Art. III. — An Account of the E ngwiirra or Fire Cere- 

 inony of Certain Central Australian Tribes. 



By Professor Baldwin Spencer, M.A., 



AND 



F. J. GrILLEN, 



Special Magistrate and Siib-Protector of Aborigines, Alice Sj^rings. 



[Eead 8tli April, 1897.] 



(Abstract). 



Amongst certain Central Australian tribes the last of the 

 initiatory rites through which a man must pass before he is 

 admitted to full membei'ship takes the form of Avhat may be 

 called a series of ordeals by fire. 



Such a tire ordeal has not hitherto been described so far as we 

 are aware amongst Australian natives, and, during the recent 

 summer, the authors had the opportunity of witnessing the 

 Engwurra ceremony as enacted by the natives of the Arunta 

 tribe living in the Macdonnell Ranges in the centre of the 

 continent. Similar ceremonies are known to the authors as 

 occunnng in other tribes, such as the Ilparra and Warramunga, 

 whilst a slightly different one called the Wilyaru occurs amongst 

 the Urrabunna tribe. Of considerably greater importance however 

 than that referring to the fire ceremonies themselves, which only 

 occupied a comparatively short time, was the information which 

 the authors were enabled to collect with regard to the organisation 

 of the tribe in respect to the existence and curious ari'angement 

 of the totems, and also in regard to the meaning and significance 

 of the churinga or sacred sticks and stones of the natives. 



Before entering into details it is necessary to refer briefly to 

 the oi'ganisation of two tribes which may be taken as typical 

 examples, one in which descent is counted in the female and the 

 other in the male line. 



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