69 69 72 73

VIII

Tables included in the Text ,,

31

,, „ „

32 33 34

,,

35

,,

36

„

37

,,

38

,, . ,, ,,

39 40 41

,,

42

„

43

,, ,, ,, ,, ,, ,,

44 45 46 47 48 49

Changes in husband's clan membership correlated with cause of change in husband 76 Relationship and age difference of co-wives 78 Showing incidence of polygyny amongst females in age groups . . . . 87 Age difference between a man and wife (actual or potential) according to age of wife 100 Age difference between a man and wife (actual or potential) according to age of man 100 Relative ages of men and their actual mothers in law, men in moiety 1: with relationship to mother in law 107 Relative ages of men and their actual mothers in law, men in moiety 2: with relationship to mother in law 108 Relative ages of men and females originally betrothed to them, and the female's mother as at 1941: with relationship to the mother in law . . 109 Maximum age between full siblings 119 Difference in age between patri- and matrilateral cross cousins . . . . 1 2 5 Man's relation to his wife's (or initiate's) mother and father: wife or initiate in moiety 1 143 Man's relation to his wife's (or initiate's) mother and father: wife or initiate in moiety 2 144 Woman's (or initiate's) relation to her (his) husband's (guardian's) mother 146 and father (both moieties) Primary totems of the Groote Eylandt aborigines 213 Secondary totems of the Groote Eylandt aborigines 214 Restrictions between relations of the Groote Eylandt people in 1941 . 219 Relation who cut first cicatrix 224 Relation who performs circumcision 225 Origin of aborigine who performs circumcision considered in conjunction with origin of aborigine circumcised 226

LIST OF DIAGRAMS 1

Curve used to "re-assess" ages of aborigines in moiety 1

46

2

Curve used to "re-assess" ages of aborigines in moiety 2

47

3

Showing relative ages of males and their actual or potential wives

67

4

Showing incidence of polygyny amongst females in age groups

88

5

Showing relative ages ofmales and those femaleswho call each other reciprocally " 0 / 0 " 138

6

Illustrating the "typical" marriage of the Groote Eylandt society

148

VIII

Tables included in the Text ,,

31

,, „ „

32 33 34

,,

35

,,

36

„

37

,,

38

,, . ,, ,,

39 40 41

,,

42

„

43

,, ,, ,, ,, ,, ,,

44 45 46 47 48 49

Changes in husband's clan membership correlated with cause of change in husband 76 Relationship and age difference of co-wives 78 Showing incidence of polygyny amongst females in age groups . . . . 87 Age difference between a man and wife (actual or potential) according to age of wife 100 Age difference between a man and wife (actual or potential) according to age of man 100 Relative ages of men and their actual mothers in law, men in moiety 1: with relationship to mother in law 107 Relative ages of men and their actual mothers in law, men in moiety 2: with relationship to mother in law 108 Relative ages of men and females originally betrothed to them, and the female's mother as at 1941: with relationship to the mother in law . . 109 Maximum age between full siblings 119 Difference in age between patri- and matrilateral cross cousins . . . . 1 2 5 Man's relation to his wife's (or initiate's) mother and father: wife or initiate in moiety 1 143 Man's relation to his wife's (or initiate's) mother and father: wife or initiate in moiety 2 144 Woman's (or initiate's) relation to her (his) husband's (guardian's) mother 146 and father (both moieties) Primary totems of the Groote Eylandt aborigines 213 Secondary totems of the Groote Eylandt aborigines 214 Restrictions between relations of the Groote Eylandt people in 1941 . 219 Relation who cut first cicatrix 224 Relation who performs circumcision 225 Origin of aborigine who performs circumcision considered in conjunction with origin of aborigine circumcised 226

LIST OF DIAGRAMS 1

Curve used to "re-assess" ages of aborigines in moiety 1

46

2

Curve used to "re-assess" ages of aborigines in moiety 2

47

3

Showing relative ages of males and their actual or potential wives

67

4

Showing incidence of polygyny amongst females in age groups

88

5

Showing relative ages ofmales and those femaleswho call each other reciprocally " 0 / 0 " 138

6

Illustrating the "typical" marriage of the Groote Eylandt society

148

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS A

Groote Eylandt women in the bush (Photography b y Mrs. E. ROSE, 1938)

. . . .

513

B

Group of women and children, umbakumba (1941). The woman on the left is No. 155 and on the right is No. 36 513

C

Sitting from 1 to r.: No. 36, No. 133 and No. 139. Standing smoking a discarded cigarette b u t t is No. 86 (1941) 514

D

No. 159's wives and mother about to be questioned (1941). See p. 29

514

E

No. 199's wife with twins (1939). Twin infanticide is not a custom on Groote Eylandt 515

F

Cassimir, Broome W. A. (1940). See p. 75

G

No. 154, No. 68 and No. 182 immediately after No. 154 had mortally speared No. 168. March 6th 1943. See pp. 39, 104 and 149 516

H

Aborigines walking along the beach a t umbakumba to t r y No. 154 b y ordeal for the killing of No. 168 (March 1943) 516

I

Aborigines marching onto the beach at umbakumba to try No. 154 by ordeal for the killing of No. 168 (March 1943) 517

J

No. 154's trial by ordeal for the killing of No. 168. No. 154 is out of the picture to the left (March 1943) 517

K

To illustrate Appendix 6. See p. 201

515

518

L

To illustrate Appendix ,, See ,, 201

518

M

To illustrate Appendix „ See „ 201

519

N

To illustrate Appendix „ See ,, 202

519

O

To illustrate Appendix „ See ,, 202

520

P

To illustrate Appendix „ See „ 202

520

Q

To illustrate Appendix „ See „ 202

521

R

To illustrate Appendix „ See „ 202

521

S

No. 30 and No. 163 painted (cf. Illustration "G") in preparation for initial mourning ceremony for No. 164 (deceased September 1941) 522

T

Aborigine using a spear thrower. See p. 242. Manbulloo (near Katherine, N. T.) 1948 522

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

For assistance in the physical side of carrying out the field investigation, the results of which are incorporated in this work, thanks are due in the first instance to Frederick H. G R A Y Esq. Mr. G R A Y not only made available the resources of the Native Settlement, umbakumba, but took great interest in the preparation of the work and, over the past years, has been indulgent in answering queries and obtaining information. Where d a t a has been obtained directly by Mr. GRAY, this is indicated in the text. Thanks are also extended to Mr. G R A Y for permission t o publish illustrations B, C, E, G, H, I and J . While on Groote Eylandt in 1941 the writer was given the hospitality of the Church Mission Society a t the mission station, then on the Emerald River. Belatedly he wishes to t h a n k the mission staff for their assistance in helping to establish contact with aborigines centred on the mission. To Dr. Cecil E. COOK, a t the time Chief Protector of Aboriginals, and to E. W. P. C H I N N E R Y Esq., a t the time Director of Native Affairs, the writer owes thanks for permission to enter the Groote Eylandt aboriginal reserve in 1938/39 and 1941 respectively. During the actual period of field work, Professor A. P. E L K I N of the Sydney University by correspondence offered extremely valuable advice a n d suggestions and latterly, he has used his good offices in an endeavour to obtain comparative d a t a for the Wailbri tribe. Dr. Peter M. W O R S L E Y of the Hull University kindly lent the writer a typescript copy of his doctoral dissertation submitted to the Australian National University, dealing with the Groote E y l a n d t people. No less valuable were Dr. W O R S L E Y ' S criticisms and suggestions and particularly his assistance in changing most of the native words into standard orthography. Without this help the writer would have been quite unable to carry through this transcription. The writer wishes to t h a n k Charles P. M O U N T F O R D Esq. for the opportunity he was given of accompanying the J o i n t Australian-American Arnhem Land Scientific Expedition in 1948 for a few weeks while it was on Groote E y l a n d t . Without the facilities the German Democratic Republic made available to the writer, this work could never have been prepared in its present form and, w h a t is important, could never have been published. Thanks are also due to the writer's many colleagues in the German Democratic Republic who, by the stimulus of discussion both oral and b y correspondence,

XII

Acknowledgement

have contributed in no uncertain manner to any positive features t h a t this work m a y possess. While seeing this volume through the press, the writer has come to appreciate the meticulous efforts of the staff of the Akademie Verlag, Berlin and of the printers „Maxim Gorki", Altenburg to whom he wishes to extend his deepest appreciation. At the same time he has also realised t h a t in a work of this nature, entailing a large amount of numerical tabular data, there are probably errors in compilation t h a t occurred well before the preparation of the typescript submitted to the printer, despite the endeavours of the writer to avoid them. Where such errors have occurred the author craves the indulgence of the reader and at the same time would be pleased if these were brought to his notice.

