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Primitive Hunters of Australia

BY

Wilfrid D. Hambly

ASSISTANT CURATOR OF AFRICAN ETHNOLOGY

12 Plates in Photogravure and 1 Map

Anthropology
Leaflet 32

I HE

FIELD MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY

CHICAGO
1936

The Anthropological Leaflets of Field Museum are designed to
give brief, non-technical accounts of some of the more interesting
beliefs, habits and customs of the races whose life is illustrated
in the Museum's exhibits.

ANTHROPOLOGICAL LEAFLETS ISSUED TO DATE

1. The Chinese Gateway (supply exhausted) ... $ —

2. Philippine Forge Group 10

3. Japanese Collections 20

4. New Guinea Masks 15

5. The Thunder Ceremony of the Pawnee 20

6. The Sacrifice to the Morning Star by the Skidi

Pawnee 10

7. Purification of the Sacred Bundles, a Ceremony of

the Pawnee 10

8. Annual Ceremony of the Pawnee Medicine Men . .10

9. The Use of Sago in New Guinea 10

10. Use of Human Skulls and Bones in Tibet ... .10

11. The Japanese New Year's Festival, Games and

Pastimes 15

12. Japanese Costume 20

13. Gods and Heroes of Japan 15

14. Japanese Temples and Houses 15

15. Use of Tobacco among North American Indians . .20

16. Use of Tobacco in Mexico and South America . . .15

17. Use of Tobacco in New Guinea and Neighboring

Regions 10

18. Tobacco and Its Use in Asia 25

19. Introduction of Tobacco into Europe 25

20. The Japanese Sword and Its Decoration 15

21. Ivory in China 60

22. Insect-Musicians and Cricket Champions of China . .40

23. Ostrich Egg-shell Cups of Mesopotamia and the

Ostrich in Ancient and Modern Times ... .30

24. The Indian Tribes of the Chicago Region with

Special Reference to the Illinois and the
Potawatomi 25

25. The Civilization of the Mayas (Second Edition) . . .60

26. The Early History of Man (supply exhausted) . . —

27. The Giraffe in History and Art 60

28. The Field Museum -Oxford University Expedition

to Kish, Mesopotamia, 1923-1929 50

29. Tobacco and Its Use in Africa 25

30. The Races of Mankind 25

31. Prehistoric Man 25

32. Primitive Hunters of Australia 30

STEPHEN C. SIMMS, DIRECTOR

FIELD MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY
CHICAGO, U.S.A.

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no - 37

CONTENTS

PAGE

List of Illustrations 3

Preface 5

Conditions of Human Life 7

Physical Appearance 12

Language and Folklore 14

Magic 19

Social Life 27

Ornaments, Weapons, and Implements 34

Tasmania 42

Bibliography 51

Index 58

-<C7

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
Map (facing page 1). Australia.

MATE

I. Objects from Western Australia, Field Museum
Collection. Figs. 1-3. Girdles of human hair
with decorated shells suspended, worn by males,
Cambridge Gulf, Cat. Nos. 172806-808. Fig. 4.
Boomerang, Broome, Cat. No. 35796. Fig. 5.
Hafted stone ax, Kimberley, Cat. No. 173041.
Figs. 6, 7. Decorated baobab fruits, Kimberley,
Cat. Nos. 173228-9. Fig. 8. Spear-thrower,
Murchison, Cat. No. 172596. Fig. 9. Shield,
Broome, Cat. No. 172993. Fig. 10. Bull-roarer,
Gascoyne, Cat. No. 173152. Fig. 11. Bull-roarer
with painted white circles, Mount Margaret,
Cat. No. 173154. Fig. 12. Spearheads, Ash-
burton, Cat. Nos. 172892 (left), 172891 (right).

II. Making a Basket, Gordon Vale, North Queensland.

III. Outrigger Canoe on the Endeavour River, North

Queensland.

IV. Painting a Shield, North Queensland.

V. Men Decorated for a Corroboree, Broome, North-
west Australia.

VI. Aboriginal Australian Women, Lancefield, Mount
Margaret, Western Australia.

VII. Whirlers (Bull-roarers) and Churinga from West-
ern Australia.

VIII. Wooden Spearheads from Ashburton, Northwest
Australia.

IX. Shields from Western Australia.

X. Spear-throwers from Western Australia.

XL Throwing a Spear, North Queensland.

XII. Throwing a Boomerang, Queensland.

3

Field Museum of Natural History

DEPARTMENT OF ANTHROPOLOGY
Chicago, 1936

Leaflet Number 32
Copyright 193G by Field Museum of Natural History

PREFACE

Since the foundation of Field Museum of Natural
History in 1893, Australian ethnological material has been
acquired by collection, purchase, and exchange.

In the year 1933 a representative collection was
installed in Hall Al, which is an annex to the Hall of
Melanesian Ethnology. The main purpose of this leaflet
is to make the exhibit more interesting and understandable
to the general public and to the many students who visit
the Museum.

With this purpose in view the leaflet avoids theoretical

questions, and is confined to a summary of generally

accepted facts. But a bibliography has been added

to aid those whose interest has been aroused by the

collections, and the items have been selected with a view

to introducing beginners to the facts and problems of

Australian ethnology.

Wilfrid D. Hambly

sin. uiuunn ■ vji

UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS

PRIMITIVE HUNTERS OF AUSTRALIA

CONDITIONS OF HUMAN LIFE

The area of Australia is about three million square
miles, which is almost the same as the land surface of
the United States of America. Since a large part of Aus-
tralia is situated within the tropics, a high temperature
is one of the chief climatic factors. But great disparity of
climate has to be noted, for in the northeast, especially on
the shores of the Gulf of Carpentaria, heat and moisture
are combined, while, on the contrary, the central areas
have intense heat and dryness.

The principal mountains form a long chain extending
along the eastern side of the continent, which has the
greatest rainfall and the most permanent rivers, though
even in this area destructive droughts are ruinous to sheep
breeders. Almost the whole of the western half of Aus-
tralia is a plateau a thousand feet in height with many
short ranges and detached hills distributed over the
surface. Extending from north to south in the central
portion are low, arid plains.

Consideration of the plants and animals of Australia
indicates that the continent has long been separated from
all other lands, and a clear line of demarcation exists,
separating the flora and fauna of Asia from those of
Australia and the large island of New Guinea.

The principal trees of Australia are species of
eucalyptus. Cedars grow on the higher slopes of the
eastern mountains, tropical vegetation flourishes in the
moist heat of the Gulf of Carpentaria, and, as an extreme
contrast to this type of plant life, the drought-resisting
kangaroo grass and salt bush are characteristic of the arid
interior regions. Many kinds of acacias abound.

The indigenous animals belong to the oldest species of
living mammals. Of the marsupials, or pouched mammals,

8 Field Museum of Natural History

the largest is the kangaroo. Others are the wombat,
koala, and bandicoot, while the strangest is the platypus or
duck-bill, which is an egg-laying mammal. Crocodiles
are numerous in the northern rivers. Poisonous snakes,
spiders, and scorpions are commonly found.

The largest bird is the emu, which runs quickly though
unable to fly. Other birds of importance are cockatoos,
parrots, eagles, hawks, and owls; also some migratory
birds such as ducks and geese.

Although Australia has many large modern cities, for
example, Brisbane, Sydney, Melbourne, Adelaide, and
Perth, the country as a whole is undeveloped. The white
population, numbering about eight millions, is small in
comparison with the great area. But development of
schemes of irrigation on a large scale, combined with im-
provement in transport of products from outlying regions
to the coast, may lead to a great economic expansion.

If this takes place, the decline of native culture and
population will be accelerated ; for people of simple hunting
communities are destroyed by, rather than assimilated
with, an advanced culture. It is true that some aborigines
may be seen in towns where they are employed in menial
work, and on sheep ranches where they are useful as
herders and trackers, but decline in numbers has been
the rule. Though no reliable estimate can be given, prob-
ably the total aboriginal population of pure-blooded
natives and half-breeds does not exceed 50,000.

Australia was known to a limited extent by Chinese
fishermen, who centuries ago visited the north coasts
to secure trepang (sea-slugs), but even in the seventeenth
and eighteenth centuries European exploration was con-
fined to the coasts.

The first recorded visit to Australia was made by a
Portuguese in the year 1601. Five years later Torres,
a Spaniard, sailed through the northern strait which bears
his name. The west and northwest coasts were explored
by Dutch navigators from Java during the first half of

Primitive Hunters of Australia 9

the seventeenth century. To these newly discovered lands
the name of New Holland was given. Captain Dampier
came to Australia in 1688 and made a landing on the
northwest coast, but the first voyages having definite scien-
tific surveys as their objects were made by Captain Cook
in 1770 and later years.

In 1788 the first European settlement was established
on the east coast at Botany Bay near Port Jackson, to
which some English convicts were transported. This
arrival formed the nucleus of a colony subsequently known
as New South Wales, and the establishment of Victoria
and Queensland followed later. The discovery of gold in
Victoria in 1851, and later in other areas, gave a great
impetus to immigration, while sheep breeding, fruit grow-
ing, and cultivation of wheat became staple occupations.

Usually the aborigines were hostile, and, though in-
stances of faithful guides and trackers are not wanting,
explorers of the interior ran the risk of death from thirst,
starvation, and treachery. Much of the early exploration
was carried out by settlers who, especially in times of
drought, pushed their way over the eastern mountains
to the plains beyond. Driving their cattle from one water-
hole to another they steadily advanced, continually struck
new trails, and so opened up additional areas for settle-
ment, but heavy losses were sustained by intermittent
droughts which were sometimes severe during a period
of several years.

