ghosts in The Aborigines of Victoria, volume 1
When a young man dies, they first skin him, then cut off his flesh, which is placed on their spears to dry; the bones are then taken to pieces, the large ones are cut asunder, and the marrow emptied out. The various parts — skin, flesh, bones, &c. — are finally distributed among the kinsfolks, and…
- Record ID
- 3,427
- Year
- 1,878
- Source
- Internet 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
- 3427
- Source
- Internet Archive
- Publication
- The Aborigines of Victoria, volume 1; R. Brough Smyth
- Published
- 1878 public-domain Victorian and Tasmanian ethnographic source exposed through an exact Internet Archive item
- Narrative type
- Ghost and Apparition Accounts
- Public-text label
- ghosts
- Archive period
- Gold Rush Colonial
- Location
- Victoria and Tasmania (VIC): B
- State or territory
- VIC
- Source voice
- Source Grounded Section Record
- Publicness
- Public Text Item
Source-grounded excerpt
When a young man dies, they first skin him, then cut off his flesh, which is placed on their spears to dry; the bones are then taken to pieces, the large ones are cut asunder, and the marrow emptied out. The various parts — skin, flesh, bones, &c. — are finally distributed among the kinsfolks, and carried about by them in their bags and baskets, as charms to ward off evil. When old and stale, they are placed up in trees, on boughs laid across for this purpose. Sometimes they burn the bones of the dead and carry the ashes about with them. Sometimes the dead bodies are placed (whole) in trees. They do not like to speak about the.
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 Terminology belongs to the cited source and may be historical, contested, culturally specific, or outdated.
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