spirit in Australian Aborigines: the languages and customs of several tribes of aborigines in the western district of Victoria, Australia

Record context

Record ID

3229

Source

Internet Archive

Publication

Australian Aborigines: the languages and customs of several tribes of aborigines in the western district of Victoria, Australia; James Dawson

Published

1881 public-domain western Victorian ethnographic source exposed through an exact Internet Archive item

Narrative type

Spirit-Person Narratives

Public-text label

spirit

Archive period

Gold Rush Colonial

Location

Western District, VIC (VIC): B

State or territory

VIC

Source voice

Source Grounded Section Record

Publicness

Public Text Item

Source-grounded excerpt

Women unable to nourish their newly-born infants have their breasts bathed with lime-water, which is made by burning the shells of fresh-water mussels and dissolving them in water. Every married woman carries several shells in her basket, which are commonly used as spoons. Tf diseases will not yield to these ordinary remedies, the doctor invokes the aid of spirits. Visiting his patient in the evening, and finding that the case is beyond the reach of the ordinary remedies, the doctor goes up to the clouds after dark, and brings down the celebrated spirit, ‘ Wirtin Wirtin Jaawan, who is said to be the mate of the ‘good spirit,.

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 Terminology belongs to the cited source and may be historical, contested, culturally specific, or outdated.

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