Difference between revisions of "AY Honors/Aboriginal Lore/Answer Key"

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:''For the town and rocket launch site, see [[Woomera, South Australia]].''
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'''Australian Aboriginal [[kinship]]''' refers to the system of [[law]] governing social interaction, particularly [[marriage]], in traditional Aboriginal culture. It is an integral part of the culture of every [[List of Indigenous Australian group names|Aboriginal group]] across Australia.  
−
:''For the Immigration Centre see [[Woomera Immigration Reception and Processing Centre]].''
 
  
−
[[Image:Aboriginal craft.jpg|thumb|250px|The '''woomera''' in this picture is the wooden object at left]]
+
The main element is the division of [[clan]]s within the same language group into ''skin groups'', or  [[moiety|moieties]]. In its simplest form, clans are divided into two skin groups. There may be four divisions (see [[Martu (Indigenous Australian)|Martu]]), while more complex systems can be divided into eight (see [[Pintupi]] and below).
−
A '''woomera''' is an [[Australian]] [[Indigenous Australians|Aboriginal]] [[spear]]-throwing device. It has been described as "the most efficient spear-throwing device ever"<ref>[http://www.abc.net.au/rn/science/ockham/stories/s11117.htm Graham Pearcey on ABC Radio National, 7 June 1988] </ref>. Similar to an [[atlatl]], it enables a spear to travel much further than arm strength alone. It is still used today in some remote areas of Australia. The name ''woomera'' comes from the [[Eora]] people who were the original inhabitants of the [[Sydney]] area. It has a similar function to the Native American [[atlatl]] but uses different construction methods and materials.
 
  
−
As with spears and [[boomerangs]], woomera were traditionally only used by men. Some woomeras, especially those used in the Central and Western [[Australia]]n [[desert]]s, were multi-purpose tools. They were often shaped like long narrow bowls and could be used for carrying water-soaked vegetable matter (which could later be sucked for its moisture, but wouldn't spill) as well as small food items such as little lizards or seeds. Many woomeras had a sharp stone cutting edge attached to the end of the handle with black gum from the [[spinifex]] plant. This sharp tool had many uses – and was commonly used for cutting up game or other food, cutting wood, and so on. The woomera could be used as a shield for protection against [[spears]] and [[boomerangs]]. Some boomerangs were deliberately made with a hook at one end designed to catch onto the edge of a woomera or shield, which then caused the boomerang to swivel around and hit the enemy.  
+
The system dictates who may [[marry]] whom – it is always [[taboo]] to marry into your own skin group – creating strong [[incest]] avoidance laws and strong bonds across [[clan]]s through [[exogamous]] relations. While it can be determined at birth who will marry whom, [[love marriage]]s were not uncommon, so long as they were within the skin system.  
  
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The woomera was traditionally decorated with incised or painted designs which gave a good indication of the owner's tribal or clan group.
+
This system is invaluable, especially during [[drought]] or lack of resources, having [[cousin]]s and skin sisters and brothers in other clans. It also creates obligations to care for those people in their time of need. Even in [[Marn Grook|traditional ball games]], teams were divided along these lines.
  
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In the [[Arrernte (linguistics)|Arrernte]] language the device is called a ''Amirre''.
+
Each skin group has certain [[totem]]s associated with it. Some Aboriginal groups, such as the [[Yolngu]], include plants, animals and all aspects of the environment, as part of their respective skin groups.
  
