AUSTRALIAN GROUP RELATIONS. 



805 



class systems which I have described in the preceding pages. It will 

 suffice for my purpose to show that the terms of relationship arise nat- 

 urally out of the relations of the class divisions to each other, and that 

 these relations are those of group to group. 



I find that the relationship terms of the Australian tribes fall into cer- 

 tain natural groups, of which I select three of the principal for illustra- 

 tion. These are the marital, the parental and filial, and the fraternal; 

 and I take those of the Kunandaburi and the Dieri tribes for illustration. 



Table II. 



(M) means male speaking; (F), female speaking. 



The first terms in these lists challenge attention. In all these tribes 

 there are two hinds of connections, which we may term marriage. One 

 where two individuals are allotted to each other permanently, often in 

 extreme youth, by their parents. The other where a man and a woman 

 are allotted to each other as "accessory spouses," each of whom may 

 stand in the same relation to other individuals of the opposite sex. 



The exact nature of this second kind of marriage I shall now consider; 

 and I take the Dieri instance for illustration. The relation is called 

 Pirauru,* and the various Piraurus are allotted to each other by the 

 great council of the tribe in secret session, after which their names are 

 formally announced to the assembled people on the evening of the cere- 

 mony of circumcision, during which there is for a time a general license 

 permitted between all those who have beeu thus allotted to each other. 



The following precis of Mr. Gason's valuable information shows the 

 precise nature of this Pirauru relation : 



1. Each Dieri man, or woman, is the Pirauru of some other Dieri 

 woman, or man. 



2. The relation of Pirauru may exist between men and women of dif- 

 ferent local groups, or of different tribes. 



3. The relation of Pirauru may not exist between a person and those 

 who stand to him or her in any one of the following j^lations : Father, 



rela 

 iym( 



father's brother, father's sister, mother, mother's sisterpnother's brother, 



* The only derivation I can give for this word is from Pira=moon — also used for the 

 round wooden bowls made by the Dieri — and uru=circular. The great councils of 

 the tribe are always held at full moon, and Pirauru may possibly be taken as having 

 relation to the time when these couples are allotted to one another. I however offer 

 this explanation with some diffidence. 