NOTE

1. Some explanation is required on the two orthographies used for native words in this work. When the writer carried out the field enquiries, he used what can only be described as a "rough and ready" orthography which, at the time, was sufficient for his purpose. However, in order to bring the work into line with contemporary practice, most, but not all, of the aboriginal words were, with the help of Dr. Peter M. WORSLEY, transcribed into standard orthography. Where standard orthography is used, the words are printed in lower case and where left in the original orthography, are printed in upper case. 2. The Index deals only with the main text of the work and not with the Tabular Data (pp. 245—467). Aborigines, both living and deceased, mentioned in the Tabular Data are cross-indexed in Appendices 3 and 4. By reference to the relevant aborigine it is simple enough to link the text of the work with the Tabular !Cdta. Appendices 3 and 4 were prepared early in the writing up of the work, while the Index, of course, was the last portion to be compiled.

PREFACE I t may seem surprising that this work for which the basic field investigation was carried out nearly twenty years ago is only now seeing the light of day. W h y this is so does not directly concern us here. I t is moreover a subject which is touched on later in this volume. Suffice it is to say that over the intervening years the author has had the opportunity to ruminate on the field data which he collected. This process of reflection and interpretation has of necessity been sporadic and sometimes for years at a time the whole manuscript was metaphorically stuck in a drawer and forgotten. B u t inevitably the drawer was opened, the dust blown off the papers, acquaintance renewed with the two hundred odd aborigines and the information they had given the writer in 1941 again worked over. As might be expected the problems demanding scientific answers as the writer saw them, have not remained static and some questions which originally seemed to be at the centre of controversy have now taken second place or have even been completely disregarded. In their stead new aspects have arisen and without doubt this process of change in emphasis in the work would be carried further if publication were again postponed. The present form of the work is substantially that in which it was submitted in 1957 as Habilitationsschrift to the Faculty of Philosophy at the Humboldt University in the democratic sector of Berlin. The Schrift however did not include Appendices 12 and 13 which have been added somewhat in the nature of accretion and well illustrate the tendency mentioned for new problems or new aspects of problems already dealt with, to emerge. A few words are required on the reproduction of the photographs of aborigines taken in 1941. Although adequate for identification for which they were originally taken, their technical level leaves much to be desired. To a degree the printers, by judicious retouching have remedied this patent deficiency, nevertheless, as the English proverb has it, one cannot make a lady's purse out of a sow's ear. The writer has included the photographs because, above all, he wants to avoid the impression that the work deals with lifeless cyphers, each allotted a number. Although, for convenience, the aborigines have indeed been numbered, each, as the individuals in our own society, was a personality, a human being of flesh and blood with a similar freedom measured by social necessity, and not merely a cog in a machine, which relentlessly with mathematical efficiency determined his kinship and marriage relations.

XVI

Preface

In order to save cost and expedite publication, the photographs which formed an integral part of the method employed are printed together, duly numbered, at the end of the work instead of separately with the relevant tabular data, as was the case during the field work. The photographs may also enable the reader to judge how far the age taken for each aborigine is correct. I t will however, probably be too much to expect that inclusion of the foot measure in many of the photographs will provide physical anthropological data of sufficient accuracy to warrant analysis, which was the writer's original intention. In submitting this work to the public, the writer can only hope that it contributes something to the understanding of a rapidly disappearing stage of society which, if not distant in time, in level of economic development is far removed from our own, standing as we are on the threshold of cosmic exploration. BERLIN

January

1960

CHAPTER 1

INTRODUCTION

The Background

to the

Study

This paper is based on field work carried out by t h e writer during t h e period May to September 1941 amongst the Groote E y l a n d t aborigines in t h e Gulf of Carpentaria, N o r t h e r n Australia. T h e writer was first on t h e island in J u l y 1938— F e b r u a r y 1939 being a t t h a t time meteorologist stationed a t t h e t h e n Flying B o a t Base on t h e n o r t h east of t h e island. I n 1948 he was again on t h e island with t h e J o i n t Australian-American A r n h e m L a n d Scientific E x p e d i t i o n in his ex-officio capacity as Executive Officer of t h e N o r t h Australia D e v e l o p m e n t Committee. Certain limited social anthropological work was carried out in t h e first period including a n initial b u t far f r o m satisfactory a t t e m p t t o record t h e kinship classification of t h e Groote E y l a n d t people b y t h e orthodox genealogical m e t h o d . During t h e t h i r d short visit with the A r n h e m L a n d E x p e d i t i o n in 1948 t h e writer was unable t o do a n y field work although certain other activities of a n t h r o pological value were carried out a n d these are placed on record in Appendices 6 a n d 8. I t is felt t h a t a certain personal background is required so t h a t an u n d e r s t a n d i n g can be obtained, first, of w h y t h e s t u d y was initiated in t h e w a y t h a t it was a n d secondty, of its limitations. Trained in t h e orthodox English school t h e writer accepted as almost a x i o m a t i c t h a t t h e u n d e r s t a n d i n g of t h e social organisation of a society was t h r o u g h t h e kinship classification, t h e key for which was investigation b y t h e "genealogical m e t h o d " as elaborated b y R I V E R S in his classic work A Genealogical Method of Collecting Social and Vital Statistics ( 1 9 0 0 ) . I n Australia in t h e late thirties t h e writer's a t t e n t i o n was f u r t h e r focussed on this sub ject of kinship organisation of the Australian aborigines b y t h e work of t h e Sydney School ( R A D C L I F F E - B R O W N , 1 9 3 0 ; E L K I N 1 9 3 8 a) following u p t h e earlier work of H O W I T T ( 1 9 0 4 ) S P E N C E R a n d G I L L E N ( 1 8 9 9 etc.), R A D C L I F F E - B R O W N ( 1 9 1 3 ) a n d others. I n these circumstances it was inevitable t h a t t h e writer should follow t h e lead given b y t h e previous workers a n d consider t h a t a n u n d e r s t a n d i n g of t h e kinship classification was t h r o u g h a n investigation b y t h e genealogical m e t h o d . Certain work was carried out in Broome, Western Australia during t h e period 1939 t o 1941 p a r t of which was in conjunction with t h e local resident medical practitioner, D r . A. T. H . JOLLY. This work showed t h a t this m e t h o d of investigation h a d certain limitations a n d gave various anomalous results. 1

Eose

2

Introduction

I n order to overcome these limitations and avoid the anomalies the method described in this paper was developed and applied on Groote Eylandt in 1941. The work in Broome and the difficulties and anomalies will be mentioned further. I t was originally never intended t h a t the work carried out in 1941 on Groote E y l a n d t should be any more than the basis for a fuller investigation of the ethnography of these particular people which the writer intended to carry out a t a later date. This calculation of the writer was based on two false assumptions: first, t h a t he would be able to carry out further field work during the next few years and secondly, t h a t the aborigines on Groote Eylandt would remain in a state little affected by detribalisation, the condition in which he knew them in 1941. For various reasons it was not until J u n e 1956 t h a t he was able to devote his time entirely to ethnological work, not in Australia, but in the German Democratic Republic and moreover, in 1941 three months after he left Groote Eylandt, Japanese Fascism began its march southwards; one indirect effect of this attack was almost completely to disrupt the economy and social organisation of the Groote Eylandt people in common with the aborigines of the rest of Arnhem Land. In 1948 when the writer returned to the island he noted the changes brought about by detribalisation, a m a t t e r which W O B S L E Y (1954a) deals with a t considerable length. A word in parentheses on the use of the kinship organisation as a basis for the investigation of the ethnography of a particular tribe. Methodologically this is a false approach for the social organisation of any people is part of the superstructure raised on and ultimately determined by the mode of production, if by mode of production we understand the forces of production in conjunction with the relations of production. This, of course, is not to deny t h a t kinship organisation can legitimately be studied as an entity but t h a t its relation to the material basis of the society should be firmly understood. Otherwise the danger of turning sociology (social anthropology) into a positivist, autonomous science is very real. This danger was not appreciated when the writer carried out the 1941 field work but he has endeavoured to avoid it in writing this paper. Needless to say if a similar opportunity again presented itself the writer would not concentrate on one aspect only of the ethnography of a tribal people, even if only as p a r t of the preliminary work, and certainly not on p a r t of the social organisation—the superstructure. This exclusiveness in the 1941 field work is doubly unfortunate for probably the writer was the last anthropologist to have the opportunity of studying an aboriginal society in a relatively undisturbed tribal state—at least in the northern parts of Australia. Not only has the philosophical outlook of the writer changed during the past nineteen years, but he claims indulgence when he says with H O W I T T (1904 ix.) t h a t , " m y views [in various cases] have been modified by a wider experience and more mature consideration." Where the modification of his views are relevant to the subject of this paper they will be indicated and where necessary discussed in the text.

