KNOCKING OUT OF TEETH

This is a rite to which individuals of both sexes must sooner or later submit, if they happen to belong to one or other of the various groups which inhabit what is called the Kartwia Quatcha, or rain country, which lies in the north-east of the area of the country occupied by the Arunta tribe. It is evident that the rite is one the significance of which, so far as this tribe is concerned, has undergone very considerable change in course of time. As a general rule it is performed before marriage, but not always, and when not done at an early age, the natives give as a reason that the boy or girl was too frightened, an excuse which would not gain a minute's delay if the ceremony were one concerned with initiation, and that such should be made shows that the ceremony is not one to which any very great importance is now attached

The operation always takes place after the Water Intichiuma ceremony has been performed, and in the case of a fully-grown man, it is performed on the Intichiuma ground.