In addition to these unorganized explorations of
squatters, the government gave financial aid to scientific
investigators, among whom Sturt was one of the early
pioneers. His privations during reconnaissance of the
Murray-Darling region in the southeast of the continent
left him blind for several years. He finished his river
voyage in 1829, but was unable to continue his explora-
tions until 1844. Sturt's last journey was an attempt
to cross the continent from south to north, but he was
unfortunate in experiencing an unusually severe drought.

10 Field Museum of Natural History

Consequently, he was obliged to return without having
accomplished his purpose, although two years had been
occupied in the attempt.

The name of Leichardt is prominent in the annals of
exploration of northeast Australia. In 1844 he left
Brisbane to journey in a northwesterly direction through
Queensland to Port Essington on the northern coast, near
Dampier Gulf. After fifteen months of arduous travel
the explorer reached his destination. In 1848 Leichardt
attempted to cross Australia from east to west. A letter
sent from western Queensland reported that all was well,
but this was the last information received concerning the
leader and his eight companions, of whom no trace has
ever been found, notwithstanding several exploratory
investigations.

At the same time that Leichardt was attempting his
traverse of the continent, Kennedy essayed an exploration
of the coast bordering the Cape York peninsula. Despite
the faithful services of his native boy, he and several
companions were killed by the aborigines. The colored
servant reached the coast carrying Kennedy's notes, and
owing to the prompt action of a schooner's crew two of
the explorers were rescued.

The explorer Eyre received a rigorous early training
as a settler and stock-owner, who drove his cattle from
the region of Sydney to undeveloped areas near Port
Phillip and Adelaide. In 1840 he set out to explore un-
known country north of Adelaide, but was obliged to
return after discovering a large salt lake which has received
his name.

The greatest exploit of Eyre was a journey along the
shore of the Great Bight in the southwest to King George's
Sound in Western Australia. Weakened by thirst, and
harassed by bands of natives who killed his companion,
named Baxter, Eyre continued his desert exploration until
he arrived at Albany after following a route of 1,300
miles through inhospitable country.

Primitive Hunters of Australia 11

In 1858 McDowall Stuart, who had served as an
explorer with Sturt, set out to explore the country north
of Lake Torrens, and contrary to popular belief he was
able to report good pasture where interior deserts had
been thought to exist. Encouraged by this success he
again attempted two years later to make his way into
the heart of the continent. He explored new country,
but was obliged to return owing to the hostility of natives.

Undaunted by this failure McDowall Stuart once more
set out in 1862. On this occasion he crossed the continent
from south to north along a median line which brought
him to the middle of the north coast. His report showed
that the building of a telegraph line was possible and along
this route the first wire was installed in 1872. Present
day engineering schemes contemplate a railway from south
to north approximately along the route followed by the
first transcontinental explorer. The introduction of camels
into Australia by Sir Thomas Elder in 1866 has been of
great service in modern exploration and transport, espe-
cially in the central and western regions.

This brief survey of the continent leads to a considera-
tion of the native tribes whose weapons, tools, ornaments,
domestic appliances, and magical apparatus are shown
in Hall Al, Cases 1-5.

PHYSICAL APPEARANCE

Throughout the continent the physical appearance of
the Australian aborigines tends toward uniformity, a fact
which gives further support to the evidence of long isola-
tion as afforded by a study of the animals and plants.
A mixing of races of different physical types produces
many varieties, but, on the contrary, isolation favors
the production of one specialized species.

This general statement does not imply that no physical
differences exist among bands of aborigines in different
parts of Australia. Even an examination of photographs
shows local differences, but uniformity is far more im-
pressive than variations. Some description of physical
characters is necessary, but a correct impression is most
easily obtained by reference to the types illustrated on
Plates II, IV-VI.

Australian aborigines should not be confounded with
Negroes, although the Australian's dark chocolate skin
color and the breadth of the nose may lead to that errone-
ous conclusion. A glance at the hair, which is wavy,
and not woolly like that of Negroes, at once brings out
an important difference. Moreover, the bodily hair of
Australians is often profuse, while that of the Negro is
scanty.

Again, the lips of a typical Negro are thick and everted,
while these traits are lacking in an Australian. Certain
details of the palate, the teeth, and the roots of molars
are distinguishing features of Australians.

Australians are moderately tall and slim, but despite
their meagre development and spindly legs, no people
could show more endurance in their life as hunters and
food gatherers. All physical evidence considered, Aus-
tralians may be classified as part of an early Australoid
group to which the Veddas of Ceylon and the Toalas of
the Celebes probably belong.

12

Primitive Hunters of Australia 13

The physical anthropology of Australian aborigines
may be technically considered by reference to W. L. H.
Duckworth (1904) and F. Wood-Jones (1930). The
possibility of grouping Australian natives according to
blood tests has been discussed by H. Woollard and J. B.
Cleland.

LANGUAGE AND FOLKLORE

The Australian languages have not been thoroughly
studied. Research has not yet shown their relation-
ship to any languages outside Australia. Therefore, the
evidence of languages agrees with biological facts in
suggesting a long separation of the Australian continent
from other masses of land. The plants and animals,
together with the physique of the aborigines, as well as
their customs, products, and speech, all point to an
isolated development not influenced by intrusions of a
different cultural pattern. There is no agreement of
opinion as to the number of distinct languages but numer-
ous dialects have been noted. The general tendency is
toward similarities of structure in all the languages, but
tribal vocabularies are in some regions so different as to
make mutual understanding impossible.

There is no writing, but many tribes employ message
sticks, samples of which may be seen in Cases 2 and 3.
Although these carved pieces of wood are of different
sizes and shapes, and their incised patterns show wide
diversity, their functions are similar.

Usually a tribal or other unit is confined to one locality,
but sometimes the necessity for travel arises, perhaps to
obtain a particular kind of stone for fashioning implements,
or to get red ochre, which is used for personal decoration
and the rubbing of ornaments and implements. Or it
may be that a messenger is sent to call together several
tribes in order to hold sacred dances and ceremonies
connected with the initiation of boys into tribal life.

When such occasions arise, messengers are provided
with these symbolic sticks. The designs engraved on
the sticks have not been interpreted; yet we know that
a passport of this kind will enable a courier to journey
safely in country occupied by tribesmen other than his
own. His presence would be resented, and his life would
be in danger, if he did not carry credentials.

14

Primitive Hunters of Australia 15

Gesture language with the hands is widely used as a
means of communication between people who speak
different dialects. The sign for an opossum is made by
holding the fingers in the form of an opossum's foot, and
to suggest a small kangaroo a speaker makes the move-
ments of holding the animal's tail. Women, who are
under a ban of silence during mourning ceremonies, con-
verse by sign language. Most tribes have few numerals,
probably only those for four or five, but despite a paucity
of numerals, they have a concept of higher numbers, which
are sometimes indicated by tapping parts of the body.

The gradual formation of a sacred language from words
of everyday use has been described by C. W. M. Hart
with reference to the Tiwi tribes of Melville and Bathurst
Islands, North Australia. This sacred language is used
only in rites which are of social and religious importance,
and many people do not understand its terms. From
time to time certain words are eliminated from the every-
day language because they resemble the names of dead
persons, whose private names, together with words of
phonetic resemblance, become taboo for ordinary use,
though they remain available for ceremonial purposes.

The sagas of our own ancestors are preserved, not
necessarily because we believe them, but on account of
their literary and esthetic merit. On the contrary, the
folklore and mythology of Australian aborigines are living
and energizing factors that enter into the most vital social
ceremonies, as, for example, those designed to make plants
and animals prolific (W. R. Smith).

Prominent among myths are those of an explanatory
kind which satisfy the mind respecting origins of fire, the
sun, death, forms of animal life, and peculiar physical
phenomena such as rocks of strange shape. Among the
Arunta of central Australia, mythology takes the imagina-
tion back to the alcheringa or "dream times" when creative
ancestors roamed the earth. These persons were more
than human for they had the power to mold human and

16 Field Museum of Natural History

other forms of life, so creating the species seen at the
present time. In the southeast of Australia reverence is
paid to a supreme being, who under such names as Bunjil,
Daramulun, and Baiame, is the creator of all things, the
originator of ceremonies, and the most important person
mentioned in rites of initiation for boys.

In the southeast portion of the continent are widely
distributed beliefs in Mura-muras who were the predeces-
sors and prototypes of the natives, who still believe in
the present existence of these mythical persons, concerning
whom oral traditions are passed from one generation to
another. One legend states that the Mura-mura named
Paralina, when out hunting, saw some unformed creatures
huddled together. So he smoothed their bodies with his
hands, divided their extremities into fingers and toes,
then formed mouths, noses, and eyes, and finally placed
the ears in position, thus creating man. According to
another legend the earth opened in the middle and the
animals now regarded as totems or emblems came forth,
lay on the sand hills for a time, then separated in all
directions.

Near the Murray River in southeast Australia some of
the aborigines are divided into Eagle-hawks and Crows,
and to account for this organization the tribesmen say
that two ancient creators used to be constantly at war.
But at last Eagle-hawk and Crow made peace, and decided
that in future the Murray blacks should be divided into
two phratries called Eagle-hawk and Crow, respectively.

Men forming a remnant of the Urabunna tribe, which
at one time occupied wider territory near the northern
shore of Lake Eyre, have as a distinguishing mark a num-
ber of cuts placed on each side of the spine. This act
of cicatrizing is common in Australian tribes. A story
which purports to explain the origin of these tribal marks
of the Urabunna states that long ago lived two hawks,
Wantu and Irritja, each of whom had a tree in which was
a nest of hungry fledglings.

Primitive Hunters of Australia 17

Since Wantu was the stronger he compelled Irritja to
bring him food, and emphasized the fact that he liked
black fellows best of all. For himself the tender-hearted
Irritja killed wallabies (small marsupials) but each day-
he took home for Wantu a human being, though it hurt
him to do so.