The Background to the Study

3

B u t to return to the work t h a t the writer did in Broome and which led to the development of the method for collecting kinship data described. J u s t prior to and during the early years of the last war Broome had a white population of three or four hundred either directly or indirectly connected with pearling, or to a less extent the cattle industry. There was an Asiatic population, mainly Koepangers, Japanese and Chinese, somewhat smaller t h a n the white population, and again directly or indirectly connected with the pearling industry. There was a variable aboriginal population, p a r t of which visited Broome either out of interest during "walkabout" or for other reasons, while others, and probably a minority, were employed in Broome. Those on visits of shorter or longer duration to Broome included the inmates of the native hospital and the gaol. While the majority of natives employed in the town were originally from tribes in the vicinity of Broome the patients in the hospital hailed from all parts of the north of the State of Western Australia from Port Hedland northwards. Consequently, at any one time there might be patients of the native hospital from as many as half a dozen tribes and over the years a unique opportunity existed for a study of the organisation of these tribes. The writer, a t the time, was living two or three hundred yards away from the native hospital. The information from the hospital patients was supplemented by other aborigines in the town or by those met when visiting cattle or mission stations in the vicinity. Data from many of the tribes in the north of Western Australia was collected during this period. Innumerable genealogies were collected but, as will be realised, the d a t a in respect to some tribes was more limited t h a n with others. Anyone who has worked with such genealogical material amongst Australian aborigines knows t h a t the results obtained from any one aborigine conflict to a certain extent with those obtained from another. As a consequence the 'ideal' picture of the kinship organisation of a tribe is what might be called an . average' obtained from a number of aborigines. This 'average' is likely to be distorted to a greater or less extent by having only a limited number of informants. Theoretically the divergencies from the 'average' can be eliminated by using a sufficiently large number of genealogies but in practice the personal factor (or the subjective error) of the observer is likely to give erroneous results. Nevertheless the first essential to obtain an adequate representation of the kinship system is to have sufficient quantity of data. ELK IN (1933 p. 263) gives a very sound field work method when he describes the way he works when dealing with the social organisation of an aboriginal tribe. But in the case of limited sample of population, consequent upon detribalisation or for other reasons, the field worker of necessity m a y have to rely on a small number of informants. Thus E L K I N in his work amongst the remnants of the Arabana had to rely on "a few" informants (1938p. 439). W A R N E R (1933 p. 83) for his work on the Groote Eylandt kinship system had two informants while M C C O N N E L had only one informant for the Kandyu in Cape York Peninsula (1950 p. 106). This was the case with a number of tribes where only one or two representatives visited Broome and the writer was not prepared to place 1*

4

Introduction

any great reliance on the picture he obtained both by discussion with them a n d from their genealogies. I n these cases the danger exists t h a t one accepts what an aborigine says occurs, possibly backed by his own genealogy for what normally occurs, which m a y be something quite different. However, in other cases, mainly with the larger tribes, the position was different and the writer or his co-worker was able to obtain and discuss full genealogies from m a n y aborigines. Naturally in several such cases there was an overlap between the genealogies. RADCLIFFE-BROWN (1930 p. 43) says t h a t , ''in a tribe t h a t has not been affected by white intrusion, it is easy to collect full pedigrees for the whole tribe." I t is difficult to reconcile this with his experience in Australia, for the Kariera and neighbouring tribes amongst which his main field work lay in Australia, had been in contact with whites for several decades and had suffered severely from depopulation. He says of the Kariera, ' their country has been occupied by the whites for about fifty years, and during t h a t time their numbers have steadily decreased. At the present time there are not more t h a n 100 all told, men, women and children . . . all of t h e m except the oldest speak fairly good English" (1913 p. 144) " . . . My own estimate is . . . [that] the minimum [population] for the tribe [was] about 750 . . . This, however, is a very rough estimate, and no reliance must be placed on i t " (1913 p. 146). Be t h a t as it may, the present writer found it far from easy to collect genealogies t h a t could be relied on from aborigines who had been in contact with whites and could speak English or rather pidgin English reasonably well. Even two generations back, full, half and distant brothers tend to merge into one another as also do full, half and distant sisters, and any diagrammatic representation t h a t one might form is complicated by changes of wives or husbands t h a t have occurred in the past. Thus, a male aborigine in the informant's grandparents' generation might have married three wives either at the same or different times. Each of these three women might have had a different relationship to the informant. Then these women m a y have had children some of whom were called by the same term while others were called by different terms b y the informant. The informant m a y be quite certain of his relationship to some of the children of these women b u t not to others whom he m a y never have known. Complicate this further by the fact t h a t each of these three women probably had other husbands during their lifetime by some of whom they had children and the picture t h a t emerges is b y no means simple and clear cut. I n fact, only a short distance away from the informant's own direct lineage the position becomes very hazy and the possibility of error large. Amongst these tribes for which adequate informants were available were a number amongst which other workers had worked in the previous ten to fifteen years, viz. the Karadjeri, the Nyul-Nyul and the Ungarinyin. I t was accordingly a simple process of checking the previous findings (cf. ELKIN 1938a and 1954). I n each case with relatively minor differences the findings of the earlier workers were confirmed. However, without exception, no one genealogy conformed with

The Background

to the

Study

5

what m a y be considered to be the ideal diagrammatic pattern. I t was only by neglecting anomalous d a t a t h a t the ideal p a t t e r n was obtained. K A B E R R Y ' S ( 1 9 3 9 p. 1 1 5 ) contribution to the question of 'regular', 'alternate' and 'wrong' marriages was important for it gave an indication of the magnitude of those cases where marriage departed from the ideal pattern. I t was therefore natural where an anomaly in the data was observed to consider it as a consequence of a marriage t h a t departed from the norm and accordingly to reject it in obtaining the ideal pattern. Moreover, the nature and the method of collection of the d a t a prevented any check being made on any relationship term used, nor was it possible to estimate in quantitative terms the frequency of the appearance of these anomalies. W h a t were these anomalies t h a t were observed? They can be considered under two headings. First, there were those which were not to be expected in the particular type of kinship organisation. Thus in the case of the Worora, a society for which an organisation was obtained almost identical with the Ungarinyin a t least one case of distant cross cousin marriage was observed. Then again contrary to what might be expected, amongst the Nyul-Nyul and K a r a d j e r i several instances occurred where the same kinship term was applied to persons in adjoining generations. This according to E L K I N (1938 p.438) "is very rare in Australia". As E L K I N notes, it occurs in the Ungarinyin and also amongst the Worora. As will be seen later in this paper it also occurs amongst the Groote Eylandt people. The second type of anomaly covered what might be called cases where the usually accepted principles of the classificatory system of relationship were abrogated. R A D C L I F F E - B R O W N (1930 p.44) enumerates a number of principles which he says apply to the Australian types of kinship classification. One of these he calls "the principle of the equivalence of brothers". By this he understands t h a t " t h e children of any man I call 'father' or of any woman I call 'mother' are m y 'brothers' and 'sisters'". I n fact, in the majority of cases this principle was found correct b u t not in all cases. As W O R S L E Y (1954a) has shown R A D C L I F F E - B R O W N ' S equivalence of siblings does obtain in the nuclear and extended family b u t only within these limits. R A D C L I F F E - B R O W N (ibid.) writes further t h a t "the second principle applied in Australian systems of terminology is one which brings relatives by marriage within the classes of consanguineal relatives. Thus, the wife of any m a n I call 'father' is my 'mother', and conversely, the husband of any woman I call 'mother' is my 'father'. Similarly my father's father's brother's wife is classed with m y father's mother and denoted by the same t e r m . " This principle of R A D C L I F F E B R O W N was frequently abrogated. Despite the fact t h a t by rejecting the anomalies, conclusions were arrived a t which did not conflict significantly with those reached by earlier workers, the writer was very far from satisfied t h a t these anomalies could be legitimately and completely explained on the basis t h a t t h e y were caused by some marriages departing from the norm. Moreover, it was felt t h a t the complexities of the genealogical material handled must inevitably lead to error.

6

Introduction

I t is not the purpose here to enquire into the nature of these anomalies b u t later in this paper an hypothesis will be advanced which endeavours to reconcile what has been recorded as the kinship organisation of various tribes and certain other features of the social organisation t h a t must inevitably give rise to these so-called anomalies. In the meantime it is sufficient to note t h a t the writer set himself the object of collecting relationship data which could be checked and upon which he could place some reliance. As he saw the problem the only relationship data t h a t could be checked was t h a t between living aborigines and accordingly the problem resolved itself into endeavouring to have all living aborigines identify every other living aborigine. How this was done will be described in Chapter 3 and here it is mentioned t h a t an endeavour to apply the method in Broome was made but for a number of reasons was abandoned.

