Ngadlu tampinthi ngadlu Kaurna Miyurna yartangka. Munaintya puru purruna ngadlu-itya. Munaintyanangku yalaka tarrkarriana tuntarri.

We acknowledge we are on Kaurna Miyurna land. The Dreaming is still living. From the past, in the present, into the future, forever.

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'Aborigines of South Australia'

Archive Collections / Pam Giles / Series SAMA 1141/1 / 'Aborigines of South Australia'

A summary of the manuscript by page is as follows:

  1. Gives a description of his general observations of the native tribes of Australia, their nomadic lifestyle and the general terrain. Weapons: spear, woomera, boomerang

  2. Number of tribes, boundaries effecting everyday life - modes of fighting and implements used: wrecked Brig Maria, Milinenrura tribe, Major O'Halloran, Port Lincoln, Talia Station, Venus Bay, Mr Brown, Kanyaka Plain

  3. Modes of fighting - using a champion (representative) of each tribe to fight with weapons made from kangaroo bones: Cowrie shells, King John (Australian Aboriginal man), syphilis, Noarlunga, Yorkes Peninsular, Lake Alfred, funeral groups, Myopirum Giganteum, Paris Exhibition

  4. Observations of the wreck of the Maria on 90 mile beach - the Coorong: infanticide, Jewish patriarchs, Multa, betrothal, bigamy, kangaroo incisors, cartilage of nose, ochre

  5. Difficulty enacting English law as punishment when natives are non-English speaking. Traditional funereal practice on death of a Chief: Encounter Bay, King John (Australian Aboriginal man), Rodney (Australian Aboriginal man), ceremonial dance, kaolin, fire transmitted messages, Mount Searle, Sgt McDonald,

  6. Death of King John - Chief of an Adelaide tribe - buried in traditional method used by southern tribes: kangaroo, food sources, fishing nets, Poltallac Station, calgoonowrie

  7. Natives of Lake Albert - tree burials - using Myopirum Giganteum

  8. Above-ground burial, south bank of the River Murray - for three children & mourning ritual. Birth of twins and population control

  9. Longevity in Australian natives - The general physical appearance of men and women. Tribal modes of choosing a wife - feasting and dancing celebrations. Betrothal, bigamy and interaction between wife number one and wife number two. A young man's indication of intention to wed

  10. Tradition of stalking and stealing a woman from another tribe for betrothal - a practice generally reciprocated and accepted. Description of ceremony held when two friendly tribes meet

  11. Meeting of Encounter Bay tribe and the Adelaide tribe and ceremony held, including dances, chanting by women and general music, use of white porcelain clay (kaolin) on dancers bodies

  12. Use of fire for communication and transmitting messages over several hundred miles. The details conveyed were impressive including the number of men, bullocks and drays on the road and the general stature of the men. The suspicion and fear experienced on seeing a white man for the first time

  13. Mode of taking a kangaroo - types of kangaroo and their habitats. Wallabies - the smoking out of rock wallabies. Hunting down of bush wallabies. The taking of parrots and birds and the use of diving to obtain tortoises. Lizards and snakes, considered a delicacy and how snakes are caught and killed

  14. Method of taking wild fowl. Making of fine fishing nets in the Lower Murray using the rush called Calgoonowrie. How the nets are made using a system of smoking to toughen the fibre; Coopers Creek

  15. The process of making fishing nets involves native women chewing the fibre and men removing remaining coating and twisting it into lines for netting. Basket making from rushes. Making of bread in the far interior, from the seeds of the Acacia

  16. Vegetables used by the natives - tuber rooted plants, and native fruit sourced. Pooninde Training School at Port Lincoln, Trinity Church Adelaide

  17. Comment on the mysterious death of coloured races from southern hemisphere on the arrival of white man (including New Zealand and Tasmania). The understanding of good and evil - belief in a beneficient power. Evil agent known as Moldaivie (similar to our devil) responsible for evil deeds - stealing of pipes and tobacco, causing of ailments and suffering, and the ultimate cause of death: Kings Island

  18. No natural death - all deaths attributed to Moldaivie. A bat or owl believed to be an agent sent to spy on the sick and to relay messengers to Moldaivie. Their belief similar to christian resurrection

  19. Aboriginies of Australia - and their relation to biblical history and circumcision rituals

  20. Incisions on the skin of the body and use of ashes in mourning rituals

  21. Theory that the Aboriginals of Australia are of Jewish origin

  22. Quotations from the Bible relating to the dispersion of the Jewish people



Tindale Tribes: Kaurna; Tanganekald.

Creator: Pam Giles
Control: SAMA 1141/1/1
Date Range:  1860  -  1860
Quantity:    1   manuscript, 22 pages
Series:  SAMA 1141/1
Tindale Tribes:
Kaurna