The Euahlayi Tribe: A Study of Aboriginal Life in Australia

y liked best on earth, and whose bodies their spirits now animate. These spirits are known as Yowee, the equivalent of our soul, which never leave the body

follows: his Yowee, soul equivalent; his Doowee, a dream spirit; his

e spirits of almost any one amongst the dead people sp

e mediums to have decided that sp

s, for these stones are living spirits, as it were, breathing and growing in their fleshly cases, the owner having the power to produce them at any time. The manifestation of such power is sometimes, at one of these trials of magic, a small shower of pebbles as seeming to fal

his Minggah; should an accident happen to that, unless he has another, he will die-in any

the sanctuary be a Goomarh, or spirit-stone, not even a wirreenun would dare to interfere, so that it is a perfectly safe sanctuary from humanly dealt

ome gilahs build in it every year, but nothing would induce the most

iggest, most magical stone used for crystal-gazing, the spirit out of which is said to go to the person of whom you want to hear, wherever he is, to see what he is doing, and then show you

rtilage of his nose when going to a strange camp, so that he will not smell strangers easily. The bla

re valuable, and guarded as such in the boondoorr, which

n's training, which argues cunning in him and creduli

g it with a firestick. They say they suck out the young

, take one end in their mouths, and pull it round and round until it draws blood along the cord. For rheumatic pains in the head or in the sm

usions of various barks, which they drink

rubbing themselves with the pulp. Steam baths the

nds they stanch wit

eat dwarf saltbush twigs and put t

b they put grass and bark

ees and hold them to the affected parts, or make an

r thrown on, then the patient lies on top, his opossum rug spread over him, and thus his body is steamed. To induce perspiration, e

a heap as a pillow if suffering from insomnia. It is hard to believe

ground, some coals put in, on them some beefwood leaves, on top of them the gum; over the hole is put enough bark to

ness anywhere. Porcupine and opossum fats for preserving their hair, fish fat t

flesh of a dead person, or before a body is put in a bark coffin a few incisions were made in it; when it was coff

n of appetite but to the incorporation of additional strength. Either men or women are

one who has partaken of this rite; shou

nkles water over her. As soon as the afterbirth is removed a steam is prepared. Two logs are laid horizontally, some stones put in between them, then some fire, on top leaves of eucalyptus, and water is then sprinkled over them. The patient stands astride these logs, an opossum rug all over her,

woman. Were she to touch the food or food utensils of another they would be considered unclean and unfit for use. Her camp is gailie-that is, o

on to its victims. So terror-stricken were the tribes that, with few exceptions, they did not stay to bury their dead; and because they did not do so, flying even from the dying, a curse was laid on the

on-stones are of two kinds, a yellowish-looking stone and a black one; they cause a lingering death. The sma

the tribe, most likely a wirreenun with a big piece of bark. He strikes the ground wit

iar ceremony is the reception a c

of its grandmother, and, moreover, declines to come if even the voice of its grandmother is heard; so grannie has to be a silent

s your auntie wa

your s

rough a whole list. Then she will say, as t

blooming. The grass is waving high. The birds are all talking

woman has to produce what she calls a wi-mouyan-a clever stick-which she wa

, the nurse wears an armlet of opossum's hair ca

y make a smoke fire and smoke themselves,

ut their hands are almost invariably small