The Age Structure

of the Groote Eylandt

Society

At the time the work on the tribes in the north west of Western Australia was being carried out the importance of the age factor and its relation to the classification of kin was not realised. I t was known t h a t most if not all aboriginal societies were "gerontocratic" by which it was understood t h a t most young girls married men considerably older t h a n themselves which, in the writer's mind was vaguety compensated for by young men marrying old women. To the writer and Dr. A. T. H. JOLLY there seemed a definite connection between typical Australian "gerontocracy" and the taboo between a man and his wife's mother which prompted them to write a short memoir on the subject (JOLLY and ROSE 1942). Nor was the importance of the age structure of an aboriginal society in relationship to the kinship organisation appreciated when the writer did his work on Groote E y l a n d t in 1941. However, as a matter of routine, estimates of ages were made in 1941 of the large majority of aborigines contacted on Groote E y l a n d t . I t was realised t h a t these estimates of ages were almost certainly subject t o variable, and probably in some cases considerable, error, and the writer was not prepared to use them in conjunction with the other data, and in fact when the work was first drafted as a manuscript in 1946 these estimates were omitted as they were considered to be of little if any value. An endeavour was made to obtain an independent estimate of the aborigines' ages in 1951. All this independent estimate did was to confuse the issue further as the divergencies from the writer's own estimates in some cases were considerable. I t confirmed the writer's opinion t h a t there were variable and in some cases considerable errors in his estimates. There the subject rested until 1956 when the writer again examined the age data with a view to seeing if some kind of quantitative precision could be given to the interpretation of the mother in law taboo in line with the earlier memoir (ibid.) The estimates he had made gave some surprising results even when examin-

Theoretical questions arising from the age data

1

ed in terms of averages: but the problem was to eliminate the errors in individual cases and this seemed impossible. However, by using the classificatory kinship data a method was in fact developed whereby the average error was not eliminated but the individual ages of the aborigines could be largely corrected so as to be consistent one with another. The method used to do this will be described in Chapter 5. As the writer had opined, there were in some cases considerable errors in his original estimates. The writer has little, if any, statistical equipment, and it may well be that a more exact application of the method used to reassess the ages could be developed. I t also seems probable that some of the figures obtained offer themselves to a more exact statistical analysis than the writer was able to give them. As a case in point it seems probable that using statistical methods and knowing the method of sampling employed by the writer a more exact estimate could be made of the infant mortality rate than the present unsatisfactory official estimate. The method used in reassessing the ages of the aborigines would appear to constitute a significant advance for as far as the writer is aware it is the first time that the age structure of an aboriginal society has been given in reasonably precise terms. Some of the conclusions that can be drawn specifically for the Groote Eylandt society on the basis of the reassessed age data are surprising. Precision has been given to such correlations as that between the incidence of polygyny and the ages of men and women, while a clearer definition is given to the concept of "gerontocracy" as it is found in Australia.

Theoretical

questions arising from the age data

I f the actual results obtained from the age data as they apply to Groote Eylandt are surprising, the general theoretical implications of the age structure of the Groote Eylandt society, in so far as it is typical of Australia as a whole or of a significant part, would seem to be far-reaching. The problem that is immediately raised is, how far can the Groote Eylandt "gerontocracy" be taken as typical of Australia as a whole? Particular facets of this problem are whether the reports of youths marrying at, or shortly after, puberty, and of sister-exchange marriage can indeed be accepted as norms in certain societies. To provide full answers to these questions would require an exhaustive and critical examination of the literature. Clearly in a work of this nature that is not practicable and would be out of place: consequently it has not been attempted. However, in Chapters 8 and 10 an endeavour is made to show that the answers to these questions are by no means clear cut and that the evidence on the existence of gerontocracy throughout Australia is, in certain measure, contradictory. The fact does however remain that, despite some conflicting reports, many societies, one of which was the Aranda, must have possessed age structures not

8

Introduction

greatly different from Groote Eylandt. I t is shown t h a t the diagrammatic representation of the kinship structures of some Australian societies as so-called " K a r i e r a " or " A r a n d a " types with bilateral first and second cousin marriage respectively, could have had reality only in a condition where gerontocracy was completely absent. I t is also shown t h a t in a society with an age structure such as the Groote E y l a n d t people possessed, uni- and not bilateral marriage would almost completely predominate. On the basis of these views an hypothesis is advanced on the development of Australian kinship systems, through the following stages: 1. an original bilateral first cousin marriage, at a time when gerontocracy was completely absent: no doubt when group marriage 1 existed. Marriage was a t puberty for both sexes and sister exchange was possible. 2. with the break down of group marriage and the development of gerontocracy, bilateral cross cousin marriage became increasingly difficult to arrange and as a consequence was largely replaced by unilateral cross cousin marriage only with the mother's brother's daughter. Gerontocracy virtually precluded the mother of wife being father's sister. This relation—mother of wife—as a parallel and consequent development of gerontocracy became mother's mother's brother's daughter, who was a type of "younger sister" of father and for whom a particular kinship term was introduced. Despite the fact t h a t bilateral marriage under pronounced gerontocracy became virtually impossible, the kinship organisation still maintained the fiction t h a t it was possible and also maintained the fiction t h a t sister exchange was possible. This was the situation as it existed on Groote Eylandt in 1941. 3. the next step in the development of Australian kinship systems was the recognition of the fact t h a t bilateral marriage was virtually impossible because of gerontocracy. This step has been taken by the Murngin and Karadjeri societies whose kinship systems recognise only marriage with the mother's brother's daughter who at the same time is mother's mother's brother's daughter's daughter, and not with father's sister's daughter. I t will be noted t h a t this sequence of development does not envisage a situation where bilateral second cousin marriage existed i.e. the so-called Aranda type marriage. If this type of marriage and kinship system had had reality it could 1 Some comment is required here on t h e use of t h e expression group marriage. As t h e writer understands t h e problem (see Appendix 13) group marriage was a hypothetical situation in which a group of men continously lived and cooperated economically with a group of women. The numbers of t h e sexes over p u b e r t y and t h e average age inside t h e group were approximately t h e same. The emphasis is on t h e word continuously and for t h e argument adopted in this work t h e essential point is t h a t under group marriage as t h e writer understands or defines it, gerontocracy was a b s e n t : in themselves t h e n a t u r e of t h e sex relations is not i m p o r t a n t although in t h e writer's view t h e sex relations as distinct from economic relations would also have been of a continuous group nature. B y placing t h e emphasis on the word continuously all existent societies and historically reported societies (e. g. the Tasmanians) are excluded from t h e definition.

Theoretical

questions

arising from the age

data

9

only have been where gerontocracy was completely absent i.e. in a state of group marriage as apparently was the case of the Kariera type (bilateral first cross cousin marriage). In the writer's view unilateral first cousin marriage with mother's brother's daughter, who at the same time is mother's mother's brother's daughter's daughter is a natural result of the development of gerontocracy in a society with simple bilateral first cross cousin marriage. As a corollary it is the writer's further view that the so-called Aranda type marriage, where bilateral second cousin marriage is alleged to occur, is an erroneous conclusion based upon the fact that many societies (e.g. the Groote Eylandt people) in which marriage with mother's mother's brother's daughter's daughter occurs also maintain the fiction in kinship terminology that sister exchange and bilateral marriage is possible, although rendered virtually impossible by the prevailing gerontocracy.

CHAPTER

2

T H E ABORIGINES OF GROOTE

EYLANDT

This chapter is not in anyway intended to be a comprehensive treatment of the ethnography of the Groote Eylandt aborigines, even in subject headings and is included here purely to provide sufficient factual background for an understanding of the main study. Certain contributions to the ethnography of these people which, however, are not germane to the substance of the paper are relegated to Appendices 10 and 11. The economy of the aborigines is only cursorily dealt with here but certain aspects and implications thereof in relation to marriage and social organisation will be further discussed in Chapter 7. The name of the Groote Eylandt people Although segregated on a group of islands several miles from the mainland of Arnhem Land and exhibiting certain peculiarities the Groote Eylandt people did not apparently possess a name to denote themselves. To an extent this is not surprising as both economically and culturally they do not constitute an homogeneous unit. TINDALE (1925/26) used the word Ingura to describe them and the name was used for some time in the literature (RADCLIFFE-BROWN 1930p.332; WARNER 1933; THOMSON 1936 and TINDALE 1940). The writer never heard the name used while he was on the island and it seems probable that it was a name used by the mainland people to describe the islanders. The name at present in use in the literature is wanindiljaugwa, the name of the largest clan in the south east of the island (cf. Andilokwa in A. P. ELKIN and R . a n d C. BERNDT 1950 p. 21). W . HARNEY gave t h e writer in April 1938 t h e

name Wandilyoukiva 1 as the name of the language spoken by Groote Eylandt people. The geographical environment The Groote Eylandt people originally inhabited the islands off the coast of Arnhem Land to the south east of Blue Mud Bay. The two main islands in the 1

WORSLEY (1954a) gives the name of the language as enindiljaugwa which is preferred. I t should be noted t h a t this section merely sets out the time sequence of the use of a term t o denote the Groote E y l a n d t people (or their language).