In sympathy with Irritja was a little hawk named
Kutta, who entered into combat with Wantu, the eater
of black men. But Kutta was no match for Wantu
so he fled to seek the aid of his friend the Bell Bird, who
lit a fire at the base of Wantu's tree, killed Wantu himself,
and burned his brood. Therefore, out of gratitude for
this deliverance, the Urabunna gave themselves tribal
marks in imitation of the feathers on the back of the
Bell Bird.

Some myths are to be found only in restricted areas,
but others, on the contrary, are widely diffused. For
example, stories of a rainbow serpent have been reported
from all parts of the continent. Usually this serpent,
which is of monstrous size, inhabits water-holes, and it
is associated with rain and the rainbow.

In Boulia, a district of Queensland, some of the medi-
cine-men obtain their powers from Kanmare, a huge
supernatural water-snake with a manelike covering of
hair on its head. This creature is able to drown people,
and it is further feared because of its power to point the
magical bone. This process will be described later when
giving an account of practices that are said to cause the
death of an enemy. A man at whom the bone has been
pointed feels sick and therefore visits a medicine-man
who gives him massage, until at last he extracts a bone,
stone, or other object said to have been introduced by
Kanmare.

Natives of the Pennefather River in northern Queens-
land regard the rainbow as a brightly colored snake that
comes out to stop the rain. These aborigines use the same
name for both the snake and the rainbow. On the walls

18 Field Museum of Natural History

of a cave in northwest Australia are paintings of rainbow
serpents. One pair of snakes is seen in the act of devouring
human beings.

If asked whether Australian natives have a religion,
the question is difficult to answer, and the reply must
depend on our definition of religion, as well as on the
particular tribes under consideration, for beliefs and
practices vary with locality. Yet it may be said that at
least some tribes have what are generally regarded as
the elements of religious thought and procedure. For
example, many tribes have concepts of creative beings
of great power who have ordered the lives of men, forming
them and making them dependent on sacrifice, ceremony,
and sacred objects in order to preserve life. Not all the
hero cults, however, are indigenous to Australia. Donald
F. Thomson (1934) describes a hero cult of Cape York
that closely resembles one of Torres Strait. This cult,
which is probably of Papuan origin, has traveled down
both sides of the Cape York Peninsula with the drum and
canoe as accompanying traits.

The power of religious and mythological beliefs as
energizing factors in social life and magical procedure will
be more amply illustrated by studying tribal organization,
totemism, the initiation of boys, and the training and func-
tions of medicine-men.

MAGIC

Magical acts, which enter deeply into the thoughts
and actions of Australian natives, are particularly associ-
ated with the official medicine-men, though many tribal
elders and other persons practice magic both publicly and
privately.

Among the Arunta of central Australia medicine-men
are divided into three classes, having power and social
standing which vary with the method of initiation. The
most important practitioners are those who were initiated
by the iruntarinia or spirits. Second in rank are the
medicine-men who have derived their power from Oruncha,
who is regarded as a mischievous demon. The third and
lowest grade of medicine-men owes its power, not to direct
contact with the spirits, but to association with practi-
tioners of the higher grades.

A youth who is chosen for initiation must be silent
and reserved, given to melancholy, and neurotic in
temperament, all of which traits are accentuated by
seclusion, starvation, and suggestion. A boy of this kind
who desires to become one of the iruntarinia class of
medicine-men goes secretly by night to a cave said to be
inhabited by iruntarinia spirits. But he goes no farther
than the entrance to the cave, where he sleeps for the night.

Here the spirits launch darts into his body, give him
a new set of internal organs, bestow powers of divination,
prophecy, and healing, then return him to his tribesmen,
among whom he appears dazed and stupid for a few days.
While in seclusion a hole is bored in the tongue of the
novice. For a year he is not allowed to practice magic,
and if during that time the hole made in his tongue has
closed, he states that all magical power has left him, and
therefore retires from the profession.

Implicit trust is placed in the treatment given to
persons who are sick, and in serious cases two or three

19

20 Field Museum of Natural History

medicine-men may be called in for consultation. If the
treatment is not effective, the assumption is that powerful
counter-magic has been performed.

Usually a patient lies on his back while the medicine-
man bends over him and sucks the affected part of the
body, pausing now and then to spit out pieces of wood,
bone, or stone, which are declared to have been the cause
of illness. Frequently the medicine-man decides that an
enemy has pointed a sharp bone, and that this has entered
the body of the patient. Or the diagnosis may be that
an evil spirit has placed in the sufferer's body a sharp stick
with an invisible string attached. The jerking of this
string by the demon is regarded as the cause of pain.

Observers report that the aborigines make remarkable
recovery from severe wounds the cause of which is known,
as, for example, injuries from spears and boomerangs. But,
on the contrary, a man in sound health may die in a few
days if nothing is done to remove a curse that has been
placed on him, or if no steps are taken to counteract a
magical ceremony that an enemy has performed against
him. It is thought necessary to take great care that no
person gains possession of nail parings, hair, or a tooth,
since these would be powerful adjuncts in working evil
magic against their former owner.

Warfare and magic are associated, and among the
Arunta a special ceremony is necessary to find out whether
the killer of a man is pursued by an avenging spirit in the
form of a bird. A woman tests the shields of returned
warriors, a simple rite which is carried out by tapping the
shields with a club to find whether they give the normal
sound. An unusual noise results from striking the shield
of a man who is pursued by an avenging spirit, and such a
person has to observe many special rites and prohibitions
until he is considered safe.

For several days after returning from a foray, all who
took part in an expedition that resulted in slaughter of
an enemy have to take precautions against the avenging

Primitive Hunters of Australia 21

ghost. All men paint themselves with black, and at night
they wear tail-tips of bandicoots, for this animal is
nervous and alert. Therefore, it is assumed that those
qualities will be given to a sleeper, who will readily waken
if a troublesome ghost comes near.

Warfare is often the result of magic which is supposed
to have caused a death. A war council is held, and a
party of avengers sets out to kill the magician designated
by a medicine-man, who by many elaborate proceedings
has been able to name the murderer. Warfare is usually
of the nature of raids and reprisals in which the slaughter
is inconsiderable, but the forays are a cause of great
excitement because of their association with dancing and
magical ceremonies. The varieties of warfare and their
relation to law and the social structure have been explained
by W. Lloyd Warner (1931).

Like many primitive people outside Australia, the
Australian natives have a system of communal responsi-
bility that sanctions punishment of a brother or some other
relative of an offender. Therefore, if an avenging party
sets out to make reprisal for murder, the group does not
necessarily kill the murderer; on the contrary the elderly,
defenseless father of the murderer may be the victim.

Considerable magical belief and ceremony are associ-
ated with death and burial. Suppose that a medicine-
man has tried all his remedies, including simulated
extraction of foreign bodies by sucking, blood-letting,
application of splints to broken bones, sucking of a snake
bite, and use of the herbs in his pharmacopoeia, according
to requirements, yet the patient dies. Immediately a
loud wailing takes place and many acts are directed toward
placation of the ghost, who must be made to feel that the
rites due to him are being enacted in the traditional way.
Mourning ceremonies vary with locality, but the following
actions are typical of rites connected with death and burial.

22 Field Museum of Natural History

Custom has decided who the principal mourners shall
be, and when a married man dies his widow, or widows,
have to observe carefully the periods and acts which are
thought necessary to show respect for the ghost. Widows
may be required to whiten themselves with clay from head
to foot, to mourn loudly, and to remain isolated in a
small shelter of boughs far away from the site where death
occurred. In New South Wales widows who were
ostracized in this way shaved their heads, then made for
themselves caps of white gypsum. A head covering of
this kind, which has been built up by daily additions
of the material, is shown in Case 4.

A common form of mourning is gashing the body with
stone implements. Kinship with the deceased decides
who the mourners shall be, and these persons are expected
to injure themselves in such a way as to produce
permanent scars. Mourners, especially widows, have to
observe a ban of silence, but during this time they may
communicate by gesture language.

Preparation of the corpse for burial and the disposal of
the body are practices which are so variable that they
cannot be described in detail, but usually a corpse is
bound to prevent wandering of the ghost. Camp is moved
from the site of death, and the shelter where death occurred
is burned. The Warramunga tribe follows the practice
of burying a corpse in a tree, and months later an examina-
tion of the burial site and the bones is made in order to
determine who was responsible for the death, for death
is seldom attributed to natural causes, but rather to the
working of magic by an enemy.

Tracks of an animal situated near the burial tree are
thought to indicate the totem to which the murderer
belonged, then other rites determine the guilty person,
and an avenging party is organized to kill the murderer
or one of his relatives. After a year of mourning the spirit
answers questions, and states that the mourning period
is now ended.

Primitive Hunters of Australia 23

The custom of cooking and eating the dead is observed
by the Binbinga, living near the west shore of the Gulf of
Carpentaria. The body is cooked in an earthen oven
heated with stones that have been baked in a fire, and the
heat is retained by covering the corpse with sheets of bark.
After the flesh has been consumed the bones are returned
to relatives who decorate and bury them. In some parts
of New South Wales and Victoria corpses are disposed of
by burning, but in north Victoria burial is usual, and over
the site of the interment a small hut is erected.

Opinions of different tribes disagree respecting the fate
of the soul, though a belief in the haunting presence of a
jealous ghost is general. When asked what happens to a
spirit on completion of the temporary period of hovering
near the site of death and burial, the aborigines make
various replies. Some say that ghosts travel west where
they disappear into a deep chasm; others state that ghosts
assemble on a remote island; or again, ghosts go to the
sky. Another commonly accepted belief is that the dead
can appear in dreams of the living.

