The Australian aboriginal

by Herbert Basedow

All the time the men at the fire-side are beating time with their hands and simultaneously turn their heads from side to side, to all intents and purposes quite unconcerned about the Ngardaddi who is gradually crawling near to them. This is done to entice the thief nearer and lead him to believe that he is unobserved. All of a sudden, however, when the spirit is about to touch the fire and is in the act of snatching it from the tribesmen, one of the group on either side of the fire throws a handful of dry grass upon the smouldering heap. The flame responds immediately and casts a bright light all around.

Alarm is raised by the tribesmen by clapping their hands together violently. The spirit collapses and lies flat upon the ground at full length. Two or three of the men nearest by seize some of the burning grass and hit the prostrate figure over the head. The spirit jumps to his feet and treads the ground as if endeavouring to make his escape. Seeing this, the men at the fire rise quickly and treat their victim most unmercifully with bundles of burning grass and twigs. Eventually each of them seizes a fire-brand and digs the burning end deeply into the spirit’s back and the unfortunate fellow eventually decamps into the darkness amidst the bellowing whoops of his victors.

The air is fouled for some distance around by the smell of the burned skin, reminding one of the stench in a smithy when horses are being shod. The back of the spirit-impersonator is naturally severely scored by the cruel treatment it is subjected to, but the fellow takes it all in good faith and without flinching.

The object of the ceremony is twofold. Firstly all members of the community who are present, men, women, and children, are taught to appreciate the value of fire, and secondly it is believed that the exemplification of so harsh and drastic a treatment for attempted theft will tend to make abortive any schemes of the evil spirits.

The Arunndta are quite convinced in their own minds that in the days of their tribal fathers there was no water on the surface of the ground they occupied; their ancestors in those times were compelled to live on grass and succulent plants, no consideration being given to the fact, as we have learned, that the vegetation derives its moisture from outside sources. But it happened one day, when their forefathers were out hunting, that they met with a number of strange-looking men who were sitting around a pool of pure water from which they were drinking. At the sight of the men, the strangers fled, leaving the water behind. The hunters gave chase but all except one disappeared and he made for a cave in the hills. The hunters closed the mouth of the cave with a big stone and went back to the pool of water to quench their thirst, but when they reached the spot, the water had turned into a massive, round stone. The men made back to the cave and removed the obstruction, but imagine their surprise when they found the cave empty. Upon making a careful search, however, they discovered a long cylindrical stick which had some peculiar markings on it. They took the stick and walked once more towards the petrified pool, and, lo, they beheld the stranger they were looking for walking in the sky. When he saw the stick in the hands of the hunters, he took the form of a cloud, and as he bent his body towards the stick, his long matted hair fell forwards and from it water poured upon the earth beneath. The hunters drank freely of the precious fluid and when they looked skywards again the cloudman had vanished.

From that day onwards the Arunndta medicine men (“Nangarri”) have kept that spot sacred and taboo to the women and children; they call the big stone “Imbodna” which means “the hailstone.” The man who fled to the cave and then escaped from the hunters as a vapour they call “Nangali,” the name for a cloud. The tribe has never since been without water because Nangali left his magic wand in the hands of their ancient sorcerers and whenever the country was suffering from drought they could call upon him to appear in the sky and bring forth rain.

Nangali is one of a group of celestial beings who have been termed “Atoakwatje,” that is Water-Men; they are now looked upon as Demigods who control all terrestrial supplies of water from their abode in the clouds. The Atoakwatje are believed to have certain mysterious connections with some of the tribal sorcerers who in a sense parade on earth as their disciples and attend to the rain-making ceremonies through which they are able to commune with each other.

When the people are in need of water, the rain-makers assemble around the Imbodna and one or two of them produce the sacred stick, known to the Arunndta as “kwatje-purra,” literally meaning “the reproductive organ of water,” and to the Aluridja as “kapi-wiyinna.” Nowadays these sticks, which strictly speaking are of phallic significance, are flat and more like a tjuringa in shape, and have a number of peculiar markings on them. For a time the stick is laid beside the great water-stone, and the sorcerers kneel while they chant with a barely audible voice. They rise to their feet and the most influential individual who is decorated with stripes of yellow vegetable-down and wears a dog-tail tassel on his belt, lifts the stick towards the sky and continues mumbling. The other members kneel again and all present chat together. The man who is standing poises the stick horizontally between his hands and rocks it one way, then another; and this performance is frequently repeated.

When at length the principal performer sits down, the other men leave the spot and run in a single file towards the camp, loudly crying “kurreke ta ta” in imitation of the call of the spur-winged plover.

In the evening a general corroboree is indulged in; and all grown-up persons, male and female, are allowed to join in. Several refrains are forthcoming which are connected with ordinary rain or water festivals. The principal rainmaker does not attend but joins the camp again during the night. It appears that in the interim he has visited the sacred cave, in company of one or two of his brother-sorcerers, to hide the magic stick and preserve it for future use. Any representative of the Atoakwatje group inherits the power to fashion and use the rain-stick, but it is imperative that he learns the art under the direction of a senior and duly qualified nangarri.