The geographical

environment

11

archipelago are Bickerton and Groote Eylandt proper. I t has become of late years the convention to include the Woodah Island aborigines in with the natives of Groote Eylandt. This is mainly because since the middle 1930s the Mission Station on Groote Eylandt, a t t h a t time to the south west of the island was a centre of attraction not only to the aborigines of Groote E y l a n d t proper a n d Bickerton Island, but also to the Woodah Island natives. However, it would appear t h a t the Woodah Island natives were strictly Balam u m u and associated directly with the Blue Mud and Caledon Bay people and not with the Groote Eylandt (and Bickerton Island) tribe. According to T H O M S O N (1936 Map 2) the Groote Eylandt aborigines "never travelled to Woodah Island". T h a t m a y well be correct, for while the writer was on Groote E y l a n d t there was no case of Groote Eylandt aborigines travelling to Woodah Island. On the other hand there were undoubtedly two aborigines from Woodah Island (i.e. Balamumu) permanently on Groote E y l a n d t viz. nos. 187 and 188. W O K S L E Y (1954a p. 88) records 21 living members of the Woodah Island clan, but whether they were living permanently on Groote Eylandt is not clear. The inference from T H O M S O N ' S statement t h a t the contact between the Balam u m u and the Groote Eylandt (and Bickerton Island) aborigines was restricted is supported by T I N D A L E ' S (1928 p. 5) account of the visit of over a score of Balamumu to Groote Eylandt in 1921 (or 1922) when T I N D A L E was on the island. B u t he reports t h a t lack of a common vocabulary prevented intercourse. The majority of the adult Groote Eylandt people understand and can speak the language of the Nungubuyu on the adjacent mainland, to the south of the Balam u m u but not the Balamumu language. While contact between the Groote Eylandt people and the Balamumu was restricted some did nevertheless occur as can be seen by the limited intermarriage t h a t occurred (see Appendix 5). Paradoxically this influence apparently extended from Woodah Island through the clans in the north of Groote E y l a n d t t o the dalimbo clan (the wanindiljaugwa) in the far south east of Groote E y l a n d t proper. There seems to have been little contact between the wanindiljaugwa clan and the Nungubuyu. This dichotomy between the west coast and Bickerton Island natives on the one hand and the north and east coast natives on the other is further underlined by the initiation practices (see Appendix 11). But to return to the geographical environment. Groote E y l a n d t itself is roughly rectangular with sides running approximately east/west and north/south with marked indentations in the north and with protuberances in the south east and to a less extent in the south west. The area of the island is approximately 1,000 square miles and no p a r t of the island is further t h a n 12 or 13 miles from the sea. Mt. Ellie or Central Hill (600ft.) is the most prominent physical feature of the island and can be seen from most other parts of the island and, of course, from a considerable distance out to sea. This hill rises fairly abruptly from moderately rugged stony country which covers a considerable portion of the centre of the

12

Aborigines

of Oroote

Eylandt

island. There are however narrow strips of near-jungle resembling rain forest, even in the centre of the island, along the creeks which rise in the central stony country. Between the coast and this central area the vegetation is typical open tropical savannah woodland. Except for the coarse rank grass which grows to a height of six feet or more during the wet summer season, there is little low undergrowth below the eucalypts and acacias. The grass dries and disintegrates during the winter. Towards the coast the vegetation increases in density and in some areas can be classed as jungle particularly towards the mouths of creeks and rivers. There is often 'corridor' jungle along the water courses. Mangroves are found in sheltered areas but not in great density. There are two main seasons, the "wet" summer and the "dry" winter, characterised respectively by the north west monsoon and the south east trade winds.

Population

of the Groote Eylandt

people

T I N D A L E (1925/26 p. 64) placed the entire population of Groote Eylandt and the other islands "at a little more than three hundred." T H O M S O N (1936 p. 43) estimated the population at 250 in 1935. When the writer was on the island in 1941 he estimated the number of the aborigines on the island, using the list of 218 aborigines photographed as the basis for his estimate, at between 300 and 350. Ignoring T H O M S O N ' S estimate which was made during onlyashort visit, between 1921 (when T I N D A L E did his work) and 1941 the population had virtually remained stationary. In 1 9 5 2 / 5 3 when W O R S L E Y did his work there were 4 5 0 natives on the island, an increase of between 100 and 150 in the course of 12 years. Some comments are made in Appendix 9 on this phenomenal increase in population which is quite contrary to the usual experience amongst Australian aborigines. The figure of 3 0 0 / 3 5 0 gives a population density of about one aborigine to three square miles which is high compared with other parts of Australia. W A R N E R ( 1 9 3 7 ) for the Murngin in the north east of Arnhem Land estimated a population density of about one aborigine per nine square miles. For comparison the average population density of the aborigines throughout Australia when it was first settled by the white man, is usually taken at about one aborigine to ten/fifteen square miles.

Historical

Although the Groote Eylandt aborigines in common with those of the rest of Arnhem Land were amongst the last .to be brought under white influence, they had been in contact to a greater or less extent with non-aborigines (Asiatics) over a considerable period, for at least two centuries if not longer ( W O R S L E Y 1955a). The visits of the Asiatics, mainly Indonesians from Makassar, were seasonal, arriving with the north west monsoon and departing with the south east trade

Historical

13

winds. The purpose of their visits was to collect a n d cure trepang (bêche de mer) for the Chinese market and to do this they employed aborigines in the work. Bêche de mer abounds in the shallow sheltered waters in the bays of the north coast of Groote Eylandt which was one of the centres of the Indonesian activities. Their camping places on the coast are still marked by tamarind trees, the fruits of which they brought with them from their homeland. The visits of the Indonesians were stopped by the Australian Government in 1907 in line with its "White Australia Policy". T I N D A L E (1925/26 p. 130) notes, "several of the old men of the Ingura tribe, as youths, made voyages with the Malays, principally of Macassar . . . and are familiar with the language of Macassar, with sometimes a smattering of other languages, such as Bugi and Malay." Even in 1941 several of the older men such as No. 12 and No. 83 could remember the visits of the Indonesians and knew some words of Malay dialect. Contact with the white population of Australia was a t first very sporadic. I n the 1880 s, during a cattle boom affecting the Northern Territory, large tracts of Arnhem Land including Groote Eylandt were taken u p as pastoral holdings and apparently stocked, for wild cattle 1 were reported on Groote E y l a n d t (in 1938) in the south east of the island. The pastoral boom was short lived as the land, in common with most of the coastal country of t h e Northern Territory, has little value for beef raising. White and Japanese pearl and trepang fishers visited the coast of Arnhem L a n d and Groote E y l a n d t after 1907, b u t the main contact and influence came from the Christian mission stations established around the coast of Arnhem Land. As far as Groote E y l a n d t was concerned, the Mission Station was not established until 1921 and was then only used for half castes from the mainland. As W O R S L E Y (1954a p. 263) says, "it was several years before the missionaries turned their attention to the aborigines" and "the females of the tribe were not contacted until 1925" (ibid, p. 265). W O R S L E Y notes further t h a t "since the primary purpose of the missionaries was not the proselytisation of the natives, and since the aborigines treated t h e m with considerable reserve and suspicion, contact with the missionaries was very slight for several years" (ibid. p. 264). He continues, " b y 1934, a dormitory for boys was maintained at the mission station; by 1936, some girls came to school for short daily periods, going back to their families in the afternoon. Only in 1937 does full time residence of whole families appear to have become the accepted rule, and 1 According to WORSLEY'S informants the wild cattle on the island originally ran away from the Mission Station. In 1938 and 1941 the aborigines did not offer this explanation b u t were content to say t h a t the cattle had been on the island a long time. The point however was not pressed by the writer. Groote Eylandt was undoubtedly taken up as a pastoral property in the 1880s and moreover the legislation prescribed t h a t such properties should be stocked. This however is not proof t h a t the island was stocked as the law in this respect was honoured more in the breach t h a n in the observance. I t is quite possible t h a t Groote Eylandt was taken u p as a pastoral property for speculative purposes only and not stocked. I t is worth noting t h a t in the period 1938/1948, from the writer's knowledge, cattle from the Native Settlement on occasion ran away and presumably joined the wild cattle in the south east of the island.