Faith in reincarnation is widely spread, and some-
times these beliefs are closely associated with the social
organization of the tribe. It may be thought, for instance,
that a reincarnated spirit changes its sex and totem at
rebirth. Thus, a man belonging to the frog totem may
be reborn as a female of the kangaroo totem. The Arunta
hold the belief that certain lonely places are inhabited
by little spirit children, who have the power to enter into
females who visit the spot, so making them pregnant.

Magical beliefs and practices are made to center in
certain objects of a simple nature. Great magical power
is sometimes attributed to small stones of quartz, es-
pecially that which is translucent. When a medicine-
man is initiated his body becomes charged with these
magical stones (Case 2) which may be used for several
purposes. A medicine-man can remove these crystals
from his body to throw at a comet in order to drive it

24 Field Museum of Natural History

away, or he may communicate his power to a youth by
rubbing the body of the novice with his own crystals.
Stones may be projected into an enemy, who then seeks
his magician to have them removed by sucking, in the
way previously described.

The Kaitish, Warramunga, and other northern tribes
believe in a kind of evil magic which is associated with
small stones that are traded far away from the place of
their origin, each stone being wrapped in bark. The
owner of such a stone, when wishing to injure an enemy,
scrapes off a little of the powder from the crystal, then
drops this dust on his sleeping victim. If this act is
followed by burning the bark in which the stone was
wrapped, success is thought to be assured.

Shoes made from emu feathers (Cases 2-5) may be
used merely to protect the wearer's feet from the hot
sand, but they have also a magical significance. A
medicine-man may use shoes of this kind when tracking
a victim from whom he wishes to extract kidney fat for
use in magical rites. The shoes are rounded at both ends,
and their use makes detection of the murderer difficult,
especially if he carries some magical stones which make
him invisible.

Pointing sticks and bones (Case 2), though simple in
construction, are thought to be potent in compassing the
death of an enemy at whom they are secretly pointed,
and against whom are muttered appropriate spells, such
as "May your heart burst, and may your ribs be torn
asunder." At the blunt end of the pointing stick is a
small ball of resin to which a few human hairs are attached.
If these hairs are burnt after the pointing ceremony is
ended, death of the victim follows (G. Roheim, 1925).

Important sacred objects are churinga (Plate VII), a
word which can be used as an adjective or a noun. Thus,
an article may be a churinga or a sacred thing, or the
object may be said to be churinga, that is, sacred.

Primitive Hunters of Australia 25

Examples of churinga are shown in each of the cases
(Hall Al) and variation of form with locality is evident.
Simple as these objects of wood and stone may be, they
are revered possessions. No woman, child, or uninitiated
boy is allowed to visit the hiding place of these sacred
things, which are concealed by elders of the tribes. These
privileged persons bring out the objects for use on sacred
occasions such as tribal initiations, rites for making rain,
and ceremonies designed to increase the food supply.
Examination of churinga shows that various designs, in-
cluding circles and spirals, are used for decoration, and
investigation has proved that each of these designs has
a specific meaning. Each totem, that is, each group of
people having a particular animal or object as an emblem,
has its own symbolical design and its own churinga. For
example, the white lines which are painted on the churinga
of the frog totem represent frogs and the trees in whose
crevices they shelter.

Some of the churinga are perforated for the attach-
ment of a cord. Churinga of this kind are named bull-
roarers because of the noise the instruments make when
whirled rapidly round the head (Plate I, Fig. 11). In Aus-
tralian tribes the noise is a warning to women and unin-
itiated boys to keep away from the site where sacred
ceremonies are being held. Before their initiation, boys
are taught that the noise made by a bull-roarer, or buzzer,
is the voice of a being who is more than human. For ex-
ample, some southwestern tribes refer to the noise of
the bull-roarer as the voice of Daramulun. But initiated
boys are told of the real origin of the buzzing.

In concluding the account of magical beliefs and
practices, symbolical ceremonies for causing rainfall should
be mentioned. Cutting the bodies of medicine-men and
allowing the blood to flow on those seated round, or
taking blood from old men of the tribe for the same
purpose, are ordinary features of rain-making rites. The
blood is a symbol of rain, and the white feathers which

26 Field Museum of Natural History

are thrown into the air are symbolical of clouds. In the
southeast such ceremonies are an appeal to powerful
spirits, the Mura-muras, who are thought to be invoked
by these rites.

SOCIAL LIFE

We must not imagine that the Australians are loosely
banded together solely for the purposes of food gathering
and self protection. On the contrary they have a social
organization which is extremely complex. Unwritten
tribal laws regulate marriage, the use of hunting terri-
tory (D. S. Davidson, 1928a), and the observance of
such public functions as totem ceremonies and rites for
initiating boys into the tribe.

At the base of the social life is the family (B.
Malinowski, 1913), which consists of a man and his wife
or wives, together with the young children who are de-
pendent on them for food and protection. The union
of a man and his wife is of a permanent kind regulated
by laws pertaining to adultery and divorce. Thus family
life has a legal aspect, and in addition to this the economic
conditions within the family are important. Men are
responsible for hunting, warfare, legal administration, and
sacred ceremonies, while women build shelters, gather
vegetable food, carry water, and provide firewood. Fe-
males are also engaged in making netting bags and
baskets in localities where these articles are used.

Family life implies definite social obligations relating
to provision of food, blood revenge in case of murder,
and duties connected with mourning. Terms of relation-
ship are not mere forms of address, and each word ex-
pressing kinship carries a concept of certain rights and
duties. The classificatory system of relations is in use,
that is to say, one word may be used to denote a group
of relations who in our own social system would be desig-
nated each by a specific name. Thus in the Yaralde
tribe of Western Australia the word maiyano means my
father's father, my father's father's brothers and sisters,
and several other relatives of that generation. Bakano
is a term used to designate a mother's mother and her

27

28 Field Museum of Natural History

brothers and sisters (A. R. Radcliffe-Brown, 1913, 1918,
1923; and W. L. Warner, 1933).

Almost everywhere among Australian tribes a child
has to regard his mother's oldest brother as a most im-
portant member of the family, especially with regard to
discipline and responsibility for conduct. The levirate is
probably followed by all Australian tribes. By this
custom, when a man dies, his wife or wives pass to his
brother, in some tribes only to the deceased's younger
brother. Death tends to break down the social structure
but restoration is made in this way.

Another means of keeping a social equilibrium is the
exchange of sisters in marriage. Each group which is
concerned in the marriage bargain gains and loses a female.
And it should be remembered that in primitive society
the concept of a woman as a child-bearer, who adds
to the strength of the group, is important.

The Australian concept of kinship imposes rules of
marriage, and an infraction of these is punishable by
death because the delinquents are regarded as incestuous.
The details of organization are too varied and too com-
plicated to be described here, but a paragraph will suffice
to show the complexity of the social structure.

Larger than the family unit is the horde, which con-
sists of a number of families who cooperate in hunting
and sharing food. The horde is a land-owning group
with definite rights over water supplies and all food,
animal and vegetable, within that area. A horde is
usually independent and autonomous, having its own
elders and council. A child belongs to the horde of its
father, and descent is reckoned in the male line.

The word "tribe" has been used with various con-
notations by different writers. Perhaps a tribe is most
satisfactorily defined as an aggregate of persons who
speak what they themselves regard as one language, the
name of the tribe and the name of the language being
generally one and the same. According to locality, a

Primitive Hunters of Australia 29

tribe may be divided into two, four, or eight divisions,
and each of these may be sub-divided into units known
as totemic clans, each having a plant or animal as its
emblem or totem. The members of a totem regard them-
selves as united by a strong bond, for all are descended
from ancient totemic ancestors; all are of "one blood."

Usually a person has to marry outside his (or her)
own totem group, and probably outside his (or her) sub-
tribal division as well. Thus, if a tribe has two main
divisions called, for example, Eagle-hawk and Crow re-
spectively, a person from the Eagle-hawk division is
obliged to choose a spouse from the Crow division, and
conversely.

Moreover, in each of the two primary divisions are
several totem groups, and it may be a rule that a man
of the wild dog totem of the Eagle-hawks is permitted
to marry only a woman of the frog totem of the Crow
division. The choice of a spouse is still further limited
by the concept of kinship and incest previously mentioned.
Marrying outside a group is known as exogamy.

Compulsory avoidances of certain relatives, not only
in marriage but in ordinary social intercourse and even
in conversation, are imposed in most tribes. For example,
a man is usually compelled to avoid his mother-in-law.
The possible explanations, psychological and otherwise,
that might account for this practice, which is common
among many primitive peoples, have been discussed by
Professor R. H. Lowie in "Primitive Society."

The social functions of Australian tribes have been
described by A. P. Elkin (1932a), who makes clear the
main beliefs connected with the institutions of totemism
and initiation. Totemism has historical, economic, re-
ligious, and social aspects. The members of the totem
revere their totemic ancestors, and the ceremonies are in
part concerned with a symbolic representation of the
actions of these progenitors when on earth. The members
of a totem are responsible for rites which increase the

30 Field Museum of Natural History

supply of the totem animal. For instance, men of a
kangaroo totem may have to avoid eating flesh of the
kangaroo, yet they are responsible for rites which are
thought to aid the fecundity of kangaroos in a magical
way. Such ritual provides food for persons who are not
of the kangaroo totem, and they in return carry out the
rites for encouraging the reproduction of their own totem
animals.

The social importance of totemism in regulating
choice in marriage has been mentioned, and for fuller
descriptions of the beliefs and practices involved in
totemism the articles of A. R. Radcliffe- Brown, and A.
A. Goldenweiser should be consulted. A. van Gennep and
E. Durkheim show the importance of mythology and cult
heroes in the social and religious life, and many of these
superior beings are intimately connected with totemism.

Clearly, therefore, all aspects of tribal life are con-
nected; and, primitive as the culture may seem to be
when judged by inspection of the objects displayed, the
aborigines have a complex philosophy and an elaborate
social mechanism.