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{{unreferenced|date=October 2006}}
+
A person of the same skin group, of the same generation, is called "brother" or "sister". There are names for maternal aunts and uncles and different names for paternal aunts and uncles. Additionally, there are strong [[Australian Aboriginal avoidance relationships|avoidance relationships]] that need to be observed based on this system.
−
== External links ==
 
−
<references/>
 
−
* [http://www.questacon.edu.au/html/aboriginal_technology.html Aboriginal technology]
 
−
* [http://www.pinetreeweb.com/bp-beyond-anz-203-woomera.jpg A drawing of a woomera], from the book ''Boy Scouts Beyond the Seas: "My World Tour"'' by Sir [[Robert Baden-Powell]], 1913
 
  
−
{{australia-stub}}
+
==Some common kinship terms==
−
{{weapon-stub}}
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{{main|Australian Aboriginal English}}
  
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[[Category:Throwing weapons]]
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*''Aunty'' and ''uncle'' are used as terms of address for older people, to whom the speaker may not be related.
−
[[Category:Australian Aboriginal bushcraft]]
+
*''Brother'' and ''sister'' include close relatives of the same generation, not just siblings.
−
[[Category:Australian Aboriginal words and phrases]]
+
*''Cousin'' includes any relative of one's own generation.
 +
*The combinations ''cousin-brother'' and ''cousin-sister'' are used to refer to biological cousins.
 +
*In south-east Queensland, ''daughter'' is used to refer any woman of one's great-grandparents' generation. This is due to the cyclical nature of traditional kinship systems.
 +
*''Father'' and ''mother'' include any relative of one's parents' generation, such as uncles, aunts, and in-laws.
 +
*''Grandfather'' and ''grandmother'' can refer to anyone of one's grandparents' generation. ''Grandfather'' can also refer to any respected elderly man, to whom the speaker may not be related.
 +
*''Poison'' refers to a relation one is obligated to avoid. See ''[[Mother-in-law language]]''.
 +
*The term ''second'', or ''little bit'' in northern Australia, is used with a distant relative who is described using a close kinship term. For example, one's ''second fathers'' or ''little bit fathers'' are men of one's father's generation not closely related to the speaker. It is contrasted with ''close'', ''near'' or ''true''.
 +
*A ''skin'' or ''skin group'' are sections which are determined by the skin of a person's parents, and determine who a person is eligible to marry.
 +
*''Son'' can refer to any male of the next generation, such as nephews.
  
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[[de:Woomera (Waffe)]]
+
 
 +
The skin group classification is [[cyclical]] in nature, changing with each [[generation]]. Non-Aboriginal people are often confounded to hear Aborigines refer to their great-[[grandmother]] as their [[daughter]], or their great-[[grandaughter]] as their mother. They are actually referring to the fact that those relatives are in the same skin group, as well as acknowledging the cyclical nature of the system.
 +
 
 +
For traditional Aborigines, this system is a major foundation of their existence and way of viewing the world. As such, if a non-Aboriginal person is around their culture for any extended period, they must be [[adoption|adopted]]. This is not strictly adoption in the Western sense, but the assignation of a skin name so that individual has a skin group may interact with the group in the "proper way"; knowing whom to avoid, whom to call sister, etc.
 +
 
 +
Many Aboriginal groups, particularly in the southeast of Australia, have lost this knowledge due to their [[Stolen generation|forced removal]] to [[mission (station)|mission]]s and [[orphanage|children's homes]], where many language groups mixed with each other, and Aboriginal language and cultural practice was forbidden.
 +
 
 +
Below are a few examples of different kinship systems from across Australia:
 +
 
 +
==Systems with two skin groups==
 +
 
 +
===Pitjantjatjara===
 +
The [[Pitjantjatjara]] of northern [[South Australia]] have two [[moiety]] groups:
 +
 
 +
:'''''ngana nt arka''''' (lit. we-bone) 'our side'
 +
:'''''tjanamilytjan''''' (lit. they flesh) 'their side'
 +
 
 +
However, they do not use skin names.
 +
 
 +
===Yolŋu===
 +
For the [[Yolŋu]] of north-east [[Arnhem Land]], life is divided into two skin groups: ''Dhuwa'' and ''Yirritja''. Each of these is represented by people of a number of different groups, each with their own lands, languages and philosophies:
 +
 
