Volume 14 Australasia - dana ward's homepage

IXIIABITANTS OF AUSTRALIA. 879bora before being admitted as equals into the society of the men. In a largenumber of tribes two incisors of the upper jaw are broken or extracted. Most ofthe youths are subjected to circumcision, or else to various kinds of extremelypainful mutilations. They are also required to run down a kangaroo in the chase,to remain alone in the forest without food for several days at the risk of theirlives, to endure horrid tortures without wincing, and so on. Amongst the Kurnaiof South Australia these probations end in a magnetic sleep, after which the yoiithswake up "men." Then at last the}' are entitled to wear the girdle, bracelets, the frontalband, and other ornaments, indicating that they have re;iched the virile state.These initiatory ceremonies are usually concluded with a corrohori, or tribalgathering, held during the full moon, combining the administration of justice, parliaments,solemn treaties of alliance, and concluding with theatrical representations,midnight dances, feasts, and orgies. Once initiated, the youths may take part inthe songs, dances, and oratorical displays. As members of the clan they arebranded on the breast or thigh with the kohong, that is, the national embltm, someplant or animal, like the totem of the North American Redskins. But theseemblems are at times insignificant enough, a simple ant or spider, or othersmall insect. The person so marked must henceforth show his respect for thetalisman that symbolises the family group, holding himself as the inseparablecompanion or kinsman of all bearing the same totem, as well as of all naturalobjects associated with his particular kobong. Thus during the funeral rites caremust be taken that the body be buried under a tree regarded as belonging to thesame clan.Tattooing is often limited to the figure of the kobong, but in some tribes thebody is covered with symmetrical scarifications of a rude design, incised by meansof shai'p shells. On the north-east coast the natives also follow the Papuan customof piercing the cartilage of the nose and introducing a bit of stick or a kangaroobone, which imj)edes the respiration and obliges those so adorned to keep themouth open. According to the various occasions of war, feasts, or mourning theypaint the face and body in red, yellow, white, or black colours. White is an indicationof grief, while red is the sacred colour reserved for the great events of thetribal life.Before the arrival of the Europeans the natives of the tropical regions wentnaked, or restricted their attire to a few rags or waist-bands of fibre, while in thecolder southern districts the women wore a smock or tunic of kangaroo skin. Thenorthern tribes still paint the face and body in various colours, and near PortDarwin the white streaks traced on the black ground of the face give from adistance the effect of a death's head. But the form and pattern of dress and ornament,as well as of the dwellings, vary endlessly. In one place the only shelterare the natural caves and rocks, in another a screen of foliage, hovels, and evenrude stone structures. The weapons also differ greatly, though the most prevalentare spears, clubs, and darts with fish-bone or flint heads. In certain districts theaborigines still make use of unpolished stone hatchets, but the bow and arrow arounknown, except along a small strip of the east coast.