One of the favourite pastimes of young and old among the Kukata is to play at “emu.” The players take a stick, about three feet long, and tie a bundle of grass, brushwood, or feathers to one end of it, to represent the neck and the head. The performer clasps this stick with both hands and holds it erect in front of him; then he bends his body forwards from the hips, whilst other persons cover him with skins, and tie a tussock of grass over his stern to indicate the tail. The actor next begins to walk around, as truly as possible imitating the actions of the bird he is representing. As he walks, he nods his “head,” while some of the children scamper round him in great excitement, others flee from him shrieking with terror. After a while he stops short, turns his head and shakes his body, finally running away in a zig-zag course. As he runs, he frequently imitates the peculiar deep note of the old emu and occasionally the shrill whistling cry of the young. A most amusing little incident, which I saw in connection with this game, happened near Mount Eba. A man, fully rigged as an emu, was entertaining the camp with some very clever, bird-like antics, when suddenly a vicious mongrel darted at the performer from a wurlie he was passing. The “emu,” without any deliberation at all, dropped its head, scampered across the ground, hotly pursued by the dog, and, in its terror, climbed the nearest tree.
The King Sound men construct miniature “kaili,” barely an inch in length, and practically straight, which they project, before the admiring eyes of their juvenile audience, by using their fingers only. The little toy is held between the second and third phalanges of the left index finger, so that a good half of its length projects above the hand. The inner tip of the right index finger is pressed strongly against the outer surface of the left thumb and suddenly allowed to slip over the top edge and strike the projecting part of the toy. The little slab of wood is jerked into the air, whirls through space in a parabolic curve, and, when well managed, returns to the hand of the projector. The children often try this feat, but, with the exception of a rare fluke, never succeed; in fact, it is not every adult man who can do it.
On Sunday Island, small models of the raft (“kaloa”), locally used, are made for the children to play with. These toys are exact replicas of the craft described in a subsequent chapter and are neatly constructed in every detail.
A kind of dart is made by the children in the Northern Kimberleys of Western Australia out of the root ends of grass seed-stalks, six to eight inches long. These are held, one at a time, between the palms of the hands parallel to, and between, the middle fingers, beyond which they project but a fraction of an inch. In this position the hands are turned so that the fingers point towards the body. Then taking careful aim at an object, the child throws its hands vigorously forwards, at the same instant opening them and shooting the dart in the desired direction.
Among the Dieri, Yantowannta, and Ngameni, principally, and to a less extent among the Arunndta, Aluridja, and Kukata, a playing stick is found which is commonly known by the name of “kukerra.” Although a toy, the men only were observed to use it, not only to amuse the children, but for the benefit of the whole camp. The kukerra is a slender, club-shaped stick made out of the Mulga. Its length is about three feet six inches, of which the thickened end occupies something like nine inches; the head, i.e. the swollen portion, is up to an inch or slightly more in diameter, whilst the “stick” is not thicker than an ordinary lead pencil; each end terminates in a blunt point. The Dieri kukerras are lighter and more slender than the Arunndta or Aluridja. The playing stick is seized at its thin end and, swinging it with a straight arm, it is made to strike a bush or tussock in front of the thrower; whence it bounds through the air in an inclined position, and, after striking the ground, glides along the surface in a snake-like manner.
Natives are fond of spinning any suitable objects which fall into their hands; small pebbles, gall-nuts, and the larger varieties of conical and bell-shaped eucalyptus fruits are all made to spin upon a level surface just to amuse the children. The Yantowannta, Wongkanguru, and other tribes of the Cooper Creek region are very clever at moulding tops out of clay, with real pegs, upon which the toys revolve. These tops are undoubtedly an indigenous invention. The spinning is usually accomplished by rubbing the toy between the palms of both hands.
Skipping is indulged in by little boys and girls alike. A long vine is used by the Wogaits on the Daly River, which is swung to and fro like a pendulum by two of the players, whilst others jump over the line as it passes beneath them. The “rope” is not swung overhead.
At Engoordina, Arunndta children and women were noticed to entertain the tribe by artful tricks with an endless piece of string. By an intricate method of inter-looping and threading, a long cord, tied together at its ends, so as to form a complete ring, is transformed into different patterns of squares, triangles, and circles, the composite groups of which are intended to represent different natural objects. The string is held at different points, according to the complexity of the design, by the fingers, toes, and mouth of the performer; occasionally, indeed, the services of an assistant are required to support the pattern whilst it is being constructed. The more elaborate articles when completed resemble a loosely netted or knitted fabric, the plainer are more after the style of a few loops or meshes lightly held together. Some of the designs bear a recognizable resemblance to the objects they are intended to represent (e.g. birds, animals, men, etc.), others appear to be (to the European at any rate) rather far-fetched. Very often a complicated-looking design can be instantly reduced to the original piece of string by simply pulling one of its component loops or ends.
Dr. W. E. Roth has very ably described a series of such figures, made with one or two endless strings, which he found to be commonly constructed throughout north Queensland, where the tribes play a game resembling the European “cratch-cradle.”
Children are not allowed to attend many tribal ceremonies; consequently one does not often see them with their bodies decorated or ornamented. There are occasions, however, when their presence is tolerated, such as, for instance, at receptions to relatives who are returning from a fight or long hunting expedition. White earth or kaolin is invariably used for beautifying the appearance, it being maintained that it is unwise to apply much red, the token of blood, to the body of one who has not sacrificed some of his blood during the course of such ceremonies as will elevate him to the status of the tribe’s manhood. The kaolin is applied in the form of a thick paste in a series of thin lines. On Sunday Island these lines pass from the centre of the shoulder, on either side, diagonally to and along the breast-bone; and horizontally across the thighs and forearms. The face has a smear of white straight down the nose, and two semi-circular lines, which enclose the mouth and converge to a point opposite the ear on either side. The child in addition wears a belt of twisted human hair-string, from which pends a pearl shell ornament; it might also carry a plume of white cockatoo feathers in its hair. There are slight variations in the patterns and designs chosen for child-decoration both in the same tribal group and among different tribes, but no matter what part of Australia is considered, the effect completed is decidedly less elaborate than the complex and ornate colour schemes seen in the ceremonial displays of performing men. The children take no active part in such proceedings, but usually walk or stand about at points where they do not interfere with the proceedings in general. There is no objection to the child carrying one of the boomerangs of its father, but under no conditions is it permitted to handle a spear-thrower.