Children grow up with great freedom; parental af-
fection is undeniable, and instances of infanticide should
not be regarded as an indication of innate cruelty, but
rather as an occasional concession to a harsh environ-
ment. Children are not weaned until late, possibly in
the fourth year. Infants are carried astride the mother's
hip, or in an opossum skin pouch on the back. Perhaps
as early as the age of seven, boys live in the bachelor's
camp, where they associate with men, play games imi-
tative of manly occupations, and begin to get their first
inkling of the mysteries into which they will later be
initiated. Girls, when very young, share the tasks of
older females whom they accompany in foraging ex-
peditions for digging up wild produce with sharpened
sticks. Cat's cradle is a favorite game in some tribes
and many of the figures are complicated. The whit-

Primitive Hunters of Australia 31

whit, a toy for boys, is shown in Case 4. The implement
consists of a conical wooden head with a long thin wooden
tail. Usually the toy is thrown so that it first strikes
the top of a bush or a small hillock; after this contact
it ricochets for a long distance (W. E. Roth). For girls
there are no formal rites of initiation into the tribe, and
without instruction they gradually fit themselves for
married life, but boys have to suffer an ordeal of physical
endurance.

Initiation of boys involves seclusion with their tutors
and old men, who bring out the sacred churinga and
explain to the boys the legends and mythology associ-
ated with these objects, which are generally carved and
painted slabs of wood, examples of which may be seen
in each of the cases.

The ordeals which a boy has to suffer vary according
to locality, but circumcision or some more drastic oper-
ation of like kind is always practiced. Knocking out
the front teeth is a common rite; so also is scarifying the
body with a sharp stone, thus forming ridges which are
prominent through life. Lopping off finger joints is a
custom associated with initiation, and in certain localities
the septum of the nose is pierced to admit an ornamental
bone (Case 3). The geographical distribution of these
initiation practices has been discussed by D. S. Davidson
(1928).

After enduring these tests and receiving instruction
in the marriage laws and magical practices of the tribe
each boy may receive a new name as a symbol of his
social rebirth. He was a child; but now he has grad-
uated as a man with new privileges and obligations ; there-
fore it is fitting that he should have a new name.

Not only has the boy proved himself physically
capable, perhaps by some feat of hunting, such as climbing
and catching an opossum, but he has, in addition, been
examined in tribal law. He has learned respect for
the tribal elders and understands his duty toward

32 Field Museum of Natural History

them. The nature of public justice has been ex-
plained, and the boy will be able to see for himself the
way in which an adulterer or other offender has to stand
up to defend himself against missile weapons discharged
by aggrieved relatives. The youth knows, not only
this kind of public justice, but the operation of private
justice, whereby revenge is taken by magical or other
means. After discharge from the initiation camp the boy
will soon be free to many in obedience to the kinship
and exogamic rules of his tribe.

The assumption of a new name is perhaps more sig-
nificant than is at first evident. In fact the whole subject
of naming, though not well understood for all tribes, is
known to be complicated and socially important, as
C. W. M. Hart has explained. To use the names of the
dead is taboo, since this will call up their ghosts, and to
address a youth by the name used before his initiation
is an insult, for use of the word implies that the initiated
youth is still a child. All this social usage, and much
more, is now part of the mental equipment of the initiated
boy, who by sacred rites has become affiliated with the
various groups (tribe, totemic clan, horde, and family)
to each of which he owes allegiance.

Although the Australian aborigines have no musical
instruments and accompany their songs and dances only
with rhythmical beating on an opossum skin, or by clash-
ing two boomerangs, they have songs and corroboree
dances for every special occasion. Some of the vocal
music of Central and South Australia has been recorded
and analyzed by E. H. Davies, Professor of Music in
Adelaide University, who states that the natives have a
well-developed sense of pitch which is sustained with
accuracy, and readily recovered after a change has been
made.

The scale is pentatonic with falling cadences, and the
octave is accurately used. Davies mentions "Snake
Songs" a "Possum Song" and love songs, which are

Primitive Hunters of Australia 33

accompanied by a "rhythmic intoxication of the vigorous
clashing of boomerangs." With Australian aborigines, as
with most primitive people, singing and dancing are more
than pastimes; they are social exercises which are inti-
mately bound up with sacred beliefs and ceremonies that
are essential to tribal unity.

ORNAMENTS, WEAPONS, AND IMPLEMENTS

In viewing the exhibits we are at once impressed with
the uniformity of Australian culture, but it is apparent
that spears, spear-throwers, boomerangs, shields, and
clubs have specific local forms, and the same may be said
of personal ornaments. Each tribe and smaller group has
its own territory, and wanderings and encroachments are
discouraged. Therefore, the natural tendency is toward
the preservation of local types of weapons and other objects
which are characteristic of definite areas, though in some
instances objects are traded far from their places of
origin (W. D. Hambly, 1931).

Some influence of Malay traders and contacts with
New Guinea must be recognized so far as the north
coast of Australia is concerned (W. L. Warner, 1932).
Drums, shell trumpets, and bows and arrows are likely
to have originated in New Guinea. The Malays gave the
idea of a dugout canoe and an outrigger (Plate III), also
the use of a mast and a sail made of Pandanus fiber.
The Malays introduced a form of tobacco-pipe.

Yet, generally speaking, Australia has an indigenous
culture with local developments, and foreign elements
are not numerous.

Three main areas may be distinguished: (1) the south,
west, and center of the continent; (2) the northwest and
the north; and (3) the east and southeast. So far as
possible the objects have been arranged in this cultural
grouping, but it has been necessary to make some
modifications.

Personal ornaments are of a simple kind, including
neck-bands, arm-bands, girdles, forehead bands, and
pubic coverings. The substances used are shreds of
bark, fur of the opossum, shells, feathers, brightly colored
seeds, and human hair. Almost invariably, red ochre is
employed for smearing these decorations. Sometimes
the hair cut from a dead man is made into a girdle with

34

Primitive Hunters of Australia 35

which the spirit of the owner is thought to be associated.
Such a girdle may be passed round among men who rub
their thighs with it, so that the good qualities of the
dead man may pass into them. The act also symbolizes
the unity of men who perform this ceremony. Hair girdles
with shell ornaments attached for covering the pubes
are shown in Plate I, Figs. 1-3, and Case 2. These cover-
ings, which are worn by men of northwestern Australia,
are ornamented with incised geometrical patterns into
which red ochre has been rubbed.

Although bodily decoration and the engraving of
wooden implements show artistic conception to be of
the simplest kind, other forms of art are more elaborate.
Days and even weeks are spent in preparing the ground
for totemic ceremonies. Elaborate drawings are made
to symbolize totem animals and totemic ancestors, and
the performers themselves are decorated with painted
designs and patterns made by applying feathers to parts
of the body which are moistened with human blood.
The sacred objects themselves are embellished in this
way, and in Case 5 is an excellent replica of a totem pole
which has been decorated with pink, downy feathers.

The Rainbow Snake concept is widely distributed, and
in connection with this story cave drawings are abundant
in northwest Australia. But this is only one instance of
mural art which can be studied in detail from the numerous
plates accompanying H. Basedow's article (1914). The
art is crude, and the ethnological interest lies in the sym-
bolism, which is not well understood.

Owing to the great size of Australia, the proximity
of some tribes to the sea or rivers, and the remoteness
of other tribes from water, no general statements can be
made respecting the nature of the food supply, except
that agriculture is not practiced, and that in each locality
the greatest ingenuity is shown in taking advantage of
what is available, no matter how meagre this may be.

36 Field Museum of Natural History

Among the large animals which are hunted, the
kangaroo, the emu, and the opossum are important.
Kangaroos can be run down in open chase, or they may
be scared by firing grass and driving them into nets. In
pursuit of the opossum, hunters climb trees by cutting
toe holds with their stone axes; meanwhile they support
themselves with a fiber rope, or merely by clasping their
hands round the tree, and with such an arrangement
they mount with great rapidity.

Collecting is, on the whole, even more important than
hunting, and no creature — grub, insect, reptile, or amphib-
ian-— is too insignificant for the larder. It is in collecting
food that tribesmen show their greatest ingenuity, for
they live comfortably where a stranger would starve.
Digging in the dry ground may yield a supply of honey
ants whose bodies are charged with a sweet, nutritious
substance. Removal of the bark of trees leads to the
discovery of succulent cocoons, and excavation in the
mud of dry watercourses produces food in the form of
frogs, whose bodies are charged with water on which the
creatures are subsisting during hibernation. Near the sea-
coast shell-fish are collected, and the sands of the north
coast are inspected for signs of a cache of turtle's eggs.

Women who are provided with digging sticks scour
the country for every form of edible fruit and root, and
seasonal migrations are made to districts where a harvest
is to be gathered. Seeds are ground between stones
either by crushing or pounding in the manner illustrated
in Case 2. Nets and baskets of vegetable fiber are made
locally. Some excellent examples of this work are shown
in Cases 4 and 5. In Case 5 are wooden pitchis (bowls)
which women use for carrying water and produce. Fishing
is practiced locally. In Case 3 may be seen examples of
fish-hooks made of tortoise-shell.

Fire is made by one of two principal methods. A
long slender stick of hard wood is twirled on a baseboard
of softer wood (see Case 3), or a wooden shield may be

Primitive Hunters of Australia 37

vigorously rubbed with a piece of wood, until the friction
produces ignition of tinder placed close to the groove
which is rubbed. In Case 5 is a shield marked with
grooves resulting from the fire-making process.

Since the Australians make no pottery, cooking is
done chiefly by a process of baking on hot embers. In
some localities an earthen oven is used ; that is to say, the
meat is placed in a hole lined with hot stones, and a cover-
ing of earth confines the heat.

