The Native Tribes of North Central Australia: Chapter X: Traditions Dealing with the Origin of the Alcheringa Ancestors of the Arunta Tribe and with Particular Customs

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* Traditions Dealing with the Origin of the Alcheringa Ancestors of the Arunta Tribe and with Particular Customs

The early, middle and later Alcheringa—The early Alcheringa—Transformation of the Inapertwa creatures into human beings by the Ungambikula—Tradition referring to the Ulpmerka of the plum tree totem—The two lizard men kill the Oruncha at Simpson Gap—Marital relations not restricted by totem in the Alcheringa—The middle Alcheringa—The Ullakupera men and their stone knives—Introduction by them of circumcision by means of a stone knife—Endeavour of the Utiara men to secure stone knives—Wanderings of the Ullakupera from Atnaturka to Utiara—The Ullakupera transform Inapertwa into human beings and give them class names—An old Echidna man disapproves of the use of stone knives—The men of the Elonka totem who had not been circumcised by the Ungambikula are operated on and made into Arakurta—The Echidna mutilates and kills the last man on whom the Ullakupera were about to operate—He is himself killed, and the spears which were thrown into his body are represented by the spines of the Echidna—In consequence of this there are no more Echidna men and women—The Ullakupera men march on, and another Echidna man murders one upon whon they were about to operate, and is killed—The murdered man comes to life again—End of the Ullakupera wanderings—The wanderings of the Achilpa or wild cat people and the introduction by them of the ceremony of sub-incision—The first group of wild cat people start from the east side and travel north—The wild cat men feed on Hakea flower and drink their own blood—They join a party of plum tree men, die, and come to life again as Ulpmerka of the plum tree totem—The second group of wild cat people—Divides into two groups, one of which travels north by way of Imanda on the Hugh River, and then on beyond the Macdonnell Ranges to a spot at which they are all drowned in blood by a wild cat man—The third group travels to the west of the second group, crosses the Macdonnell Ranges, reaches the centre of the continent, and there the men die—The fourth party travels still further to the west, crosses the Macdonnell Ranges, and journeys on to the north until the Salt Water country is reached—The later Alcheringa—Restrictions with regard to marriage in the middle Alcheringa—Men and women of the same totem living together—The emu people establish the present class system—Outline of stages supposed to have been passed through in the development of the social organisation, &c., according to tradition.

WE have hitherto spoken of the Alcheringa in general terms, using the word to denote the whole period during which the mythical ancestors of the present Arunta tribe existed. In reality the traditions of the tribe recognise four more or less distinct periods in the Alcheringa. During the first

1 At last they succeeded in doing so, and the salt water has remained with them ever since. At this time there dwelt in the Alkira aldorla, that is the western sky, two beings of whom it is said that they were Ungambikula, a word which means “out of nothing,” or “self-existing.” From their elevated dwelling-place they could see, far away to the east, a number of Inapertwa creatures, 2 that is rudimentary human beings or incomplete men, whom it was their mission to make into men and women.

In those days there were no men and women, and the Inapertwa were of various shapes and dwelt in groups along by the shores of the salt water. They had no distinct limbs or organs of sight, hearing or smell, and did not eat food, and presented the appearance of human beings all doubled up into a rounded mass in which just the outline of the different parts of the body could be vaguely seen.

Coming down from their home in the western sky, armed with their Lalira or great stone knives, the Ungambikula took

1 which is associated with many traditions and in the case also of certain of the Unguitchika (grass seed totem) men, the Ungambikula first of all made them into human beings but did not circumcise them, so that they were what the natives call Ulpmerka,—the term applied to boys before this rite has been performed upon them. The Ungambikula, so the tradition goes on to say, intended to return and complete the work, but they were annoyed by the behaviour of certain Oruncha, that is “devil-devil” men, who lived at a place called Atnuraquina, which is near to a gap in the Macdonnell Range now called Temple Bar. These evil beings killed and ate a lot of lizard men and women whom they had made out of Inapertwa, so they did not return, and therefore the plum tree people of Quiurnpa, and one or two other groups of men and women, remained in the state of Ulpmerka or uninitiated. The same Oruncha ate a number of Alexandra parakeet, grass seed and small rat people. Of the lizard men only two survived the slaughter. They were brothers (how they came to be so the tradition does not say) and the younger of the two, together with his wife, was away down south when the slaughter took place. Upon his return he at once saw the tracks of the Oruncha, and being frightened he placed his wife, who was also a lizard, in the centre of his Ilpilla, which is the large bundle of eagle-hawk feathers worn in the hair-girdle in the middle of the back, and thus concealed her from view. Then he searched for his Okilia or elder brother, and at length found his head, to which he spoke, with the result that the man at once came to life and said, “the Oruncha killed us but they threw away my head; they will come again, take care of yourself.”