 +
:::{| class="wikitable"
 +
|- bgcolor=#efefef
 +
! Skin name
 +
! Clan groups
 +
|-
 +
|'''''Yirritja'''''
 +
| Gumatj, Gupapuyngu, Wangurri, Ritharrngu, Mangalili,<br/>Munyuku, Madarrpa, Warramiri, Dhalwangu, Liyalanmirri.
 +
|-
 +
|'''''Dhuwa'''''
 +
|Rirratjingu, Galpu, Djambarrpuyngu, Golumala, Marrakulu,<br/>Marrangu, Djapu, Datiwuy, Ngaymil, Djarrwark.
 +
|}
 +
 
 +
A ''Yirritja'' person must always marry a ''Dhuwa'' person and vice versa. If a man or woman is ''Dhuwa'', their mother will be ''Yirritja''.
 +
 
 +
Kinship relations are also mapped onto the lands owned by the Yolngu through their [[hereditary]] [[Estate (law)|estates]] – so everything is either ''Yirritja'' or ''Dhuwa'' – every fish, stone, river, etc, belongs to one or the other [[moiety]].
 +
 
 +
==Systems with eight skin groups==
 +
 
 +
===Lardiil===
 +
The [[Lardiil]] of [[Mornington Island]] in the [[Gulf of Carpentaria]] have eight skin groups, shown here with some of their totems:
 +
{{sectstub}}
 +
::{| class="wikitable"
 +
|- bgcolor=#efefef
 +
!Male skin group
 +
!Totems
 +
!Can only marry<br/>female skin group
 +
!Children will be
 +
|-
 +
|Ngarrijbalangi
 +
|''Rainbird, shooting star,<br/>egret''
 +
|Burrarangi
 +
|Bangariny
 +
|-
 +
|Bangariny
 +
|''Brown hark, turtle''
 +
|Yakimarr
 +
|Ngarrijbalangi
 +
|-
 +
|Buranyi
 +
|''Crane, salt water, <br/>sleeping turtle''
 +
|Kangal
 +
|
 +
|-
 +
|Balyarriny
 +
|''Black tiger shark,<br/>sea turtle''
 +
|Kamarrangi
 +
|
 +
|-
 +
|Burrarangi
 +
|''Lightning, rough sea,<br/>black dingo''
 +
|Ngarrijbalangi
 +
|
 +
|-
 +
|Yakimarr
 +
|Seagull, barramundi,<br/>grey shark
 +
|Bangariny
 +
|
 +
|-
 +
|Kangal
 +
|''[[Barramundi]],<br/>grey shark''
 +
|Buranyi
 +
|
 +
|-
 +
|Kamarrangi
 +
|''Rock, pelican, [[brolga]],<br/>red dingo''
 +
|Balyarriny
 +
|
 +
|}
 +
 
 +
Each Lardiil person belongs to one of these groups. Their paternal [[grandfather]]'s skin group determines their own; so a Balyarriny man or woman will have a Balyarriny grandfather. A Ngarrijbalangi person can only marry a Burrarangi, a Bangariny a Yakimarr, a Buranyi a Kangal and a Balyarriny a Kamarrangi, and vice versa for each.
 +
 
 +
Once a person's skin group is known, their relationship to any other Lardiil can be determined. A Ngarrijbalangi is a 'father' to a Bangariny, a 'father-in-law' to a Yakimarr and a 'son' to another Bangariny, either in a social sense or purely through linearship.
 +
 
 +
===Pintupi===
 +
The [[Pintupi]] of the [[Western Desert (Australia)|Western Desert]] also have eight skin groups, made more complex by distinct prefixes for male and female skin names; "Tj" for males, "N" for females. The [[Warlpiri]] system is almost the same:
 +
 
