Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Preface
- NOTE
- Contents
- LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
- CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION
- CHAPTER II SOCIAL ORGANISATION AND MARRIAGE REGULATIONS
- CHAPTER III INITIATION CEREMONIES
- CHAPTER IV TOTEMIC SYSTEMS AND TOTEM GROUPS
- CHAPTER V SACRED STICKS, BULL-ROARERS, AND CEREMONIAL OBJECTS
- CHAPTER VI BURIAL AND MOURNING CEREMONIES
- CHAPTER VII MAGIC AND MEDICINE
- CHAPTER VIII BELIEFS IN REGARD TO THE ORIGIN OF CHILDREN
- CHAPTER IX TRADITIONS CONCERNING IMBEROMBERA, THE GREAT ANCESTOR, AND ALSO OTHER ANCESTORS OF THE KAKADU NATION
- CHAPTER X VARIOUS TRADITIONS, CUSTOMS, AND BELIEFS
- CHAPTER XI FOOD RESTRICTIONS
- CHAPTER XII WEAPONS AND IMPLEMENTS
- CHAPTER XIII CLOTHING AND ORNAMENT
- CHAPTER XIV DECORATIVE ART
- APPENDIX
- GLOSSARY OF NATIVE TERMS
- INDEX
- Plate section
- Plate section
CHAPTER X - VARIOUS TRADITIONS, CUSTOMS, AND BELIEFS
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 05 July 2011
- Frontmatter
- Preface
- NOTE
- Contents
- LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
- CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION
- CHAPTER II SOCIAL ORGANISATION AND MARRIAGE REGULATIONS
- CHAPTER III INITIATION CEREMONIES
- CHAPTER IV TOTEMIC SYSTEMS AND TOTEM GROUPS
- CHAPTER V SACRED STICKS, BULL-ROARERS, AND CEREMONIAL OBJECTS
- CHAPTER VI BURIAL AND MOURNING CEREMONIES
- CHAPTER VII MAGIC AND MEDICINE
- CHAPTER VIII BELIEFS IN REGARD TO THE ORIGIN OF CHILDREN
- CHAPTER IX TRADITIONS CONCERNING IMBEROMBERA, THE GREAT ANCESTOR, AND ALSO OTHER ANCESTORS OF THE KAKADU NATION
- CHAPTER X VARIOUS TRADITIONS, CUSTOMS, AND BELIEFS
- CHAPTER XI FOOD RESTRICTIONS
- CHAPTER XII WEAPONS AND IMPLEMENTS
- CHAPTER XIII CLOTHING AND ORNAMENT
- CHAPTER XIV DECORATIVE ART
- APPENDIX
- GLOSSARY OF NATIVE TERMS
- INDEX
- Plate section
- Plate section
Summary
Bubba Peibi is a very short, stout individual, only about two feet six inches high. He has long spears and a large meilla, or basket. He walks about in the water holes at night time, catching fish. In shallow water he takes them out with his hands and puts them in his meilla. As he wanders about he talks to himself, saying, Bi, Brr; Bi, Brr, with a long roll on the r. In deep water he uses his spears. If he sees a Kimberikara, or Barramunda fish, he spears it in the neck, which he then bites and puts it in his large bag, or meilla. This he is supposed to drag behind him through the water (Fig. 67). Then, perhaps, he spears a cat-fish and treats it in the same way; then a Kunaitja, or mullet, the neck of which he breaks with his hands. When he has caught enough fish he ties the mouths of his bags up, and, carrying them on his head, goes back to his own place, saying, Bi, Brr, Brr.
He lives inside a big Banyan tree, by the side of a paper bark creek. The hole in this tree, through which he passes, is only a small one, but he can enlarge it by breathing through it, and, when once he has passed, either in or out, it closes up. At the top of the trunk there is a hole through which air comes in.
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- Information
- Native Tribes of the Northern Territory of Australia , pp. 313 - 341Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2010First published in: 1914