Then he pointed to the track which they had made, and the two men, arming themselves with strong Urumpira, that is spears of heavy wood such as mulga, all made in one piece and only used for fighting at close quarters, went to opposite sides of a narrow gorge which is now known as the Simpson Gap, and is at the present day an important local centre of the lizard totem. The natives

1 of the Ullakupera or little hawk totem arose at a place called Atnaturka by the side of a stream now called Love's Creek. He and the men of his group were remarkable for the possession of very fine stone knives, called Lalira, with which they performed the operation of Lartna or circumcision. Amongst the men of all other totems up to that time stone knives were not used for this purpose, and the operation was always performed with a fire-stick. 2

One of the Ullakupera men, who was a Purula named Ulpmurintha, flew from Atnaturka to Utiara, a place about ten miles north of Alice Springs, where at an earlier time the Umgambikula had made into Ulpmerka certain Inapertwa creatures of the Untaina or small rat totem. Along with these people there dwelt two Ullakupera men, one a Kumara named Irtaquirinia and the other a Purula named Yirapurtarinia, a Kumara man, both of whom are at the present time represented by living men, who are in fact simply regarded as their reincarnations.

Previous to the arrival of Ulpmarintha the two Ullakupera men had prepared a large Apulla, that is a special ground on which the rite of circumcision is performed, and on this they intended to operate on the Ulpmerka with the usual fire-stick. When, however, Ulpmurintha appeared upon the scene, the two men went to him and said, “How must we cut these Ulpmerka men?” and he replied, “You must cut them with Lalira.” They replied sorrowfully, “We have no Lalira but we

1 at the ceremony of circumcision. They were apparently not the only men who possessed stone knives, as the Echidna men are distinctly stated to have had them, and in the southern part of the tribe a woman of the frog totem is said to have possessed one. Probably we have in this tradition an indication of a time when a more primitive method of cutting was retained in connection with a sacred ceremony than was used in the case of the ordinary operations of life. 2 In the southern Arunta tradition

1 who had originated in the locality, but as he hid himself the Achilpa did not see him.

The next camping place was at a small hill on the Emily Plains on the top of which a stone arose to mark the spot; here they made Ampurtanurra, 2 that is a long series of ceremonies concerned with the Achilpa totem, and then they went on to Okirra-kulitha, a depression in the Macdonnell Range a little to the east of the Emily gap. They camped right on the top of the range, performed quabara undattha, and also the rite of Ariltha on some of their young men, and then went on eastwards for five or six miles to a hill called Irpai-chinga near to the Emily Creek and performed some more ceremonies. Here they noticed plenty of witchetty grubs, feeding on grass, but they did not interfere with them

1 Still travelling amongst the ranges, they camped at various places, at one of which, called Lilpuririka, which means running like a creek, the old men were again nourished with blood given to them by the young men. Leaving behind them an old Panunga man who was suffering from Erkincha, they travelled on to Ilartwiura, a waterhole on the Jay Creek, and erecting their Kauaua, they performed sacred ceremonies, a large rockhole now marking the spot where the Kauaua stood. Some more men developed Erkincha here. At their last stopping place amongst the ranges they stayed some little time, making Ampurtanurra and performing Ariltha, and then they crossed the most northerly of the rocky ridges amongst the Macdonnell Ranges, and came down on to the Burt Plain which stretches far away to the north. At Alpirakircha they found an old Kumara man of the Achilpa totem named Alpirakircharinia, who had originated there and had a very large Nurtunja which they had been able to see from the top of the last ridge which they had crossed. They performed Ariltha here upon a number of young men, including the local Achilpa man, and also made Engwura. Leaving the man in his camp, they went on to the west, away down the Burt Plain, and met two Achilpa women who had originated there. One was a Purula and the other a Kumara, and they had a Nurtunja which they hid away when they saw the Achilpa men coming. Without interfering with the women, the men camped and performed certain ceremonies, and then went on to Ungatha where a man was left behind named Ungutharinia. This man, like many of the party, was suffering from Erkincha; at the present day he is represented by a living descendant whose secret name is, of course, Ungatharinia.

Being now very tired the men went underground and

1 that he was forced to desist.

The party here made quabara undattha and changed its language to Achicha, which is a mixture of the Ilpirra and Kaitish tongues. Turning round they looked back upon their tracks and all said “We have come very far.”

