Introduction : INTRODUCTION No introduction to Mrs. Langloh Parker's book can be more than that superfluous 'bush' which, according to the proverb, good wine does not need. Our knowledge of the life, manners, and customary laws of many Australian tribes has, in recent years, been vastly increased by the admirable...
Chapter Vii. Birth Betrothal An Aboriginal : CHAPTER VII BIRTH--BETROTHAL--AN ABORIGINAL GIRL FROM INFANCY TO WOMANHOOD To begin at the beginning, Bahloo, the moon, is a sort of patron of women. He it is who creates the girl babies, assisted by Wahn, the crow, sometimes. Should Wahn attempt the business on his own account the result is...
Chapter Xii. The Trapping Of Game : CHAPTER XII THE TRAPPING OF GAME SOME of the blacks' methods of catching game I have seen practised, some have long since died out of use. Of course the sportsmen knew the favourite watering-holes of the game. At such a place they made a rough break at each side, leaving an opening where the track...
Chapter Xi. Something About Stars And Legends : CHAPTER XI SOMETHING ABOUT STARS AND LEGENDS VENUS in the Summer evenings is a striking object in the western sky. Our Venus they call the Laughing Star, who is a man. He once said something very improper, and has been laughing at his joke ever since. As he scintillates you seem to see him grinning...
Chapter Ii. The All Father, Byamee : CHAPTER II THE ALL FATHER, BYAMEE As throughout the chapters on the customary laws, mysteries, and legends of the Euahlayi, there occur frequent mentions of a superhuman though anthropomorphic being named Byamee (in Kamilaroi and Wirdjuri 'Baiame'), it is necessary to give a preliminary account...
Chapter Viii. The Training Of A Boy Up : CHAPTER VIII THE TRAINING OF A BOY UP TO BOORAH PRELIMINARIES AT the boy manufactory, Boomayahmayahmul, the wood lizard, was the principal worker, though Bahloo from time to time gave him assistance. The little blacks throw their mythical origin at each other tauntingly. A little black girl, when...
Chapter Xv. The Amusements Of Blacks : CHAPTER XV THE AMUSEMENTS OF BLACKS A VERY favourite game of the old men was skipping--Brambahl, they called it. They had a long rope, a man at each end to swing it. When it is in full swing in goes the skipper. After skipping in an ordinary way for a few rounds, he begins the variations, which...
Chapter Vi. Our Witch Woman : CHAPTER VI OUR WITCH WOMAN OUR witch woman was rather a remarkable old person. When she was, I suppose, considerably over sixty, her favourite granddaughter died. Old Bootha was in a terrible state of grief, and chopped herself in a most merciless manner at the burial, especially about the head...
Chapter Xiv. Costumes And Weapons : CHAPTER XIV COSTUMES AND WEAPONS I HAVE seen a coloured king simply smirking with pride, in what he considered modern full dress--a short shirt and an old tall hat. And I suppose, as far as actual clothing went, it was an advance on the old-time costume of paint and feathers. A black woman's needle...
Chapter Iv. The Medicine Men : CHAPTER IV THE MEDICINE MEN I USED to wonder how the wirreenuns or doctor-wizards of the tribe attained their degrees. I found out that the old wizards fix upon a young boy who is to follow their profession. They take him to a tribal burial-ground at night. There they tie him down and leave him...
Chapter I. Introductory : CHAPTER I INTRODUCTORY THE following pages are intended as a contribution to the study of the manners, customs, beliefs, and legends of the Aborigines of Australia. The area of my observation is mainly limited to the region occupied by the Euahlayi tribe of north-western New South Wales, who...
Chapter Xiii. Foraging And Cooking : CHAPTER XIII FORAGING AND COOKING IT is very strange to me to hear the average white person speak of the blacks collectively as having no individuality, for really they are as diverse in characteristics as possible; no two girls I had in the house but were totally different. There has been too much...
Title Page : THE EUAHLAYI TRIBE A STUDY OF ABORIGINAL LIFE IN AUSTRALIA BY K. LANGLOH PARKER WITH AN INTRODUCTION BY ANDREW LANG LONDON ARCHIBALD CONSTABLE AND COMPANY, LTD. 1905 Edinburgh: T. And A. CONSTABLE, Printers To His Majesty Scanned At Www.sacred-texts.com, Completed September 28th, 2000. Reformatted...
Chapter X. Chiefly As To Funerals And Mourning : CHAPTER X CHIEFLY AS TO FUNERALS AND MOURNING I WAS awakened one morning on the station by distant wailing. A wailing that came in waves of sound, beginning slowly and lowly, to gain gradually in volume until it reached the full height or limit of the human voice, when gradually, as it had risen...
Chapter Ix. The Boorah And Other Meetings : CHAPTER IX THE BOORAH AND OTHER MEETINGS AT last would come the night when everything was ready. Sports and corroborees would be held as usual, until, at a given signal, the younger women were ordered into bough sheds which were round the ring. The old women stayed on singing. The boys, who are...
Glossary : GLOSSARY Bahloo, moon (masculine). Bibbil, poplar-leaved box-tree. An Eucalyptus. Byamee, their god; culture hero 'Great One.' Boorak, initiation ceremony. Boonal, a sort of flail. Boobeen, wooden cornet. Bootha, woman's name; divisional family name. Boahdee, sister. Beealahdee, father and mother's...
Chapter V. More About The Medicine Men : CHAPTER V MORE ABOUT THE MEDICINE MEN AND LEECHCRAFT THE wirreenuns sometimes hold meetings which they allow non-professionals to attend. At these the spirits of the dead speak through the medium of those they liked best on earth, and whose bodies their spirits now animate. These spirits are known...
Chapter Xvi. Bush Bogies And Finis : CHAPTER XVI BUSH BOGIES AND FINIS WEEWEEMUL is a big spirit that flies in the air; he takes the bodies of dead people away and eats them. That is why the dead are so closely watched before burial. Gwaibooyanbooyan is the hairless red devil of the scrubs, who kills and eats any one he meets, unless...
Chapter Iii. Relationships And Totems : CHAPTER III RELATIONSHIPS AND TOTEMS SOME savants question the intellectual ability of the blacks because they have not elaborate systems of numeration and notation, which in their life were quite unneeded. Such as were needed were supplied. They are often incorporate in one word-noun...