 +
:::{| class="wikitable"
 +
|- bgcolor=#efefef
 +
!Gender
 +
!Skin name
 +
!First marriage</br> preference
 +
!Children will be
 +
|-
 +
|'''Male'''
 +
|Tjapaltjarri
 +
|Nakamarra
 +
|Tjungurrayi, Nungurrayi
 +
|-
 +
|'''Female'''
 +
|Napaltjarri
 +
|Tjakamarra
 +
|Tjupurrula, Napurrula
 +
|-
 +
|'''Male'''
 +
|Tjapangati
 +
|Nampitjinpa
 +
|Tjapanangka, Napanangka
 +
|-
 +
|'''Female'''
 +
|Napangati
 +
|Tjampitjinpa
 +
|Tjangala, Nangala
 +
|-
 +
|'''Male'''
 +
|Tjakamarra
 +
|Napaltjarri
 +
|Tjupurrula, Napurrula
 +
|-
 +
|'''Female'''
 +
|Nakamarra
 +
|Tjapaltjarri
 +
|Tjungurrayi, Nungurrayi
 +
|-
 +
|'''Male'''
 +
|Tjampitjinpa
 +
|Napangati
 +
|Tjangala, Nangala
 +
|-
 +
|'''Female'''
 +
|Nampitjinpa
 +
|Tjapangati
 +
|Tjapanangka, Napanangka
 +
|-
 +
|'''Male'''
 +
|Tjapanangka
 +
|Napurrula
 +
|Tjapangati, Napangati
 +
|-
 +
|'''Female'''
 +
|Napanangka
 +
|Tjupurrula
 +
|Tjakamarra, Nakamarra
 +
|-
 +
|'''Male'''
 +
|Tjungurrayi
 +
|Nangala
 +
|Tjapaltjarri, Napaltjarri
 +
|-
 +
|'''Female'''
 +
|Nungurrayi
 +
|Tjangala
 +
|Tampitjinpa, Nampitjinpa
 +
|-
 +
|'''Male'''
 +
|Tjupurrula
 +
|Napanangka
 +
|Tjakamarra, Nakamarra
 +
|-
 +
|'''Female'''
 +
|Napurrula
 +
|Tjapanangka
 +
|Tjapangati, Napangati
 +
|-
 +
|'''Male'''
 +
|Tjangala
 +
|Nungurrayi
 +
|Tjampitjinpa, Nampitjinpa
 +
|-
 +
|'''Female'''
 +
|Nangala
 +
|Tjungarayyi
 +
|Tjapaltjarri, Napaltjarri
 +
|}
 +
 
 +
Each person therefore has a [[patriline|patrimoiety]] and a [[matriline|matrimoiety]], a father's and a mother's skin group.
 +
 
 +
==See also==
 +
*[[Australian Aboriginal avoidance relationships]]
 +
*[[Australian Aboriginal English]]
 +
*[[List of Indigenous Australian group names]]
 +
*[[Noongar classification]]
 +
*[[Indigenous Australians]]
 +
*[[Warlpiri#kinship|Warlpiri kinship]]
 +
 
 +
==References==
 +
*Binnion, Joan (1979) ''The Lardil People of Mornington Island (Student Handbook)'', Aboriginal Community College, Port Adelaide.
 +
*Hansen, Kenneth C. and Lesley E. Hansen, 1979, ''Pintupi/Luritja kinship'', Alice Springs, NT, Institute for Aboriginal Development.
 +
*[http://ausanthrop.net/research/kinship/ Ausanthrop kinship tutorial]
 +
*[http://www.ausanthrop.net/research/kinship/kinship2.php Ausanthrop]
 +
*[http://www.clc.org.au/ourculture/kinship.asp Central Land Council]
 +
 
 +
[[Category:Australian Aboriginal culture|Kinship]]
 +
[[Category:Anthropology|Australian Aboriginal kinship]]
 +
[[Category:Sociology|Australian Aboriginal Kinship]]
 +
[[Category:Indigenous Australians|Kinship]]
 +
[[Category:Marriage|Australian Aboriginal Kinship]]
 +
[[Category:Australian Aboriginal words and phrases|Kinship]]

Revision as of 07:45, 15 April 2007

Australian Aboriginal kinship refers to the system of law governing social interaction, particularly marriage, in traditional Aboriginal culture. It is an integral part of the culture of every Aboriginal group across Australia.