In connection with food supply the subject of naviga-
tion is important. The simplest form of propulsion
through the water is by means of a log, which is propelled
and guided by the hands and feet of the man who lies
on it. Of local distribution are the dugout canoe formed
by hollowing a log, and the bark canoe formed by sewing
the ends of a large piece of bark which has been removed
from a tree in cylindrical form. On the northeast coast
examples of outrigger canoes are seen (Plate III). The
outrigger is formed by adding a lateral framework to
the dugout canoe in order to give it greater stability.
The subject of navigation has been comprehensively dealt
with by N. W. Thomas (1905), and D. S. Davidson (1935).

The nature of the food supply and the methods of
obtaining it are characteristic of hunting communities,
whose members are dependent on seasonal conditions,
especially rainfall, which in many areas of Australia is
scanty and irregular. Sometimes hunting communities
find themselves eating to repletion, or they may border
on starvation for weeks or months. To stave off hunger
pangs, bark belts are tightened, and the leaves of the
Pitcheri plant (Duboisia hopwoodii) are chewed (Case 4).
The leaves of the plant are packed into bags and traded
for hundreds of miles from central Australia into Queens-
land and New South Wales. For chewing purposes the
leaves of the Pitcheri plant are mixed with ashes obtained
by burning leaves of acacia. A chewed plug of Pitcheri
is carried behind the ear and offered as a friendly greeting.

38 Field Museum of Natural History

The stem and leaves of a tobacco plant (Nicotiana
suaveolens), which grows wild in central Australia, are
chewed by the Arunta. The question of indigenous use
of tobacco in Australia (apart from European influence)
has been discussed by A. B. Lewis (1931).

Metals are not used; we are dealing with a stone age
people who rely on the use of stone, bone, wood, sinews
for binding, shell, and gums for fixing the objects in posi-
tion. The principal objects made of stone are spearheads,
axes, gouges, long knives in sheaths, and scrapers for
dressing skins. The spearheads are slender, leaf-shaped,
sharply pointed, and serrated round the edge with fine
indentations. These small notches are made by pressure
with a piece of bone. The best examples of this kind are
to be seen in Case 1, where a series of spearheads made
from European bottle glass is displayed. These blades
were made by natives of Kimberley in northwest Australia,
who fasten the spear-points to the wooden shafts with
masses of resin.

Stone axes (Case 3) are hafted by binding the head
in a pliable piece of wood which is bent round the stone
head, lashed in position with kangaroo sinew, and further
secured with a mass of resin (Plate I, Fig. 5). Gouges
(Cases 2 and 5) are made by fixing flaked stones at the
ends of wooden handles. A gouge of this type is used for
making deep grooves on boomerangs and other weapons.
The wooden pitchis used by the Warramunga and other
tribes are also grooved in this way (Case 5). Excellent
examples of flaking stone to form long slender knives are
to be seen among exhibits from the Arunta (Arandja) tribe,
and other natives to the north of these people (Case 5).

Case 4 contains a series of objects illustrating the
manufacture of a bone implement from rough splinters of
kangaroo bone. The slivers are rubbed until they take
the form of smooth bone awls for piercing skins. Shells
may be used as scrapers, but sometimes they are fixed to
wooden handles to make spoons and scoops (Case 2).

Primitive Hunters of Australia 39

The most essential objects are manufactured from hard
wood, which is shaped and grooved with tools of stone and
shell. The principal articles of wood are spears and
spear-throwers, clubs, boomerangs, and shields (Plates IV,
VIII-XII).

The most elaborate spears, made entirely of wood and
provided with elaborately carved barbs, are manufactured
by natives of Ashburton in the northwest of the continent.
Excellent examples of this carving are to be seen in Case 1,
and a series is illustrated in Plate VIII.

Shields are of two main types if regarded functionally.
Thick narrow shields which are used at close quarters
for warding off blows from clubs are displayed in Case 4.
Broad shields for intercepting such missile weapons as
boomerangs and spears are shown in Case 3. An inspec-
tion of the cases will illustrate the way in which special
forms of these shields have become characteristic of
particular localities. For example, the broad painted
shields of Queensland (Case 3) are so distinctive that they
could not be mistaken for the shields from any other
area. The various types of shields used in Western
Australia are illustrated in Plate IX and are displayed in
Case 1. Though similarities may be noted, differences
are apparent, and such western areas as Broome, Ash-
burton, Gascoyne, and Mount Margaret has each its
own peculiar type of shield (W. D. Hambly, 1931).

Spear-throwers vary in pattern (Plate X) and many
local types have been evolved. Yet the principle of use
is the same, and the usual method of holding is illustrated
in Plate XI. The object of the spear-thrower is to give
greater range and precision. The spear-thrower follows
the forward movement of the thrower's arm and so extends
the time of his control over the flight of the weapon.

Usually a spear-thrower has a flat surface on which
the shaft of the spear may rest, though an exception is
to be noted in the rounded spear-throwers from the Mara
and Anula tribes living near the Gulf of Carpentaria. At

40 Field Museum of Natural History

the rear end of the spear-thrower is a peg of wood, or
possibly the tooth of a kangaroo, fixed in position by
binding with sinew and resin. Inspection of the butts
of spears shows that most of them are slightly hollowed
at the butt for the reception of this peg. The body of
the spear-thrower is often narrowed to form a hand-grip,
and a secure hold is aided by the addition of a lump of
resin to the part held in the hand.

Boomerangs (Cases 1, 3, and 5) vary considerably in
size and shape. The returning boomerangs, which are
used chiefly for amusement, are twisted; that is to say,
the body of the object lies in two planes, a fact which is
easily demonstrated by placing the eye at one end of the
boomerang. This returning weapon is launched vigorously
but smoothly against the wind (Plate XII). The flight
shows a rotary movement, an apparent collapse after
the weapon has turned in the air and is advancing toward
the thrower, and finally a recovery as the implement rises
once more and returns to the point from which it was
launched. Boomerangs of the non-returning type are
quite flat. They vary in curvature; some are sharply
bent, almost forming a letter V, while others have a very
slight curvature. The edges are usually sharp, so adding
to the efficacy of the weapon.

Hard wooden clubs (Case 4) are of many shapes. They
may be used as missile weapons or in single combat at
close quarters.

In summarizing, it may be said that the culture of
the Australian aborigines shows a contrast of simplicity
and complexity. Social organization, the kinship system,
totemistic ideas, and public rites connected with initiation
and magic express abstruse ideas.

On the contrary the economic organization is rudimen-
tary. Clothing, permanent dwellings, agriculture, and
domestic animals, with the exception of the dingo or
native dog, are absent. Metals are not used, and the
aborigines are still a stone age people. Except in a limited

Primitive Hunters of Australia 41

northeastern area the bow and arrow are unknown. No
pottery is made, and musical instruments are absent.

The material culture is of a rudimentary kind, but
so far as the scanty evidence goes, Australian culture is
not so elementary as that of the extinct Tasmanians.

TASMANIA

The island of Tasmania is situated to the southeast
of Australia, from which it is separated by Bass Strait,
which is 120 miles wide. The area is 26,000 square
miles, which is a little more than twice the size of Mary-
land, and the greatest length of the island is 230 miles.
The formation of Tasmania indicates that the island was
at one time a continuation of the southeastern plateau
of Australia. The time of cleavage from the mainland
is unknown, but probably this was not geologically ancient.

The general structure is that of a tableland, varying
in height from two to three thousand feet, with numerous
ranges of hills. The climate is warm temperate, and owing
to proximity of the sea the range of temperature is only
about 20° from winter to summer. But allowance must
be made for effects of elevation on temperature; snow
lies on the higher mountains for several months of the year.

Vegetable life includes many species of large trees
which produce gums and resins, and in parts a luxuriant
grass has encouraged sheep breeding. Animal life is of
an ancient marsupial type showing correspondence with
the fauna of Australia. Among the typical animals are
kangaroos, wombats, duck-bills, kangaroo rats, opossums,
and the Tasmanian devil.

The island was discovered by Tasman in the year
1642, and as a compliment to the Governor of the East
Indies he named his new discovery Van Diemen's Land,
a title which was not changed until the year 1853. From
1803 to that time Tasmania was used as a settlement for
convicts who were transported from England, often for
offenses of a trivial kind, and in the early development
of the island we have to note turbulent conditions.

This unrest was characterized by intermittent warfare
between peaceful settlers, gangs of escaped convicts, and
wandering bands of aborigines. The natives were never
systematically studied; on the contrary, they were per-

42

Primitive Hunters of Australia 43

secuted, until finally in the period 1831-36 about 203
survivors were collected and transferred to a reserve on
Flinders Island.

Removed from their natural environment and hunting
occupations, the aborigines showed a rapid decrease which
was aided by access to alcohol, intermittent use of cloth-
ing, and diseases introduced by contact with white men.
Racial miscegenation took place, with the result that a
European-Tasmanian half-breed population was created,
and by the year 1876 the Tasmanian race became extinct
with the death of a woman named Truganini, the last of
pure Tasmanian stock.

This introduction indicates that only scanty informa-
tion is available respecting the social life, religious beliefs,
language, and customs of Tasmanians. The data available
were collected in a desultory way by the more intelligent
settlers, and years later attempts at compilation were
made from notes which often indicate conflicting opinions
and inadequate observation. Yet it is known that the
Tasmanians preserved in their remote island a living record
of a simple hunting life of the pattern which was followed
by men of the old stone age in Europe perhaps 100,000
years ago.

Before describing the few objects of Tasmanian culture
which are preservable in a museum it will be well to
outline the facts that are known concerning the physique,
language, and beliefs of the Tasmanians.

Physically, the Tasmanians did not show close corre-
spondence with any other living race, and the suggestion
has been made that the peculiar physical type developed
as a result of long isolation. Segregation in Tasmania
would also account for the lack of cultural development,
which remained on the most elementary level yet known.
The stimulation arising from contacts, even if those are
of a hostile kind, is usually effective in enriching cultural
traits, but this incentive the Tasmanians never had.

