66 B. H. MATHEWS. 



AUSTRALIAN DIVISIONAL SYSTEMS. 

 By R. H. Mathews, l.s. 



[Read before the Royal Society of N. S. Wales, June 1, 1898.~\ 



In the following pages it is proposed to give a brief account of 

 all the intermarrying divisions of the aborigines throughout 

 Australia, with which we are acquainted up to the present time. 

 As no similar work has hitherto been attempted, it is hoped that 

 an article of this character will be found of some value to others 

 who may embark in the same line of investigation. The group 

 and totemic divisions are strongly manifested in all the principal 

 ceremonies of the Australian aborigines ; hence it is of the utmost 

 importance that any one studying the customs of these people 

 should have a knowledge of their divisional systems. 



Before proceeding to enumerate the different systems found 

 throughout the continent, it will perhaps be interesting to give a 

 short outline of the structure of aboriginal communities in general. 



An Australian tribe has certain territorial limits, and is known 

 by a general name, which is in most cases derived from the 

 language spoken by its members, as is the names of the Wiradjuri, 

 Kamilaroi, Koombanggary, etc. The area of a tribe's domain 

 varies with the character of the district they inhabit, as well as 

 with the numerical strength of the people. In the well-watered 

 coastal districts of New South Wales, where fish and game are 

 abundant, their hunting grounds would be comparatively small ; 

 whilst in the open plains of the interior, where game is not so 

 plentiful and water is often scarce, the tract of country required 

 to support a tribe would necessarily be more extensive. 



Every tribe is made up of several sub-tribes, all speaking the 

 same language, each of which occupies its own hunting grounds, 

 which are defined by hills, water-courses, patches of scrub, or 

 other remarkable natural features. Each of these sub- tribes has 



