| Frontispiece (in colour)—The Buffalo Hunters’ Triumph | ||
| Plate | Opposite Page |
|
| I | Wordaman natives on the march | 4 |
| II | Comparison of European with Aboriginal figure | 12 |
| III | 1. Colossal brow-ridge, Arunndta man. 2. Supra-orbital prominence, deep notch at root of nose, prognathism, and female beard | 16 |
| IV | 1. Aluridja woman. 2. Wongapitcha warrior, so-called Semitic type | 32 |
| V | Wordaman man, profile and full-face | 36 |
| VI | 1. Wongapitcha woman, wearing “ungwaina” (nose-stick) and fur-string bandeau. 2. Wongapitcha woman, wearing bloodwood seed pendants called “dindula” | 44 |
| VII | 1. Old Yantowannta man, showing a strong growth of hair covering the body. 2. Old Yantowannta man, showing peculiar method of wearing the beard | 48 |
| VIII | Old Kai-Kai, the leading medicine man of the western Arunndta | 64 |
| IX | 1. Men of Kolaia tribe, Cambridge Gulf, wearing the hair tied at the back around a pad of emu feathers. 2. Wongapitcha men wearing ornamental wooden hair-pins | 68 |
| X | 1. A juvenile “blonde,” Aluridja tribe. 2. Ponga-Ponga gin carrying pet opossum on her head while on the march | 76 |
| XI | Rocking a child to sleep, Sunday Island | 80 |
| XII | Juvenile Types. 1. Full-face, female, Wongkanguru tribe. 2. Profile, female, Aluridja tribe | 96 |
| XIII | 1. The game of “gorri,” Humbert River, Northern Territory. 2. A “Kutturu” duel, Aluridja tribe | 100 |
| XIV | 1. Arunndta boy practising with toy shield and boomerang. 2. Wordaman warrior, holding prevalent north-western type of spear-thrower and wearing pubic fur tassel | 108 |
| XV | 1. Framework of hut in course of construction, Cooper’s Creek, S.W. Queensland. 2. Hut decked with porcupine grass, Arltunga district | 112 |
| XVI | 1. Wongapitcha women carrying dogs across their backs. 2. Kolaia man standing in the characteristic bird-like attitude, Cambridge Gulf | 128 |
| XVII | Female wood-carriers, Aluridja tribe | 132 |
| XVIII | Two handfuls of witchedy grubs | 140 |
| XIX | 1. Aluridja tree-climber. 2. Wordaman tree-climber | 144 |
| XX | Kangaroo hunters, Aluridja tribe | 160 |
| XXI | 1. Arunndta girl digging “Yelka.” 2. Arunndta gin cleaning “Yelka” in bark pitchi | 164 |
| XXII | 1. Sunday Islander making fire by the twirling process during a ceremonial. 2. “Kaloa” or mangrove raft, Worora tribe, Glenelg River district | 172 |
| XXIII | Aluridja men “pointing” the bone | 176 |
| XXIV | A “boned” man, Minning tribe | 192 |
| XXV | 1. Dieri grave, Lake Eyre district. 2. Yantowannta grave, Innamincka district | 196 |
| XXVI | 1. Aluridja widow. 2. Yantowannta widow | 204 |
| XXVII | Tooth-rapping ceremony, Wongapitcha tribe | 208 |
| XXVIII | 1. Tooth-rapping ceremony. 2. Sunday Islander, who has had the two upper medium incisors removed during his initiation | 224 |
| XXIX | 1. Old men introducing a dance during an initiation ceremony, Kukata tribe. 2. Circumcision ceremony, Kukata tribe | 228 |
| XXX | Circumcision of a Wogait boy | 236 |
| XXXI | Melville Islander, full-face and profile | 240 |
| XXXII | An episode of the great fire ceremony, Kolaia tribe | 256 |
| XXXIII | Ceremonial venesection, Arunndta tribe. 1. The median basilic vein is being slit. 2. The blood which is spurting from the incision is being collected on a shield | 260 |
| XXXIV | The “Tjilbakuta” of the great emu ceremony, Arunndta tribe | 268 |
| XXXV | Flashlight photograph of “Illiya Tjuringa” or great emu ceremony, Arunndta tribe | 272 |
| XXXVI | 1. An ordinary performer in the Ladjia or yam ceremony, wearing the “tdela” head-gear. 2. The impersonator of the “Kuta Knaninja” in the Ladjia or yam ceremony | 288 |
| XXXVII | The sacred “Etominja,” Arunndta tribe | 292 |
| XXXVIII | 1. Singing to the presiding spirit or Knaninja of the old women or “Arrekutja Tjuringa.” 2. Ceremonial head-gear (“Tjilba Purra”) of phallic significance | 300 |
| XXXIX | A disenchanted area, Victoria River district | 304 |
| XL | 1. Rock-carving of human form, Port Hedland. 2. Rock-carvings of lizard, pubic tassel, and owl, Flinders Ranges | 320 |
| XLI | 1. Rock-carvings (including platypus design), Flinders Ranges. 2. Rock-carvings, Flinders Ranges | 324 |
| XLII | 1. Rock-carvings, Flinders Ranges. 2. Emu design carved into the butt of a boabab tree, King Sound | 332 |
| XLIII | 1. Carved boabab nut, King Sound. 2. “Wanningi” from north-western Australia. 3. Slate scrapers used by the extinct Adelaide tribe for trimming skins | 336 |
| XLIV | 1. Hand marks in cave, Port George IV, Worora tribe. 2. Foot marks in cave, Port George IV, Worora tribe | 344 |
| XLV | 1. Cave drawings, Forrest River, north-western Australia. 2. Decorating the body with pipe-clay, Humbert River, Northern Territory | 352 |
| XLVI | Wordaman native with his body and head decorated in imitation of skeleton and skull, Victoria River, Northern Territory | 356 |
| XLVII | 1. Cave drawings (kangaroo, etc.), Forrest River, north-western Australia. 2. Cave drawing of kangaroo, Forrest River, north-western Australia | 360 |
| XLVIII | Rock-drawings of archer fish (Toxotes), Katherine River, Northern Territory | 364 |
| XLIX | Ochre-drawings, Katherine River | 368 |
| L | 1. Cave drawing of camel, north of Musgrave Ranges, central Australia. 2. Cave drawing of human figure, Glenelg River, north-western Australia | 376 |
| LI | 1. Ochre-drawings of mythic semi-human creatures, Forrest River, north-western Australia. 2. Sacred “Utnguringita” or witchedy grub drawings, Emily Gap, MacDonnell Ranges | 384 |
| LII | Aluridja man rendering a musical accompaniment with boomerangs | 388 |
| LIII | Wordaman youth playing on the “drone pipe” or “bamboo trumpet” | 392 |
| LIV | 1. Making “vegetable down” by pounding grass between two stones, Humbert River, Northern Territory. 2. Worora native making a stone spear-head, Northern Kimberleys, Western Australia | 396 |
| LV | 1. Wongapitcha man shaping a spear-thrower with an adze. 2. Aluridja man scraping a boomerang with a sharp stone flake | 400 |
About This Book
The book compiles extensive field observations from numerous expeditions across central and northern Australia into a systematic account of Indigenous peoples, combining physical and anthropological description with accounts of tribal organization, initiation rites, and religious beliefs. It examines ancestor worship, phallic and totemic cults, and the role of tjuringa and other ritual objects, and considers the evolution of artistic techniques and designs. Illustrated with many plates and field notes, the study maps regional variations in cults and material culture and discusses research methods and museum comparisons.