44 Field Museum of Natural History

A consensus favors the view that the Tasmanians were a
branch of Melanesian Negro stock, the Negro characters
being shown in the breadth of the nose, the dark skin color,
the thick projecting lips, and the tufted hair, which some
observers describe as woolly, while others speak of it as
frizzly. Tasmanians show some physical correspondence
with the Andamanese, also with the Semang of the Malay
Peninsula, and the general deduction is one which regards
Tasmanians as a southern migration of an early Negroid
stock, which probably made its way down the east side
of Australia.

Fortunately, some skeletons of Tasmanians have been
preserved for study, but although seventy skulls are avail-
able only six complete skeletons are known, and recent
research indicates the doubtful provenance of some skulls
which have been regarded as Tasmanian (J. Wunderly;
F. Wood-Jones, 1934a). The skull capacity is small, but
this does not necessarily imply a low intelligence, since
bodily weight and the size of the brain are closely corre-
lated, because a large part of the brain is concerned with
motor functions. Skeletal measurements, but admittedly
on an unreliable number of subjects, give the average
height of male skeletons as five feet six inches, and for
females four feet nine inches. Yet, even with due regard
to the small size of the bodies, skull capacities are low
compared with those of Europeans.

Evidence respecting language is uncertain. Robert
Clark, who was in charge of the settlement of Tasmanians
in Flinders Island, speaks of eight or ten different languages
or dialects, and there is need to take warning against
the assumption of simple languages merely because the
general culture was of an elementary kind. At the time
when notes were made with regard to Tasmanian
languages, such studies were carried out by collecting vo-
cabularies in different parts of the island (F. Wood-
Jones, 1934). The recorders lacked a system of phonetics
which would have made their results comparable.

Primitive Hunters of Australia 45

Owing to the separation of Tasmanians in isolated
bands throughout rugged country, dialects would no doubt
be formed; these probably belonged to one language, which
with timely study might have been shown as a part of
some still extant Melanesian speech. The Tasmanians
are said to have formed many of their words in imitation
of sounds such as noises made by birds and other animals,
the sound of wind, or the crackling of a fire.

They are said to have possessed few generic words;
for example, they had no word for tree, but many words
to describe different kinds of trees. The statement that
one word might have a variety of disparate meanings
suggests the possibility of tones being used to denote
which of these meanings was to be accepted, but on this
point evidence is inconclusive.

Of social organization and religion almost nothing is
certain except that the roving bands were small in numbers,
and that a family of father, mother, and children was
known. Of leadership there was no evidence. Some kind
of moon cult has been suggested, and though answers
given to the catechist on Flinders Island imply a belief
in continued existence of disembodied spirits, the evidence
is meagre and unreliable.

Observers agree that the Tasmanians eked out their
language with a wealth of gesture, and that they were highly
emotional and fearful — probably with ample reason; also
that they were cunning and treacherous, attributes which
were indispensable if they intended to preserve themselves
against superior intruders. Unscientific observation states
that the Tasmanians could count only up to five, after
which they spoke of a number as "plenty." Time is said
to have been indicated by the position of the sun, and the
passage of days was mentioned by pointing to the sky
and indicating how many times the sun had appeared to
pass across.

No doubt exists with regard to their ability to sing and
dance, for corroborees were frequent and prolonged to the

46 Field Museum of Natural History

point of complete exhaustion. The only musical instru-
ment was an improvised drum made by stretching an
opossum skin between the knees and striking it with a
stick. One of the most frequent games was dodging
spears, a useful accomplishment in later life, since an
offender had to stand up for punishment in this way.

The most important item in personal equipment was
red ochre, which with grease was freely used on the body
and hair, and for coating such ornaments as neck-bands
made from sinews of the kangaroo. Bodies were cicatrized
with simple cuts into which earth was rubbed to raise
the incisions. No clothing, with the exception of an
opossum or kangaroo skin, was worn.

Shelters were simple bark screens which could be
turned against the wind, and at death burial was made
under a small bark structure not unlike the one used
during life. But of observances connected with death
and burial nothing is known; neither is the presence of
medicine-men, who function in many primitive tribes,
reported among the Tasmanians. One writer mentions
that calcined bones were found inside structures erected
over human remains, and the binding of arms and legs
of a corpse has been noted, but none of the data can justify
generalizations.

References may be found to native methods of cutting
the body to relieve pain, of burning a wound caused by
snake-bite, and of carrying the skull or bones of a dead
relative to ward off evil. No organized warfare existed,
but rival bands exchanged showers of stones and spears.

The Tasmanians provide a picture of the simplest
form of community, which is able to exist solely b3r hunt-
ing, collecting, and fishing. It is certain that these
aborigines had no agriculture and no domestic animals,
not even the dingo which is so common in Australia, until
the animal was introduced from the mainland. Attending
to the food supply consumed the whole time of men, women,
and children, and of the presence of the fine arts, pictorial

Primitive Hunters of Australia 47

and graphic, little evidence exists, though A. L. Meston
has described some aboriginal rock-carvings in Tasmania.

If an attempt is made to enumerate the possessions
of Tasmanians, only a short list of objects can be prepared,
and many of these were of a perishable kind. Reference
has been made to neck-bands of kangaroo sinew rubbed
with red ochre, and in addition to these the natives wore
arm-bands and anklets of opossum fur. Flowers and
bright berries were also decoratively employed. A favorite
ornament consisted of several loops of small, bright blue
shells (Elenchus), which were pierced by biting and then
threaded on a sinew of kangaroo. The dull outer coat of
the shells was removed by smoking them in smouldering
grass; then they were rubbed with penguin oil (Case 4).

Tasmanians were observed to make fire by twirling a
stick of hard wood on soft bark, but to save frequent
repetition of this process they sometimes carried fire in
clay receptacles. They neither made nor owned pottery,
so cooking was done on an open fire; then the cooked
meat would be cut up with stone implements.

Examination of kitchen middens, refuse consisting of
shells, has indicated that the Tasmanians had a varied
diet. As expert hunters and trackers they caught
kangaroos, sometimes by firing the grass and spearing
the animals which ran out. Wallabies, kangaroo rats,
wombats, opossums, and birds were ordinary items of
diet. Eggs were gathered for food, and the flesh of
snakes was appreciated. Vegetable foods included fern
roots, fungi, and, near the coast, seaweeds.

Coastal bands learned the value of marine foods, and
to aid in securing these, bark rafts were used. These
rafts were propelled with bark paddles or broad sticks,
and in shallow water they were poled along. Fish were
speared, but the use of fish as food seems to have been
only local. At one end of the raft a fire was kept burning
on a stone slab or a bed of earth. Men were at times
observed crossing rivers and creeks on small logs.

48 Field Museum of Natural History

Women living near the coast are reported to have
been expert in diving for haliotis shells, which they brought
up in baskets from beneath the water. Limpets were
gathered and thrown on a fire, then the contents were
removed with pointed sticks.

In climbing trees the men were particularly adept,
for they could mount quickly by cutting toe-holds with
a stone and supporting themselves with a sling made
from twisted kangaroo sinews. In this manner the capture
of an opossum was made. Among some tribes of south-
east Australia this performance was one of the tests for
manhood which boys had to undertake during tribal
initiation. Tasmanian youths possibly had the fortitude
to pass such tests, but we do not know that they had
initiation ceremonies of any kind.

The implements of the Tasmanians were remarkably
few, and these were of the simplest kind. They lacked
the boomerang, the shield, and the spear-thrower, which
are so widely distributed in Australia, and though some
observers noted wooden shields these are said to have
been introduced at a late date from southeast Australia.
Barbed spears and hafted stone axes, when used locally
by Tasmanians, are likewise thought to have resulted
from contact with Australia through Europeans who
travelled to and fro between Tasmania and the mainland.
Furthermore, Australian aborigines from New South
Wales were brought as laborers to Tasmania.

The Tasmanian spear was a long piece of wood with-
out barbs or ornament, but one end was sharpened by
charring it in the fire and scraping with a stone implement.
The shaft was straightened by warming and manipulating
between the teeth. The aborigines are reported to have
been skilled in trailing spears on the ground between their
toes, so that they appeared unarmed. Yet the weapon
could be rapidly transferred to the hand and launched.

The waddy, or club, was a straight piece of wood
having a handgrip made by grooving a portion with a

Primitive Hunters of Australia 49

stone gouge. The length of the club was two feet three
inches, and the thickness tapered from one and three-
quarter inches to about half an inch less at the narrow
end. The waddy could be thrown with great precision
and a twisting motion.

Like the Australian aborigines, the Tasmanians were
a stone-age people having absolutely no knowledge of
metals. Even the stone implements were of a simple
kind comparable in form to those known to have been
used in the Mousterian period, an early division of the
palaeolithic or old stone age in Europe.

Many implements, which were chiefly of chert, sand-
stone, or quartzite, were struck off from a core with a
stone hammer. Then, leaving one side plain, the worker
removed a few rough flakes to give an edge, which was
sometimes worked by small flaking; yet the stone tools
were never polished. The use of bone implements by
the Tasmanians has been alleged and again denied; there
does not appear to be good reason for thinking that bone
implements were used for removing small flakes from the
edges of stone tools.

Stone implements varied in size from 5x2 inches, to
small round forms about one inch in diameter (E. B.
Tylor, 1893, 1894). Such names as hand-ax, side scraper,
double-sided scraper, and gouge have been used to desig-
nate various forms whose uses were skinning, scraping
fat from skins, cutting meat, gouging grooves, making
notches for climbing trees, and trimming the points of
spears. Sharp stones were also used for making body
scars either as a cure for pain or as a form of personal
ornament.

