If work permits, the mother often sits on the ground and lays her offspring across her lap; by lifting her thighs towards her body, she forms a trough, in which the babe lies most comfortably.
On the north coast one might occasionally see a gin swinging her babe upon an aerial root or branch of a tree, or upon the flexible stalk of a tropical climbing plant.
PLATE 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 known as “elenba.” Note charcoal rubbed over the foreheads.
CHAPTER XI
CHILDHOOD
Much freedom given to children—Entertained and amused by parents—Taught songs and dances—Drawing tracks in the sand—Importance of learning to track—Playing with sand, mud, and water—Sliding and mud-balling—Tobogganing—Tree-climbing practice—Chasing wind-driven objects—Spearing moving targets—“Hand-ball”—“Catch-ball”—“Tip-cat”—Throwing contests—“Hide and Seek”—Toys—Playing at “Father and Mother”—“Dolls”—Fireless cooking—Toy throwing-sticks—Sham-fights and hunts—Emu game—Toy boomerang—Toy raft—The “Kukerra”—Spinning tops—“Cratch-cradle”—Children rarely attend ceremonies—Discipline and obedience—Girls trained by mothers—Boys taught how to make and use weapons—Girls’ stick practices—Spartan principles—Animal and bird pets.
So soon as the child is able to walk and run, independently of its mother, it is allowed every freedom, but never far away from the watchful eye of its parent; quite occasionally, however, one might meet with a toddler roaming about the bush all alone, and miles away from the main camp. Recently we saw a little chap near Running Waters on the Finke River, who would wander away from camp and spend days alone in the sandhills. The only nourishment he could find during his absence was a handful of small bulbs, which grew along the sandy banks of the Finke. It must be mentioned that this little fellow was an orphan, and nobody seemed to take much notice of his absence for the first day or so, after which a near relative would set out, pick up the wanderer’s track, and bring him back to camp.