Ulthana in Totemic Ceremonies
There is very clear evidence that during a former stage cannibalism was a well-recognised custom. We have already described certain ceremonies performed at the Engwura which can only be regarded as pointing back to the existence of a different state of affairs from that which now obtains. For examp…
- Record ID
- 1,275
- Year
- 1,899
- Source
- Internet Sacred Text Archive
- Index status
- Public search-ready
This page records what a public source contains. It is not verification of the supernatural claim described by that source.
Record context
- Record ID
- 1275
- Source
- Internet Sacred Text Archive
- Publication
- Native Tribes of Central Australia; Baldwin Spencer and F. J. Gillen
- Published
- 1899
- Narrative type
- Spirit-Person Narratives
- Public-text label
- Ulthana
- Archive period
- Federation Era
- Location
- Central Australia, NT (NT): B
- State or territory
- NT
- Source voice
- Source Grounded Section Record
- Publicness
- Public Domain Public Web
Source-grounded excerpt
There is very clear evidence that during a former stage cannibalism was a well-recognised custom. We have already described certain ceremonies performed at the Engwura which can only be regarded as pointing back to the existence of a different state of affairs from that which now obtains. For example, in the Quabarra Ingwurninga inkinja, 1 two men had their bodies decorated with circles of white down which were supposed to represent the skulls of slain and eaten men. The performers themselves represented the Ulthana or spirits of the dead men wandering about in search of those who had killed and eaten them. In another ceremony two.
The excerpt is presented as public-source context. Terminology belongs to the cited source and may be historical, contested, culturally specific, or outdated.
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