The main element is the division of clans within the same language group into skin groups, or moieties. In its simplest form, clans are divided into two skin groups. There may be four divisions (see Martu), while more complex systems can be divided into eight (see Pintupi and below).

The system dictates who may marry whom – it is always taboo to marry into your own skin group – creating strong incest avoidance laws and strong bonds across clans through exogamous relations. While it can be determined at birth who will marry whom, love marriages were not uncommon, so long as they were within the skin system.

This system is invaluable, especially during drought or lack of resources, having cousins and skin sisters and brothers in other clans. It also creates obligations to care for those people in their time of need. Even in traditional ball games, teams were divided along these lines.

Each skin group has certain totems associated with it. Some Aboriginal groups, such as the Yolngu, include plants, animals and all aspects of the environment, as part of their respective skin groups.

A person of the same skin group, of the same generation, is called "brother" or "sister". There are names for maternal aunts and uncles and different names for paternal aunts and uncles. Additionally, there are strong avoidance relationships that need to be observed based on this system.

Some common kinship terms

Template:Main

  • Aunty and uncle are used as terms of address for older people, to whom the speaker may not be related.
  • Brother and sister include close relatives of the same generation, not just siblings.
  • Cousin includes any relative of one's own generation.
  • The combinations cousin-brother and cousin-sister are used to refer to biological cousins.
  • In south-east Queensland, daughter is used to refer any woman of one's great-grandparents' generation. This is due to the cyclical nature of traditional kinship systems.
  • Father and mother include any relative of one's parents' generation, such as uncles, aunts, and in-laws.
  • Grandfather and grandmother can refer to anyone of one's grandparents' generation. Grandfather can also refer to any respected elderly man, to whom the speaker may not be related.
  • Poison refers to a relation one is obligated to avoid. See Mother-in-law language.
  • The term second, or little bit in northern Australia, is used with a distant relative who is described using a close kinship term. For example, one's second fathers or little bit fathers are men of one's father's generation not closely related to the speaker. It is contrasted with close, near or true.
  • A skin or skin group are sections which are determined by the skin of a person's parents, and determine who a person is eligible to marry.
  • Son can refer to any male of the next generation, such as nephews.


The skin group classification is cyclical in nature, changing with each generation. Non-Aboriginal people are often confounded to hear Aborigines refer to their great-grandmother as their daughter, or their great-grandaughter as their mother. They are actually referring to the fact that those relatives are in the same skin group, as well as acknowledging the cyclical nature of the system.

For traditional Aborigines, this system is a major foundation of their existence and way of viewing the world. As such, if a non-Aboriginal person is around their culture for any extended period, they must be adopted. This is not strictly adoption in the Western sense, but the assignation of a skin name so that individual has a skin group may interact with the group in the "proper way"; knowing whom to avoid, whom to call sister, etc.

Many Aboriginal groups, particularly in the southeast of Australia, have lost this knowledge due to their forced removal to missions and children's homes, where many language groups mixed with each other, and Aboriginal language and cultural practice was forbidden.

Below are a few examples of different kinship systems from across Australia:

Systems with two skin groups

Pitjantjatjara

The Pitjantjatjara of northern South Australia have two moiety groups:

ngana nt arka (lit. we-bone) 'our side'
tjanamilytjan (lit. they flesh) 'their side'

However, they do not use skin names.

Yolŋu

For the Yolŋu of north-east Arnhem Land, life is divided into two skin groups: Dhuwa and Yirritja. Each of these is represented by people of a number of different groups, each with their own lands, languages and philosophies:

Skin name Clan groups
Yirritja Gumatj, Gupapuyngu, Wangurri, Ritharrngu, Mangalili,
Munyuku, Madarrpa, Warramiri, Dhalwangu, Liyalanmirri.
Dhuwa Rirratjingu, Galpu, Djambarrpuyngu, Golumala, Marrakulu,
Marrangu, Djapu, Datiwuy, Ngaymil, Djarrwark.