14

Aborigines of Oroote Eylandt

even by this date not all the natives had come in to the station. Even today [i.e. 1953] a small remnant prefers to 'go bush' for quite lengthy periods" (ibid, p. 271). I n 1938 the flying-boat base at the north east of the island was established, and in the same year the privately owned and operated u m b a k u m b a Native Settlement was established three miles across the lagoon, which was the landing area for the flying boats. At the flying boat base there were approximately a dozen white personnel who were not allowed to go beyond the confines of the base area without permission onto the rest of Groote Eylandt, which constituted an aboriginal reserve. The sandspit to the north west of Little Lagoon north eastwards for about a mile and a half to Lay cock Hill was the base area. At t h a t time (1938/39), the present writer was the only member of the base personnel to have the necessary permission to visit the aboriginal reserve. At the u m b a k u m b a settlement in 1941 there was one white m a n (Mr. F. H. GRAY) and two half castes. At the mission station in 1941, then on the Emerald River, there were three white staff and two half castes. I t is not proposed to trace the development of culture contact subsequent to 1941 and the effects of the war as it is not of immediate relevance to the present paper and full details can be found in WORSLEY ( 1 9 5 4 a).

The traditional

economy

of the Groote Eylandt

aborigines

Both the natives of Groote Eylandt and the aborigines of the remainder of Arnhem Land have an economy which can be classed as 'coastal' but there is an important difference between t h a t of Groote Eylandt and t h a t of the mainland of Arnhem Land as in the latter case there is a deep hinterland while in the former the hinterland is shallow—as has been noted no place on the island is more t h a n 13 miles from the coast—and moreover a large proportion of t h a t hinterland is stony and barren. WORSLEY (1954a p. 33) produces evidence to show t h a t Groote Eylandt is a very rich area for bush foods. Nevertheless, the traditional activity of the men had heavy emphasis towards the sea as the following table indicates, comparing the number of varieties of foodstuffs of the Groote Eylandt aborigines (after WORSLEY 1954a) with those of the Dieri (after GASON in WOODS 1879). I t would be improper to compare the actual numbers of the edible varieties of each kind of food of the Groote Eylandt people with the Dieri, as each list was collected under quite different conditions, and, moreover, each list could probably be extended considerably. Further, no indication of the relative amounts of each kind of foodstuff is given for the Dieri, nevertheless, the relative percentages of the different kinds of food will give some indication of the emphasis. On Groote E y l a n d t 4 4 % of the edible kind of food are fish, shellfish or sea animals compared with 4 % amongst the Dieri, which, of course are all fresh water species. Amongst the Groote Eylandt people 8 % of edible species of food are land animals (including

The traditional

economy

of the Oroote Eylandt

aborigines

15

reptiles) compared with 3 3 % amongst the Dieri. There are 2 4 % edible plants amongst the Groote Eylandt people compared with 18% amongst the Dieri. Table 1

Number of varieties of foodstuffs consumed by the aborigines of Groote Eylandt and the Dieri (after W O R S L E Y d: GASON) Oroote No. of varieties Land animals (incl. reptiles) Birds (land & sea) Fresh water & marine animals & fishes Shellfish (mussels, crabs etc.) Plants Total : -

Eylandt %age

Dieri No. of varieties

%age

25 75 97 37 75

8 24 31 13 24

40 55 3 2 22

33 45 2 2 18

309

100

122"

100

The women's activity is mainly carried out in the immediate area behind the beach. Naturally this geographical division of the economic activities of the sexes is by no means absolute, for women collect shell fish etc. on the coast and the men carry out various activities in the bush. Nevertheless this difference is sufficient to distinguish the economy of the Groote Eylandt aborigines from the mainland. Quite apart from the geographical factor, the division of labour between the sexes on Groote Eylandt is marked, although probably no more so than occurred in Arnhem Land generally. The man mainly does the hunting while the woman does the collecting of vegetable foods. Again the distinction is not absolute and men may on occasion collect vegetables and women will kill small game. Prior to the visits of the Indonesians the aborigines used bark canoes for moving along the coast and between the island and the mainland. However, on their visits to the island the Indonesians brought dug-out canoes with them and moreover showed the islanders how to make them (TINDALE 1925/26 pp. 103/112). The natives, unlike the mainlanders, do not use nets, and fish mainly with line and hooks or by spearing either from the shore or from canoes. Metal for hooks was obtained from the Indonesians and since then from white Australians, and it is not known whether fishing by hook and line was carried out before the advent of the Indonesians and if so, what material was used for hooks. Besides being used for fishing, the major activities in which the canoes were used were the harpooning of dugong and turtle (TINDALE 1925/26 pp. 78/79). There are no kangaroos or emus on the island, the largest land animal being the wallaby, but it does not occupy a significant part in the aborigines' economy. Allegedly in 1941 there were wild cattle on the island but these were not hunted by the aborigines. None of the activities so far mentioned requires the aggregation at any one time of more than a few men. That communal activity in which the largest number of

16

Aborigines

of Oroote

Eylandt

men would co-operate would be for the catching of fish described by T I N D A L E (1925/26 p. 81) as follows: "Tidal creeks provide a good supply offish. At high tide a barrier of mangrove branches, leaves and grass is thrown across an estuary, leaving a gap about two feet in width near one side. As the tide falls the migrating fish are then speared by waiting natives." The writer witnessed something similar on the west coast in which some six or eight adult men took part. The women assisted in making the barrier by collecting branches, stones and boulders but did not place them in position nor did they assist in the actual catching or spearing of the fish. T I N D A L E (1925/26 p. 80) mentions a method of taking wallabies by burning a semi-circular area of dry grass country, watchers being stationed on the unburnt side to spear the animals. This would probably involve communal activity of the men but did not occur while the writer was on the island. Water for drinking is not a significant factor restricting movement and economic operations on the island. Inland even in the driest season there are creeks or permanent water holes every mile or so, while almost invariably drinkable water can be obtained by scooping in the sand on the sea shore a short distance above high water mark

Clans T I N D A L E (1925/26 p. 64) mentioned "at least six local groups or sub-tribes: two larger and four smaller ones". In 1941 the writer recognised eleven main local totemic groups or clans and again there were two main clans and the remainder smaller. These clans are patrilineal and totemic having one or more totems or alauwudawara associated with it. The clans distinquished with the main totem(s) are as follows: —

i ii iii iv V

vi vii viii ix X

xi

Locality

Main

djaragba aqwurugurigba jadigba badalumba Bickerton Island dalimbo

demboru jaqdarqa, wuruweba jinuqagada bara dauwalja, wuruweba mamariga & aqandiljuba midjaija midjarja midjar)a

Woodah Island umbakumba Bickerton Island BARABATTA (amulaijwa) Bickerton Island

Totem(s)

midjarja jinigarga

English North Wind Central Hill & Parrot Eagle North West Wind Curlew & Parrot South east wind & Bark canoe Sailing boat

, , ,, ! 1

A bird

(See Table 44 for key to numbered localities on sketch map)

J )

Marriage

17

The first five clans belong to one moiety and clans vi to xi belong to the other moiety. The moieties are unnamed. The largest clans are Nos. iv and vi. As W O R S L E Y ( 1 9 5 4 a) showed each clan is named, but the writer found that nevertheless there was occasionally considerable doubt in the minds of the aborigines as to the locality to which he belonged. Thus in the case of nine aborigines they gave as their locality amagula or murugwilja, both on the south coast. Their totems showed that they would normally have been from dalimbo. Eight of these nine aborigines were women and it seems probable that after marriage when they went to live with their husbands the ties with their original country were loosened. W O R S L E Y (1954a, 1955b and c) gives a more detailed account of the complicated totemic and clan system of the Groote Eylandt people. Classificatory system of relationship The following table in anticipation of the description of the method used in obtaining them, is a complete list of the classificatory terms of relationship of the Groote Eylandt aborigines and their primary English equivalent, as obtained by the writer in 1941. Because of the manner in which they were obtained, in direct answer to the question, " W h a t do you call such and such an aborigine?", the meaning of the relationship terms would probably strictly be "my mother" etc. However to conform with W O R S L E Y ' S orthography the possessive has been omitted. The letters at the right hand side of the table is the symbol used in the tabular data to denote the relationship term. I t will be noted that one letter is used both for female and male relations. Marriage The Groote Eylandt "normal" marriage is with mother's mother's brother's daughter's daughter, who at the same time is distant mother's brother's daughter (classificatory). The moieties are the broad control on marriage and are strictly exogamous, only two cases breaking this rule having been recorded. The first was a man living in the camp of his half sister and the second of a man living with a tribal daughter as wife. In the first case the man N e N E E M U T C H E R A (moiety 2) was speared in his sleep by [na]mawada (No. 33) who took the sister damagajidja (No. 139) as wife. In the second case, details are not available except that the woman was taken by a tribal husband and that the man kept away from the main aboriginal camps for many months. Because of exogamy of the moiety, and the patrilineal nature of the clan, the clans are automatically exogamous and do not play an immediate role in marriage as men of any one clan marry women of any clan in the opposite moiety. Girls are normally promised as wife to men 20 or 30 years their senior before birth. Usually the girls bear the relationship of mother's mother's brother's 2

