Page:Cyclopedia of Western Australia, volume 1.pdf/77

relation. Among the southern tribes of Western Australia, as among the tribes in the Eastern States, the totem descends from mother to child, but among those of the north and north-west it descends from father to child. Among the eastern tribes, though a man may kill and eat the totems of others he must not do so as regards his own. This, however, does not hold throughout the whole of Western Australia. In some parts a man may kill and eat his own totem, but in these cases the connection between the kin and the totem lies in its religious or magical significance. The individuals of a particular totem are alone permitted to perform those ceremonies without which the supply of that particular object would fail. The kangaroo totem men are responsible for a sufficient supply of that animal, and in the same way the rain totem men can alone prevent a drought.

The occurrence of the totem among the aborigines of Australia was first noticed by Grey, who pointed out that each family adopts as its crest or sign, which it calls kobong, some animal or vegetable. At the same time he drew attention to the fact that a similar custom prevailed among some of the North American Indians. The aboriginal term for "totem" varies in different localities, and according to Mrs. Bates the totem of a child among the southern tribes is bestowed upon it by reason of some particular circumstance connected with or attendant upon its birth, and does not follow any general law.

The curious aboriginal custom of the Too-ah—the mutual avoidance of each other by mother-in-law and son-in-law—seems to be fairly general throughout the State. The husband is not allowed to speak to or even look at his wife's mother. Neither may he enter her house or eat food prepared by that lady; on her part she must preserve the same strict attitude toward her son-in-law. The men, as Mrs. Bates tells us, believe that infringement of the law will cause them to become bald, while the mother-in-law will go grey if she happens to speak to her daughter's husband.

Measured by the standard of theological definition, the natives (who, as Governor Hutt said, from the cradle to grave feared neither God nor devil) cannot be said to possess any religion; but if we take Dr. Durckheim's contention that religion consists of obligatory beliefs connected with obligatory acts, then we must allow the Australian aborigines the possession of something in the nature of a religions sense. They have, however, no belief in a Supreme Being, either as Creator or as One to whom they are responsible for their acts. We do find such words as Piama and Mamangurra used, but these signify the common ancestor of the race, and do not, so far as is known, relate to the Diety. Whatever religious sense they possess must be looked for in their superstitions and in their various rites and ceremonies. Like those of the Eastern States, the aborigines of Western Australia are steeped in superstitions. Every evil or misfortune, whether personal or communal (as epidemic, drought, or want of food supply), they attribute to the action of malevolent spirits. These spirits have the forms of men or animals, are human in their methods, but have nothing sacred about them except their supernatural powers. Their functions are exercised by sorcery and magic, and their effects are overcome by the same means. Some of these spirits are considered to be coeval with the tribe itself, while others are looked upon as the spirits of departed enemies. The only conception of a good spirit is that of some tribal ancestor who may endeavour to help them by causing supplies of food to be plentiful.

The native sorcerers or boolyas are always objects of mysterious dread, and are believed to have the power of becoming invisible to all except other boolyas, and to be able to transport themselves through the air. Sickness and disease are the result of their hostility to a native, and can be cured only by disenchantment on the part of another boolya. Death is due to their evil influence. In the case of murder it is avenged on the murderer or some near relative; in the case of accident or disease upon some connection of the boolyas, who are deemed responsible for the occurrence. Another evil spirit is the Waugul of the south or Kajoorda of the north, a sort of fresh-water serpent, which is endowed with power to consume natives. It generally restricts itself to women, and its operation is shown by the fact that the victim gradually pines away until death happens.

There is among the natives a belief in the survival of the spirit after death. The native is supposed to go to a country beyond the sea, and his spirit, which has the power of returning until such time as the flesh has fallen away from the bones, is called Kaanya or Janga. Among the southern aborigines this country is reached through the caves, where there stands a spirit sentinel who requires of each an expressed wish to reach that abode, failing which he cannot pass. In the north the country is situated among the islands off the coast. Various places called Winytch exist in the southern districts which are held sacred to Kaanya or Janga, and near which a native positively declines to go. To the wandering at large of these spirits is due the intense fear of travelling at night and the dislike of even leaving the camp-fire for wood or water. The south-western natives have also a deep respect for pieces of crystal, which they call teyl. These are held by the sorcerers, and no unqualified native would touch them, while the greatest precautions are taken to prevent the women seeing them.

Among the most interesting of the aboriginal superstitious ceremonies are those connected with death and