GROUP DIVISIONS AND INITIATION CEREMONIES. 243 



From Swan Hill to Balranald and Euston, and even further 

 down the Murray, the Wiradjuri divisions, Murri, Kubbi, Ippai 

 and Kumbo, are quite well known by all the local tribes. And 

 from the Murray River southerly to Lake Tyrrell the group names 

 Krokitch and Kamatch of the Wimmera district are equally well 

 understood. In a similar manner, it is found that the Barkunjee 

 divisions, Muckwarra and Keelparra, are known as far south as 

 Lake Hindmarsh and the Avoca River. This has been brought 

 about by the intermarriage of the members of the different adjoin- 

 ing tribes, who have generally been on friendly terms with each 

 other. The group Kamatch corresponds to Muckwarra, and 

 Krokitch to Keelparra. Kamatch is also the equivalent of the 

 pair of sections, Murri and Kubbi, of the Wiradjuri, and Krokitch 

 is the equivalent of Ippai and Kumbo. 



Each of these two groups has a distinct selection of totems 

 attached to it, comprising animals, plants, and different inanimate 

 objects. The following are some of the totems of the Muckwarra 

 division : — Common magpie, honey, galah parrot, native dog, 

 bandicoot, teal duck, pelican, bilbee, kangaroo, porcupine, native 

 bee, bronze-wing pigeon, eaglehawk, lizard, carpet snake, wood 

 duck, ibis, black duck. 



Among the totems of the Keelparra division may be enumerated 

 the following : — Crow, plain turkey, emu, bony bream, swan, 

 wallaby, padamelon, diver, opossum, shingleback, curlew, whip- 

 snake, iguana, native companion, codfish, brown duck, mallee-hen. 



According to Mr. E. M. Curr, 1 Mr. Chas. G. N. Lockhart was 

 the first to report the names of the divisions, Muckwarra and 

 Keelparra, in an official communication to the Government, in 

 1852 or 1853. Mr. Lockhart subsequently told me that about 

 the same period he drew attention to the plucking out of the hair 

 growing on the persons of the men. 



Initiation Ceremonies. 

 The Kuranda. — This ceremony, the principal feature of which 

 is plucking the hair from the bodies of the graduates, is practised 

 1 The Australian Eace, u., 165. 