A Yirritja person must always marry a Dhuwa person and vice versa. If a man or woman is Dhuwa, their mother will be Yirritja.

Kinship relations are also mapped onto the lands owned by the Yolngu through their hereditary estates – so everything is either Yirritja or Dhuwa – every fish, stone, river, etc, belongs to one or the other moiety.

Systems with eight skin groups

Lardiil

The Lardiil of Mornington Island in the Gulf of Carpentaria have eight skin groups, shown here with some of their totems: Template:Sectstub

Male skin group Totems Can only marry
female skin group 		Children will be
Ngarrijbalangi Rainbird, shooting star,
egret 		Burrarangi Bangariny
Bangariny Brown hark, turtle Yakimarr Ngarrijbalangi
Buranyi Crane, salt water,
sleeping turtle 		Kangal
Balyarriny Black tiger shark,
sea turtle 		Kamarrangi
Burrarangi Lightning, rough sea,
black dingo 		Ngarrijbalangi
Yakimarr Seagull, barramundi,
grey shark 		Bangariny
Kangal Barramundi,
grey shark 		Buranyi
Kamarrangi Rock, pelican, brolga,
red dingo 		Balyarriny

Each Lardiil person belongs to one of these groups. Their paternal grandfather's skin group determines their own; so a Balyarriny man or woman will have a Balyarriny grandfather. A Ngarrijbalangi person can only marry a Burrarangi, a Bangariny a Yakimarr, a Buranyi a Kangal and a Balyarriny a Kamarrangi, and vice versa for each.

Once a person's skin group is known, their relationship to any other Lardiil can be determined. A Ngarrijbalangi is a 'father' to a Bangariny, a 'father-in-law' to a Yakimarr and a 'son' to another Bangariny, either in a social sense or purely through linearship.

Pintupi

The Pintupi of the Western Desert also have eight skin groups, made more complex by distinct prefixes for male and female skin names; "Tj" for males, "N" for females. The Warlpiri system is almost the same:

Gender Skin name First marriage
preference 		Children will be
Male Tjapaltjarri Nakamarra Tjungurrayi, Nungurrayi
Female Napaltjarri Tjakamarra Tjupurrula, Napurrula
Male Tjapangati Nampitjinpa Tjapanangka, Napanangka
Female Napangati Tjampitjinpa Tjangala, Nangala
Male Tjakamarra Napaltjarri Tjupurrula, Napurrula
Female Nakamarra Tjapaltjarri Tjungurrayi, Nungurrayi
Male Tjampitjinpa Napangati Tjangala, Nangala
Female Nampitjinpa Tjapangati Tjapanangka, Napanangka
Male Tjapanangka Napurrula Tjapangati, Napangati
Female Napanangka Tjupurrula Tjakamarra, Nakamarra
Male Tjungurrayi Nangala Tjapaltjarri, Napaltjarri
Female Nungurrayi Tjangala Tampitjinpa, Nampitjinpa
Male Tjupurrula Napanangka Tjakamarra, Nakamarra
Female Napurrula Tjapanangka Tjapangati, Napangati
Male Tjangala Nungurrayi Tjampitjinpa, Nampitjinpa
Female Nangala Tjungarayyi Tjapaltjarri, Napaltjarri

Each person therefore has a patrimoiety and a matrimoiety, a father's and a mother's skin group.

See also

References

  • Binnion, Joan (1979) The Lardil People of Mornington Island (Student Handbook), Aboriginal Community College, Port Adelaide.
  • Hansen, Kenneth C. and Lesley E. Hansen, 1979, Pintupi/Luritja kinship, Alice Springs, NT, Institute for Aboriginal Development.
  • Ausanthrop kinship tutorial
  • Ausanthrop
  • Central Land Council
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