108 R. H. MATHEWS. 



DIVISIONS OF SOME ABORIGINAL TRIBES, 

 QUEENSLAND. 



By R. H. Mathews, l.s. 



[Read before the Royal Society of N. S. Wales, August 2, 1899.'] 



Last year I contributed two articles to this Society dealing with 

 the social organisation and geographic boundaries of some of the 

 native tribes of Queensland. 1 On the present occasion it is pro- 

 posed to furnish similar information respecting a few other tribes 

 whose country adjoins that of the communities treated of in my 

 previous papers. 



I shall commence with the Wonkamurra, Yandrawontha, 

 Yowerawarrika, and allied tribes, who adjoin the Barkunjee nation 

 on the north. Their hunting grounds are on the Lower Wilson 

 River, Cooper's Creek, and part of the Diamantina, extending 

 some distance within the South Australian frontier. The natives 

 within this area are segregated into two phratries, called Koolpirro 

 and Thinnewa — the males of the former phratry marrying the 

 females of the latter, and conversely — the resulting offspring of 

 both sexes adopting the phratry name of their mother in either 

 case. This can be concisely represented by means of a table. 



Table No. 1, 

 Phratry. Husband. Wife. Offspring. 



A. Koolpirro Thinnewa Thinnewa 



B. Thinnewa Koolpirro Koolpirro 



Along the course of the Mulligan River, Saltpetre Creek, Pituri 

 Creek, and part of the Upper Georgina River, are several tribes, 

 among which may be mentioned the Yoolanlanya, Yanindo, and 

 Yorrawinga. They are divided into sections, among which may 



1 Journ. Roy. Soc. N. S. Wales, xxxn., 78-84; 250-253. 