Rose

18

Aborigines of Groote Eylandt Table 2 Classificatory Terms of of the Groote Eylandt

Relationship Aborigines

A man's (and woman's) own relations are named as follows:Mother, Mother's brother's daughter Father Father's father Father's mother Mother's father Mother's mother Mother's brother. Mother's brother's son Father's sister Father's father's sister Father's mother's brother Mother's father's sister Mother's mother's brother Elder brother Elder sister Younger brother Younger sister Son (m. s.), Brother's son (w. s.) Daughter (m. s.), Brother's daughter (w. s.) Son's son (m. s.). Brother's son's son (w. s.) Son's daughter (m. s.), Brother's son's daughter (w. s.) Daughter's son (m. s.), Brother's daughter's son (w. s.) Daughter's daughter (m. s.), Brother's daughter's daughter (w. s.) Sister's son (m. s.), Son (w. s.), Father's sister's son Sister's daughter (m. s.), Daughter w. s.), Father's sister's daughter Sister's son's son (m. s.), Son's son (w. s.) Sister's son's daughter (m. s.), Son's daughter (w. s.) Sister's daughter's son (m. s.), Daughter's son (w. s.) Sister's daughter's daughter (m. s.), Daughter's daughter (w. s.) Mother's mother's brother's daughter

denda nurjwa numera dumindja narjadjamindja durjwa neba durjwija dumera numindja dagadjamindja nurjgwa nawa dijaba nenigumandja dadiamandja nenugwa dadiawa

dumera nijaruqwa dijarugwa nabura dabura nenigabidja dadiabidja nenigar)gwa dadiarigwa dadidja

Segregation of women

Glassificatory Terms of of the Groote Eylandt

19

Relationship Aborigines

A man's (and woman's) own relations are named as follows: — XXX. XXXI.

xxxu. XXXlll.

Mother's mother's brother's son Wife (m. s.), Husband's sister (w. s.) Wife's brother (m. s.), Husband (w. s.) Self

nadidja

N

dadirjja

O

nenirjja

O

rjaijuwa

daughter's daughter or mother's brother's daughter to the man b u t this is by no means invariable as will be seen from the data below. On being promised a girl as wife the m a n accepts certain obligations to t h e girl's parents to whom he makes periodical gifts. When the writer was on t h e island, tobacco was an article much appreciated as gifts from a son in law. Even though a new born b a b y girl is promised as wife to a man, the chances of his ever actually marrying the girl are remote for two reasons. First, the girl is likely to die and secondly, it is probable t h a t the girl will be stolen by another m a n before she reaches puberty. The death rate amongst infants and children is not known but the large number of infants under one year old noted in the list of aborigines viz. one in ten approximately would lend support to the view t h a t there must be an extremely high infant mortality rate if the population were to remain stationary. I n the case of the child dying the man will probably be promised the next female child born to the couple. Girl children before they go to live with their prospective husbands when t h e y are 8 to 10 years old frequently change hands either by being stolen (which is usually symbolic, the m a n taking the young girl to live with him for a few days) or by a m a n passing on his right to a girl to another man. Stealing of young girls m a y result in spearing and killing. After the girl lives with the husband the chances of her being stolen decrease and the main reasons for her changing hands are t h a t she m a y elope w ith a younger m a n or t h a t her husband dies. Segregation of women Writing under the heading "Women and Marriage",

TINDALE

writes ( 1 9 2 5 / 2 6

p p . 70/71) t h a t : —

"One of the outstanding differences in social customs in comparison with t h e adjacent mainland natives is the general and strict enforcement of seclusion on the women of the tribe. No native from the time of his initiation until he is of the age to marry, and no strangers, are allowed to approach the women, who are compelled to live a p a r t in camps guarded by old men, b u t they are visited secretly b y those entitled to the privilege. The women are in the minority, a n d 2*

20

Aborigines

of Groote Eylandt

are monopolised by the older men, who each have two or more if possible. The rest of the men therefore live together in open camps with some of the old men, collecting the greater part of their own food themselves, but the older ones frequently receive parcels of yams and burrawang cakes from the womenfolk. The younger men are not allowed near places where the women are likely to be yam digging or burrawang-nut gathering, or to look at them, under penalty of spearing. Should a young native accidentally come upon them he must turn away and give warning of his presence." TINDALE did not see any women except by accident while he was on the island. It was not until 1925 that the missionary's wife saw the women who, although not wearing any clothing, covered themselves with hinged sheets of bark (cf. BASEDOW 1913 p. 296 and SPENCER 1914 p. 236 and 401 re paperbark aprons worn by the women on Melville and Bathurst Islands). In 1941 the seclusion of the women had broken down to a very large extent and they did not wear bark sheets which had largely been replaced by hessian bags. It was significant that many of the men left their wives out in the bush when they came to a native camp or to the mission station or to the Native Settlement at umbakumba and as a consequence the writer's tabular data is not complete. The

guardian

I initiate

institution

In the same way as a girl is promised as wife to a man, her brother is promised before or shortly after birth to his sister's prospective husband as initiate. After the boy is circumcised at about 9 years he goes to live with the older man and remains with him until he is about 17 years old, when he is ceremonially released, the older man making the first cicatrix across the youth's chest. During the period that the youth is living with the older man he carries water, collects firewood and does the chores around the camp for him. This institution was called "boy slavery" by the missionaries on the island. The initiates could be stolen, or exchanged as gifts in the same way as young girls could be. When the writer was on the island in 1938/39 there were a few pairs of initiates and guardians who lived together, but by 1941 the institution had completely broken down and although the young boys were still being promised as initiates to older men, they no longer were living with them. Information was collected in 1941 from a number of aborigines on the relationship of the men who cut the first cicatrix across his chest and who circumcised him. This data is not of direct relevance to the subject matter of this paper but is discussed in Appendix 11.

The guardian ¡initiate

Woodah \i\lsland

T .

Bennet Bay /135°F.

institution

EYLANDT & ENVIRONS (Inset Australia) Chasm Is.

amuiar/wa aKi. Islands ^¡nc/Qseaff/^ JçottPoint ConnexionJiV" badalumbaFumbaKumba arjurgwa. R)~~^e^tr^fHjlf

5

OS

OS

OS

is

FS

F§

F

FS

FS

is

is

is

o§

Ox

256

Tabular Data

English Name Spouse

—

Native Name

163

Offspring

diljegboma

Circumcised by

140, 141, 142, 154 1

Locality

Totems

demboru

Father

NUNNUNGBUNNAH

F

—

Age 47

Moiety

Sex.

(43) (50)

djaragba

TAMARATOODONGA

Mother

N O T E S : This woman was first promised to father of 154, TAMALER. She then passed to 142's father BUNGALLA with 5 as initiate. 142's father BUNGALLA had a sister whom 5 was supposed to get as wife but an old man got her and had 140 by her.

0

1

00 10

G§

X

m O l-H H < H A

3

JS

JS

4

E§

20

L§

L§

30

E§

N§

N§

DS

40

N§

N§

N§

JS

5

6

HS

HS

L§

LS

L§

LS

LS

LS

LS

N§

LS

JS

NS

NS

HS

H§

HS

GS

HS

JS

JS

JS

ES

HS

JS

LS

LS

LS

LS N§

JS

50

LS

60

HS

70 m Pu t—(

2

80

J§ J§

90 100

N§

110

G§

J§

JS

G§

Ex

J

J§

JS

120 130

JS

Kx M§

Lx

LS

OS

MS

MS

IS

is

IS

Kx

Kx

150

is

is

is

IS

is

OS

FS

FS

is

o§

os

os

FS

8

9

H

Gx

Lx

140

160

I§

JS

7

LS Fx IS

is

IS

is

is

is

is

F§

FS

170

FS

180

I§

IS

FS

190

Ix

F§

FS

200

FS

n

F

210 220

is

is

IS

IS

FS

OS

FS

FS

is

I

FS

FS 1

FS

Ix

is

OS

I FS is

MS

I

Ix

Tabular Data English Name Spouse

—

1

Totems

demboru

guderiba

Circumcised by

Locality

MUNGUNGPIRRA

Sex.

F

—

Age 58

157, 158, 159

Moiety

Father

Native Name

TAMALER (Dosd.)

