p.1-3; Origins, arrival in Australia; p.4-9; How they lived - camp sites, dating (including carbon dating); p.10-27; Physical appearance, skin colour, hair, clothing, body ornaments, cicatrization; exchange system, distribution of food, marriage & sexual relations; the tribe - structure, relationship to land, territory, gives map showing locations of tribes, New South Wales, Victoria & eastern South Australia, leadership, government, division of labour, status of women, estimated population at white settlement, density of population (Victoria); p.28-31; Language - names & naming, reproduces Wembawemba vocabulary, notes use of secret languages, gives 12 rules for pronounciation; p.32-53; Religion, spirit beliefs, totemism, moieties, phratries, marriage rules; mythology, gives eaglehawk & crow myth from Lake Victoria & other myths illustrating origins of fire & natural rock formations, mythical beasts (Bunyip, Mindie), stellar beliefs; magic, medicine men, powers, native remedies for sickness, describes ceremony held in Melbourne, 1847 to avert evil, sorcery, pointing bone, love magic, rain makers; messengers, appearance, etiquette, message sticks; p.54-71; Rock art, motifs, colours, decorative art, engraving of utensils, rock engravings, manufacture & use of pigments, engraving techniques; trade system, objects bartered, meeting places for trade (Victoria), map shows possible routes (south east Australia); corroborees, purpose, body ornaments & decorations, musical instruments; p.72-93; Ceremonial life, marriage, punishment for infidelity, birth, childhood, games & amusements, initiation, etiquette of visiting tribes, details of ceremony, womens role, earth figures & ground designs, bull roarers, female puberty ceremonies; p.94-133; Shelters, fire making, cooking, construction of canoes, wooden implements, use of reeds, animal skins & sinews, shells; stone tools, cylindro conical stones, scrapers, knives & microliths; hunting weapons, spear, other methods pits, nets; fishing methods & spears, traps; food sharing, womens responsibilities for collecting, digging stick, cooking methods, insect foods, plant foods, water resources; manufacture & use of spears, spear throwers, shields, clubs, boomerangs; inter- & intratribal fighting; p.134-147; Death, disposal of body - eating of the dead, burial, cremation, platform exposure, dendroglyphs (N.S.W.), Aboriginal burial grounds (Darling & Murray Rivers), mourning, widowhood, kopi caps (N.S.W.), causes of death, inquest ceremonies, revenge expedition, after death beliefs; p.148-157; The end of the tribes white settlement & its impact on Aboriginal life, friction between natives & settlers, establishment of Protectorates; copiously illustrated throughout.
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