Book contents
- Frontmatter
- PREFACE
- Contents
- ERRATUM
- LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
- CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION
- CHAPTER II THE SOCIAL ORGANISATION OF THE TRIBES
- CHAPTER III CERTAIN CEREMONIES CONCERNED WITH MARRIAGE, TOGETHER WITH A DISCUSSION REGARDING THE SAME
- CHAPTER IV THE TOTEMS
- CHAPTER V THE CHURINGA OR BULL ROARERS OF THE ARUNTA AND OTHER TRIBES
- CHAPTER VI INTICHIUMA CEREMONIES
- CHAPTER VII INITIATION CEREMONIES
- CHAPTER VIII INITIATION CEREMONIES (continued)—THE ENGWURA CEREMONY
- CHAPTER IX INITIATION CEREMONIES (continued)—THE ENGWURA CEREMONY (concluded)
- CHAPTER X TRADITIONS DEALING WITH THE ORIGIN OF THE ALCHERINGA ANCESTORS OF THE ARUNTA TRIBE AND WITH PARTICULAR CUSTOMS
- CHAPTER XI TRADITIONS DEALING WITH THE ORIGIN OF THE ALCHERINGA ANCESTORS OF THE ARUNTA TRIBE AND WITH PARTICULAR CUSTOMS (continued)
- CHAPTER XII CUSTOMS CONCERNED WITH KNOCKING OUT OF TEETH; NOSE-BORING; GROWTH OF BREASTS; BLOOD BLOOD-LETTING, BLOOD-GIVING, BLOOD-DRINKING; HAIR; CHILDBIRTH; FOOD RESTRICTIONS; CANNIBALISM
- CHAPTER XIII THE CUSTOMS OF KURDAITCHA AND ILLAPURINJA AND THE AVENGING PARTY OR ATNINGA
- CHAPTER XIV CUSTOMS RELATING TO BURIAL AND MOURNING
- CHAPTER XV THE IRUNTARINIA AND ARUMBURINGA, OR SPIRIT INDIVIDUALS
- CHAPTER XVI THE MAKING AND THE POWERS OF MEDICINE MEN; VARIOUS FORMS OF MAGIC
- CHAPTER XVII METHODS OF OBTAINING WIVES
- CHAPTER XVIII MYTHS RELATING TO SUN, MOON, ECLIPSES, ETC
- CHAPTER XIX CLOTHING, WEAPONS, IMPLEMENTS, DECORATIVE ART
- APPENDIX A THE NAMES OF THE NATIVES
- APPENDIX B THE WILYARU CEREMONY OF THE URABUNNA TRIBE, TOGETHER WITH REFERENCES TO MR. GASON'S ACCOUNT OF THE DIERI (DIEYERIE) TRIBE
- APPENDIX C TABLE OF THE MEASUREMENTS OF TWENTY MALES AND TEN FEMALES
- GLOSSARY OF NATIVE TERMS USED
- INDEX
- Plate section
CHAPTER V - THE CHURINGA OR BULL ROARERS OF THE ARUNTA AND OTHER TRIBES
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 05 July 2011
- Frontmatter
- PREFACE
- Contents
- ERRATUM
- LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
- CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION
- CHAPTER II THE SOCIAL ORGANISATION OF THE TRIBES
- CHAPTER III CERTAIN CEREMONIES CONCERNED WITH MARRIAGE, TOGETHER WITH A DISCUSSION REGARDING THE SAME
- CHAPTER IV THE TOTEMS
- CHAPTER V THE CHURINGA OR BULL ROARERS OF THE ARUNTA AND OTHER TRIBES
- CHAPTER VI INTICHIUMA CEREMONIES
- CHAPTER VII INITIATION CEREMONIES
- CHAPTER VIII INITIATION CEREMONIES (continued)—THE ENGWURA CEREMONY
- CHAPTER IX INITIATION CEREMONIES (continued)—THE ENGWURA CEREMONY (concluded)
- CHAPTER X TRADITIONS DEALING WITH THE ORIGIN OF THE ALCHERINGA ANCESTORS OF THE ARUNTA TRIBE AND WITH PARTICULAR CUSTOMS
- CHAPTER XI TRADITIONS DEALING WITH THE ORIGIN OF THE ALCHERINGA ANCESTORS OF THE ARUNTA TRIBE AND WITH PARTICULAR CUSTOMS (continued)
- CHAPTER XII CUSTOMS CONCERNED WITH KNOCKING OUT OF TEETH; NOSE-BORING; GROWTH OF BREASTS; BLOOD BLOOD-LETTING, BLOOD-GIVING, BLOOD-DRINKING; HAIR; CHILDBIRTH; FOOD RESTRICTIONS; CANNIBALISM
- CHAPTER XIII THE CUSTOMS OF KURDAITCHA AND ILLAPURINJA AND THE AVENGING PARTY OR ATNINGA
- CHAPTER XIV CUSTOMS RELATING TO BURIAL AND MOURNING
- CHAPTER XV THE IRUNTARINIA AND ARUMBURINGA, OR SPIRIT INDIVIDUALS
- CHAPTER XVI THE MAKING AND THE POWERS OF MEDICINE MEN; VARIOUS FORMS OF MAGIC
- CHAPTER XVII METHODS OF OBTAINING WIVES
- CHAPTER XVIII MYTHS RELATING TO SUN, MOON, ECLIPSES, ETC
- CHAPTER XIX CLOTHING, WEAPONS, IMPLEMENTS, DECORATIVE ART
- APPENDIX A THE NAMES OF THE NATIVES
- APPENDIX B THE WILYARU CEREMONY OF THE URABUNNA TRIBE, TOGETHER WITH REFERENCES TO MR. GASON'S ACCOUNT OF THE DIERI (DIEYERIE) TRIBE
- APPENDIX C TABLE OF THE MEASUREMENTS OF TWENTY MALES AND TEN FEMALES
- GLOSSARY OF NATIVE TERMS USED
- INDEX
- Plate section
Summary
Churinga is the name given by the Arunta natives to certain sacred objects which, on penalty of death or very severe punishment, such as blinding by means of a fire-stick, are never allowed to be seen by women or uninitiated men. The term is applied, as we shall see later, to various objects associated with the totems, but of these the greater number belong to that class of rounded, oval or elongate, flattened stones and slabs of wood of very various sizes, to the smaller ones of which the name of bull-roarer is commonly applied.
The importance and use of these in various ceremonies such as those attendant upon initiation of the young men, was first shown in Australia by Messrs. Howitt and Fison, and since then they have been repeatedly referred to by other writers.
Amongst the aborigines of the Centre, as indeed everywhere else where they are found, considerable mystery is attached to their use–a mystery which has probably had a large part of its origin in the desire of the men to impress the women of the tribe with an idea of the supremacy and superior power of the male sex. From time immemorial myths and superstitions have grown up around them, until now it is difficult to say how far each individual believes in what, if the expression may be allowed, he must know to be more or less of a fraud, but in which he implicitly thinks that the other natives believe.
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- Native Tribes of Central Australia , pp. 128 - 166Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2010First published in: 1899