Offspring

257

(60)

(-)

djaragba

Mother

TOOWONGWONGAH

NOTES:

0 00 10

m

20

LS

1

2

4

5

6

7

J§ LS

LS

JS

8

9

H

HS

LS

LS

30 40

3

LS

LS

Nx

LS

BS

BS

JS

BS

BS

JS HS

50 60

JS

70 m en

80

W co £ O HH H
§

D§

DS

BS

40

G§

GS

GS

G

GS

HS

70

H PÎ

E§

ES

E§

ES

G

N§

N§

GS E§

90 100

7

8

9

Ex

GS

GS

G

GS

Lx

Lx

NS

NS

L

E§

ES

ES

B

•TS

HS

GS

ES

G E§

Bx

•IS

60

80

6

E§

20

50

m Pm i—i M oq £ O -H H S

G

E

ES

ES

ES

ES

ES

J

-TS

H

.T

Tabular Data English Name Spouse

—

Totems

jinigarga

Locality

TAKALAHRAH

Sex.

M

Rose River aborigine — 0

Age 33

2

NOTES:

djumbamia

Circumcised by

—

Moiety

Father

Native Name

197 has two wives

Offspring

443

(?) ( - )

Bickerton Island

Mother

TAMBAGIRRA

Initiate to 110. There was no sister. 110 claimed him but later released him.

0

1

00 10

fs

FS

20

2

3

FS

Fx

4

CS

is

I

30

TS

IS

is

cs

40

IS

TS

is

Tx

5

6

FS

FS

FS

FS

IS

IS

IS TS

7

8

9

FS

IS

IS

IS

Fx

IS

IS

IS

Fx

M§

FS

FS

TS

CS

FS

FS

FS

IS

IS

Tx

es

IS

IS

TS

Mx

50 60

Tx

70

is

80

is

TS

cs

90

IS

CS

IS

ES

110

os

120

HS

HS

•is H Sx

140

os ES

150 160

TS

IS

TS

100

130

TS

ES

H Sx

H§x

CS

IS

IS

•IS

Hx

Hx

HS

GS

Ex HS

HS

GS

GS

BS

-TS

TS

HS HS

HSx

H§

HS

HS

GS ES

170

HSx E E

HS

180

NS

190

Lx

US

JS

200

ES

ES

NS

ES

210

Ei)

ES

ES

ES

220

GS

GS

GS

ES

HS

H

NS

NS

ES

ES

NS

NS

ES

m

ES

ES

ES

ES

Tabular Data

444 English Name Spouse

Bill

198 has four wives

Offspring Moiety

Native Name

nijatjgundora

Circumcised by

102's father, NAKOORA - K

Age 47

194 Locality

2

Totems

jinigarga

Father

?

Sex.

M

(?)(-)

Bickerton Island

?

Mother

NOTES:

0

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

IS

is

00 10 20 30 40 50 60 co 0-i >—
4 HS

Lx

NS

180

14

HS

ES

ES

190

ES

E§

B§

200

HS

210

Hx

14

NS

ES

HSx

OS

HS H §

14

J§

Jx

14

14

14

HS

HS

^S

170

220

HS

KS

H§

J

HS

HS

HS

HS

H

HS

NS

ES

.IS

Js

H

HS

HS

HS

HS

HS

H

HS

448

Tabular Data

English Name Spouse

—

Native Name

_

Offspring

Circumcised by

2

Totems

jinigarga

Father

NOWRIGUER

Sex.

M

107 — 0

Age 21

—

Moiety

NOTES:

nadjumadjeja

(?)(-)

Bickerton Island

Locality

TUMIERKYER

Mother

This aborigine is "brother" of 199.

0

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

00

8

9

F

Ix

10 20 30

Ix

40

Ix

50 60 70

02 PH HH

X M O hH H s

120 130

160

14

GS

JS G§

5

Gx

Nx

N§

GS

E§

180

GS

H§x

E§

ES

ES

E§

190

GS

G§

E

200

Ex

Ex

G

GS

G

is is is os

8

9

F

PS

IS is PS PS

210 220

GS GS

L

H

PS is I§

Ix

Ix

MS

os

GS

N§

JS GS

p

is PS

GS GS GS GS

JS HS

u

HS GS

G

GS GS 14 GS GS

GS

G

170 ,T

I

is

• 0§

N H

GS

G§

7

ES

Tabular Data English Name Spouse Offspring

—

457

Native Name

namamraja

Circumcised by

—

NANOOMARAN -

Age 21

—

Sex.

M

0

(24) ( - )

Moiety

2

Totems

jinigarga

Father

NAKADONGANNA

NOTES:

Promised to NAMAKARRAPPA's father who died. 81 took him with his sister.

Locality

Bickerton Island

Mother

0

1

00

2 o§

10

F§

F

20

I§

I

3

TACHEEKOOBUDGA

4

I

AS

30

o§

I§

is

Mx

Mx

Ox

m

F§ I

FS

7

8

9

F

FS

is

IS

is

I

I

is

I

is

Ix

FS

I

Ox

Ox

FS

FS

os

O

OS

is

is

os

is

is

FS

is

Mx

T

MS

is Ix

60

IS

70

100

IS

110

I§

OS

os

AS

I

MS

OS

120 L§

I

is

IS Ox

90

G§

MS OS

os J

JS

JS

J

GS

OS

GS

GS

HS

GS

GS

140 150 160

FS is

50

130

6

IS

40

80

5

GS

GS

GS

G§

Nx

Nx

N§

GS

E§

DS

Mx

HS

E§

E§

E§

ES

E

OS G§x N

GS

H

HS

GS

GS

GS

GS

GS

170 180 190

LS J

GS

G§

200

G§

GS . H

HS

210

H§

G

GS

220

G§

ES

GS

JS

G

GS

G

HS

Gx

G

L

Gx

JS G

NS

458

Tabular Data

English Name Spouse

—

Native Name Circumcised by

81

Offspring

dumadjerigga

Moiety

2

Totems

jinigarga

Father

NAKADONGANNA

F

—

Age 28

60, 61

Sex.

(33) ( - )

Bickerton Island

Locality

TACHEEKOOBUDGA

Mother

N O T E S : This woman was first promised to 46's father, I N N O W A P A R R A called " O " before marriage. 211 was initiate. Then 107's brother stole her calling her " I " . Then 81 stole her calling her " F " . She should by rights be 65's wife.

0

1

00

2 OS

10

F

20

is

I

30

o§

IS

40

M§

3

4

F

5

FS F

7

FS IS

IS

6

FS

IS

IS

8

9

F

FS

IS

C

IS

IS

IS

OS

os

M FS

50 60

os I

70 80

IS

Ix

• IS

I

o§

IS

MS

90 100

OS

OS

JS

JS

110 120 130

Jx

.is

GS

N

GS

140

HS

HS

150

GS

H§x

GS

160

LS

ÖS

GS

GS

HS N§

G§

G§

GS

LS

180

ES

E§

190

ES

J

210 220

GS

GS

170

200

GS

GS

GS

H

NS JS

J§

HS

G HS

L

H

LS

Tabular Data English Name Spouse

—

Native Name

nadjergala

Circumcised by

66

Offspring

459

Age 22

—

Moiety

2

Locality

Totems

jinigarga

Father

NAKADONGANNA

Sex.

M

? (20) ( - )

Bickerton Island

Mother

TILYAYBURINGER

N O T E S : Promised to NAMAKARRAPPA's father who died. 107 stole 215 and his sister 208 calling them " F " previously.

0

1

00 10

FS

F

20

I§

I

30

o§

IS

40

M§

M§

2

3

o§

F

4

AS

IS

FS

FS

F

FS

is

70

is is

90 100

is

110

is

I

IS

IS

OS

AS

I

M§

Ox

120

FS

IS

IS

IS

IS

IS

IS

IS

IS

Ix

FS

is

IS

FS

FS

OS

OS

0§

IS

is

IS

IS

8

9

F

FS

IS

F

IS

Mx

is

MS

LS

GS

GS

N

G§

GS

150

H

HS

GS

GS

GS

GS

GS

Mx

os

OS

JS

J

J

GS

GS

GS

H§

H§x

JS

140

160

FS

os

7

Ix

60

130

6

IS

50

80

5

GS

H§x

G§

G§

GS

Gx

Hx

NS

GS

E§

DS

G§x

HS

ES

E§

ES

ES

OS

HS

170 180

LS

190

GS

GS

E

200

GS

GS

H

210

HS

HS

G

220

J HS L

NS

ES

GS

J§

JS

G

GS

G

H§

GS

G

L

L§

460

Tabular Data

English Name Spouse

Native Name

2

Totems

1

M

(14) ( - )

Rose River

Locality

NADOOEEYER

Sex.

?

Age 14

—

Moiety

dabarara

Circumcised by

—

Offspring

Father

—

NIMAHLAHKUNTA (Bickerton Is. woman)

Mother

N O T E S : Promised to 65 but 74 stole the sister 219. This youth did not know his relationships very well.

0

1

00 10

F

F

20

F

I

2

3

I

T

4

F

30

A

A§

40

E§

F§

F

F F

F

60

F§

70

I

80

M

90

02

£ O M H