The Boraipar Or Language Of The Arkatko Tribe, Who Inhabit The Scrub To The East Of The Murray, And The Aiawong Or River Dialect, Extending, With Slight Variations, From The Junction Of The Murray And Lake Alexandrina To The Darling.

Chapter V.

CEREMONIES AND SUPERSTITIONS - FORMS OF BURIAL - MOURNING CUSTOMS - RELIGIOUS IDEAS - EMPIRICS, ETC.

The ceremonies and superstitions of the natives are both numerous and involved in much obscurity; indeed it is very questionable if any of them are understood even by themselves. Almost all the tribes impose initiatory rites upon the young, through which they must pass from one stage of life to another, until admitted to the privileges and rights of manhood. These observances differ greatly in different parts of the continent, independently of local or distinctive variations indicative of the tribe to which a native may belong.

Thus at the Gulf of Carpentaria, the rite of circumcision is performed; at Swan River, King George's Sound, and nearly three hundred miles to the eastward of the latter place, no such rite exists. Round the head of the Great Australian Bight, and throughout the Port Lincoln Peninsula, not only is this rite performed, but a still more extraordinary one conjoined with it. [Note 78: "Finditur usque ad urethram a parte inferaa penis."] Descending the east side of Spencer's and St. Vincent's Gulf, and around the district of Adelaide, the simple rite of circumcision is retained. Proceeding but a little farther to the banks of the Murray, and its neighbourhood, no such ceremony exists, nor have I ever heard of its having been observed any where on the southeastern, or eastern parts of the continent.

So also with respect to tattooing; in one part of the continent it is adopted, in another it is rejected; when it is practised, there are many varieties in the form, number, or arrangement of the scars, distinguishing the different tribes, so that one stranger meeting with another any where in the woods, can at once tell, from the manner in which he is tattooed, the country and tribe to which he belongs, if not very remote. In the Adelaide district, Mr. Moorhouse has observed, that there are five stages to be passed through, before the native attains the rank of a bourka, or full grown man. The first is, that from birth to the tenth year, when he is initiated into the second, or Wilya kundarti, by being covered with blood, drawn from the arm of an adult; he is then allowed to carry a wirri for killing birds, and a small wooden spade (karko) for digging grubs out of the ground. At from twelve to fourteen, the third stage is entered, by having the ceremony of circumcision performed, which takes place in the following manner. Early in the morning, the boys to be circumcised are seized from behind, and a bandage is fastened over the eyes of each; they are then led away from the presence of the women and children to a distance of half a mile, when they are laid on the ground, and covered with a cloak, or skin, so as not to see what is passing amongst the adults, who proceed with the ceremony. Three of them now commence limping, and making a peculiar groaning noise, until they arrive opposite one of the boys, upon whom they seize.

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