Field Museum collection (W. D. Hambly, 1931a) in-
cludes stone implements from Tasmania (Case 4) but no
other objects from these primitive people. Yet a good
idea of their simple basketry, straight spears, and clubs
may be obtained by reference to cases displaying com-
parable objects made by Australian aborigines.

50 Field Museum of Natural History

To assume that a people of elementary hunting culture
are rudimentary in all their thoughts is hazardous, as
consideration of Australian aborigines has proved. In
Australia an elementary stone-age culture was noted, but
the kinship system and totemic rites, together with
initiation ceremonies, are known to be elaborate and
complex (G. Roheim, 1925a; D. Porteus). Therefore,
the fact that the Tasmanians had so few material pos-
sessions does not warrant an assumption of mental va-
cuity. But, so far as the evidence goes, Tasmanians
provide the simplest form of human life which has yet
been studied.

An early settler (1818) describes the Tasmanian abo-
rigines at work in their stone pits. He reports that, while
chattering noisily, the blacks were breaking stones into
fragments either by dashing them on the rocks or by
striking them with other stones. They then picked up
the sharp-edged pieces for use. One old fellow, with
energy surprising for his years, dashed one stone upon
another, meanwhile leaping high into the air to avoid
the flying splinters.

In this record of primitive Tasmanian life, which was
primarily concerned with the food supply and the manu-
facture of simple implements of wood and stone, we have
a picture that takes the imagination far back into the
life of stone-age man as shown by the Mousterian group
in Hall C.

Although Tasmania is on the opposite side of the world
from Europe, and the Tasmanians had no known racial
affinity or contacts with Europe, the Tasmanian abo-
rigines preserved a type of life which prevailed in Europe
50,000 years ago, and earlier. It is a regrettable fact
that the primitive hunters and stone-age men of Tasmania
should have been harried from the world without serious
effort to study the whole of their culture in its natural

habitat.

Wilfrid D. Hambly

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Primitive Hunters of Australia 53

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1932. Totem Stones of the Kantzu Tribe, Cape York Peninsula,
N. Queensland. Oceania, II, pp. 292-295.

Meston, A. L.

1934. Aboriginal Rock-Carvings in Tasmania. Antiquity, VII,
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Primitive Hunters of Australia 55

Meyer, H. E. A.

1879. Manners and Customs of the Aborigines of the Encounter
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Montagu, L. A. D.

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Mjoberg, E.

1925. Beitrage zur Kenntnis der Eingeborenen von Nord-Queens-
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Needham, J. S.

1935. White and Black in Australia. London (S.P.C.K.).
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1911. Beitrage ziir Kenntnis der archaolithischen Kultur der
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Periodicals

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Journal and Proceedings of the Royal Society of Perth. Western
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Journal and Proceedings of the Society of N.S.W. Sydney.

Papers and Proceedings of the Royal Society of Tasmania. Hobart.

Proceedings of the Royal Society of Queensland. Brisbane.

Records of the Australian Museum. Sydney, N.S.W.

Records of the South Australian Museum. Adelaide.

Reports of Australian Association for Advancement of Science.

Reports of the Royal Society of Victoria. Melbourne.

Transactions of the Royal Society of South Australia. Adelaide.
Parker, K. L.

1905. The Euahlayi Tribe (N.S.W.). London.
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1932. Totemic System of the Karadjeri Tribe. Oceania, II,
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Porteus, D.

1933. The Psychology of a Primitive People, A Study of the
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1930. The Social Organization of Australian Tribes. Oceania, I,
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Ray, S. H.

1909. The Ngolok-Wanggar Language, Daly River, North Aus-
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56 Field Museum of Natural History

Reports

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1890. The Aborigines of Tasmania. London.
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1928. Some Parrot-beak-like and Curved Stone Implements from
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1930. Myths and Legends of the Australian Aboriginals. London.
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1878. The Aborigines of Victoria. 2 vols. Melbourne and London.
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in the Natural History Museum, Victoria. Melbourne.
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Spencer, B. and Gillen, F. J.

1899. The Native Tribes of Central Australia. London.
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Statesman's Year Book

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1879. The Folk-Lore, Manners, Customs, and Languages of the
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1926. Types of Knotless Netting. Man, No. 4.

Primitive Hunters of Australia 57

Thomas, N. W.

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1906. Natives of Australia. London.

1906a. Kinship Organization and Group Marriage in Australia.

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Thomson, D. F.

1934. Notes on a Hero Cult from the Gulf of Carpentaria,
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1879. The Native Tribes of South Australia. Adelaide.

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1930. The Polynesian Race. Man, No. 47. Gives physical
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Woollard, H. and Cleland, J. B.

1929. Anthropology and Blood Grouping with Special Reference
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Worsnop, T.

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INDEX

Aboriginal population, 8
Agriculture absent, 40
Ancestors, 15
Animals, 7; see Totems
Area, Australia, 7; Tasmania, 42
Art, 18, 34, 35, 39, 47
Arunta, 19
Avenging party, 21
Avoidance, of relatives, 29; of
foods, see Taboos and Totems
Axes, of stone, 38

Baime, 16

Bandicoot, 8, 21

Bark, belts, 37; shelters of, 46

Baskets, 36

Bass Strait, 42

Birds, 8

Blood, revenge, 27; used in cere-
monies, 35

Bone, for pointing, 17, 20; for
flaking stone, 38

Boomerangs, for beating time,
33; as weapons, 40

Bow and arrow, 34

Bull-roarers, 25; see Churinga
and Initiation

Bunjil, 16

Burial, 22, 46

Cannibalism, 23

Canoes, 34, 37

Cape York, 18

Carpentaria, Gulf of, 7

Cats' cradle, 30

Cave paintings, 18, 35

Children, education of, 30; see

Games, Toys
Chinese fishermen, 8
Churinga, 24, 25, 31; see Magic
Cicatrizing, 25, 46
Circumcision, 31
Climate, 7; of Tasmania, 42
Clubs, 40, 48
Collecting food, 36, 46
Communal responsibility, 21
Cooking, 37

Corroborees, 32; see Music
Counting, 15
Crows (phratry), 16
Crystals, 23

Culture areas, 34

Curative measures, 21; see Magic

and Medicine-men
Curses, 24

Dancing, see Corroborees, Ini-
tiation, Music
Daramulun, 16, 25
Digging sticks, 36
Dingo (dog), 40
Domestic animals not used, 40
Dwellings, 40

Eagle-hawks, 16
Emu, 8, 24

Exogamy, 28, 32; see Totemism
Exploration, of Australia, 8-11;
of Tasmania, 42

Family, 27
Fire-making, 37, 47
Fish-hooks, 36
Fishing, 46, 47
Flinder's Island, 43
Folklore, 15-18
Food supply, 28, 35

Games, 30, 31
Gesture language, 15
Ghosts, 20, 21, 35
Gouges, 38
Grinding of seeds, 36
Gum for binding, 38

Hawks, 17

Hero cults, 18, 30; see Folklore

Horde, 28

Human hair for girdles, 34

Hunting, 36, 47; territory, 27

Incest, 28
Infanticide, 30

Initiation, of medicine-men, 19;
tribal, 27, 31

Kaitish Tribe, 24

Kangaroo, 8; totem, 30; bone

used, 38
Kinship terms, 27
Knives of stone, 38

58

Primitive Hunters of Australia

59

Language, 14; sacred, 15; ges-
ture, 28; Tasmania, 44
Law, 32

Magic, 19-26

Malays, 34

Marriage, 28, 29

Marsupials, 7

Maternal uncle, 28

Medicine-men, 19-20

Message sticks, 14

Mourning, 22

Mousterian period, 49, 50

Mura-muras, 16, 26

Music, Australian, 32; Tasman-

ian, 46
Mythology, 15-18

Names of dead, 15

Naming, 31, 32

Navigation, 37, 47; see Canoes

Nets, 36

New Guinea, 7, 34

Nose, pierced, 31

Ochre, for red coloring, 35; used

by Tasmanians, 46
Opossum, 8, 15; skin pouch, 30;

climbing for, 31, 48; fur for

ornament, 34
Ordeals, 31, 32
Outrigger canoe, 37

Personal ornament, 34

Physical anthropology, of Aus-
tralians, 12-13; of Tasmani-
ans, 43, 44

Pitcheri, chewed, 37

Platypus, 8

Pointing bone, 17, 20, 24

Pottery not made, 37

Quartz, 23
Queensland, 17

Rafts, 47

Rainbow, 17; snake, 35
Rainfall, 37; see Climate
Rain-making, 25
Reincarnation, 23

Religion, 18
Resin, 40; see Gum
Rock-carvings, Tasmania, 47; see
Cave Paintings, Mythology

Scarification, 16, 22

Scorpions, 8

Serpent myths, 17

Shells, 35, 38, 47

Shields, 39

Shoes, magical use of, 24

Sinews, 40

Snakes, 8

Songs, 32

Soul, 23; see Ghosts

Spearheads, 38

Spears, barbed, 39; Tasmanian,

48
Spear-throwers, 39
Spiders, 8
Stone, for magic, 24; various uses,

38; implements of Tasmania,

49

Taboos, 15; on relatives, 29; on

names of dead, 32
Tobacco, 34; pipe, 38
Torres Strait, 18
Totem, 23, 25; clans, 29; pole

and drawings, 35
Toys, 30, 31

Trees, 7; climbed, 36, 48
Trepang, 8
Tribe, 28
Turtle's eggs, 36
Types of weapons, 34

Urabunna tribe, 16

Vegetable fiber used, 36

Warfare, 20, 21
Warramunga tribe, 24
Weapons of wood, 39
Widows, 22
Woman's work, 27
Wombat, 8
Wooden objects, 39
Writing, 14

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Plate XII

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