Leaving here they passed Parachinta, without seeing the Ullakupera and Quirra people who dwelt there, and camped at Appulya, north of Parachinta, and close by here saw an old Bulthara man of the Irritcha (eagle hawk) totem, who was out hunting and so had not got his Nurtunja with him, but when he saw the Achilpa men he ran back to his own country. Ariltha was performed upon some of the young men, and an Engwura was made. Then they went on to Arrarakwa, on Woodeforde Creek, where they found a

1 Here they paused and, presumably from the summit from which a very extensive view is to be obtained, looked back to see their tracks and a row of stones arose and still

1 These women had a Nurtunja and sacred ceremonies which they showed to the Achilpa men. The old leader of the latter had intercourse with a great number of the women, many of the younger ones dying in consequence. The Urliara, that is the fully initiated men who had been through the Engwura, were also allowed access to them. Leaving behind several men of the Kumara and Purula classes the men, being ashamed of their excesses, started before daylight and travelled on to Irpungarthra, a water-hole on a creek running northwards. Here they camped and found a Purula woman of the Arawa totem. She had no Nurtunja but was in possession of several wooden Churinga which she hid away on the approach of the party. Here they made quabara undattha, which the woman was allowed to see, and afterwards Ariltha was performed upon some members of the party. Journeying on, they came to Al-lemma, a water-hole in one of the gorges which are often met with in this part of the country, and here they found a number of Kakwa (hawk) women and men who were all Purula and Kumara, and with whom they did not mix. They camped apart from them and then moved on to Ariltha, where they changed their language to the Ilpirra tongue and camped here for a long time, finding again a number of hawk men and women all of the same classes as before. Here the old leader caused his abnormal development to disappear and he became like an ordinary man, and then the travelling and resident groups mixed together. After the performance of Ariltha, a big Engwura was made, the women, as at the present day, making fur-string necklaces and armlets. Thence they went on to a place in the scrub not far from Lake

1 as we surely might expect to

Footnotes

387:* A folding map referring to this chapter is attached to the inside back cover of this book.

388:1 Though it is scarcely credible that there can be any tradition relating to a time so far past, yet it is a remarkable coincidence that this tradition reflects what geological evidence shows to have been the case, so far as the existence of a great inland sea is concerned.

388:2 In the Report of the Horn Expedition, vol. iv., p. 184, this word was written Inaperlwa, and translated “Echidna,” or “Native Porcupine.” The spelling and explanation now given are the correct ones.

390:1 The locality of the various places named is indicated on the maps.

394:1 This term is applied to a man who is especially learned in all matters appertaining to tribal customs and traditions; the term is never applied except to old men, and is regarded as a very high distinction.

394:2 In the southern Arunta tradition ascribes the introduction of a stone knife for this purpose to an old woman of the Unchichera or frog totem.

401:1 We have translated the word ura-ilyabara by the usual term fire-stick. In reality ilyabara means a piece of bark.

401:2 It is not perhaps without interest to note that even in savage tribes, such as those of Central Australia, we meet with evidence of the remarkable way in which ancient customs are preserved in connection with “sacred” rites. The retention of the fire-stick at circumcision after the use of stone implements was evidently known, finds its parallel in the retention of stone implements for the same operation after the use of iron was well known. Cf. Tylor, Early History of Mankind 3rd Edit., 1878, p. 217.

406:1 This is one of the very few cases in which the Alcheringa witchetty grubs were not Panunga or Bulthara.

406:2 Various totems have a name similar to this which is applied to a long series of ceremonies concerned with that special totem. In the owl totem, for example, it is Latunpa.

412:1 This does not mean that they reasoned from a strictly medical point of view; their idea in a case of this kind is that a man suffering from Erkincha conveys a magic evil influence, which they call Arungquiltha, to the women, and by this means it is conveyed, as a punishment, to other men.

413:1 This is a loud sound made by shouting au-au-au repeatedly, while the hand is held with the fingers slightly bent, and the palm towards the face, and moved rapidly backwards and forwards upon the wrist in front of the mouth. It is frequently used by the natives to attract the attention of any one at a distance. During the Engwura ceremony, for example, it was the signal used to call up the men who had been away from the ground while the ceremony was being prepared.

415:1 The natives of this part of the country are noted for the large pitchis, or wooden troughs, which they make out of the wood of the bean tree (Erythrina vespertilio).

416:1 Ilalpurinja means “the changed one.”

419:1 That is in connection with those groups with whom the various wandering parties came in contact. The members of all wandering parties appear to have had intercourse more or less freely with women of other totems.