Kurdaitcha in Magic — AusFigures public-text record

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Kurdaitcha in Magic

YEAR
1899
PLACE
Northern Territory
SOURCE
Internet Sacred Text Archive
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PUBLIC-TEXT RECORD

Kurdaitcha in Magic

Like the man who is on any particular occasion acting as a Kurdaitcha, the doctor himself must be an Ertwa Kurdaitcha who has qualified by passing through the ordeal by fire in which the toe is dislocated. Both men carry shields and spears, and also one or more Churinga, which are supposed as usual…

Record ID
4,185
Year
1,899
Source
Internet Sacred Text Archive
Index status
Archive detail (not indexed)

This reviewed public record supports the curated archive pages but intentionally remains outside the search sitemap.

Record context

Record ID
4185
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
Kurdaitcha
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

Like the man who is on any particular occasion acting as a Kurdaitcha, the doctor himself must be an Ertwa Kurdaitcha who has qualified by passing through the ordeal by fire in which the toe is dislocated. Both men carry shields and spears, and also one or more Churinga, which are supposed as usual to impart to them strength, courage, accuracy of aim, and also to render them invisible to their enemies, and in addition they act as charms to prevent their wearers being wounded. Around his waist each one wears the Kirra-urkna, or girdle, made from the hair which has been cut from a warrior after his death and which is supposed to add.

The excerpt is presented as public-source context. Terminology belongs to the cited source and may be historical, contested, culturally specific, or outdated.

Browse this record

Narrative type: Spirit-Person NarrativesEncyclopedia profile: KurdaitchaSource: Internet Sacred Text ArchiveOpen original public source

Related public records

  1. Kurdaitcha in Magic#12761899 / Internet Sacred Text Archive / NT / Descriptive Belief RecordsNo idea of natural death—Death of one individual must be avenged in the normal condition of the tribe by the death of another—Organisation of a Kurdaitcha party—The ceremony of dislocating a toe before a man becomes ent…
  2. Kurdaitcha in Magic#12781899 / Internet Sacred Text Archive / NT / Spirit-Person NarrativesWhen it is known who the culprit is a Kurdaitcha party may be arranged to avenge the death. This custom is, so the natives say, much less frequently carried out at the present day than in former years, and in the southe…
  3. Kurdaitcha in Magic#12791899 / Internet Sacred Text Archive / NT / Spirit-Person NarrativesBefore a man may wear the shoes he has to submit to a most painful ordeal. A stone is heated to redness and then applied to the ball of the small toe of either foot, it does not matter which, until, as the natives say,…
  4. Kurdaitcha in Totemic Ceremonies#13301899 / Internet Sacred Text Archive / NT / Spirit-Person Narrativesny, what he describes as the first initiation ceremony of women being that of introcision, the equivalent of the Ariltha kuma ceremony amongst the central tribes, op. cil., p. 174. 467:1 Expedition in North West and Wes…
  5. Kurdaitcha in Magic#13321899 / Internet Sacred Text Archive / NT / Spirit-Person NarrativesWhen it is known who the culprit is a Kurdaitcha party may be arranged to avenge the death. This custom is, so the natives say, much less frequently carried out at the present day than in former years, and in the southe…
  6. Kurdaitcha in Magic#41861899 / Internet Sacred Text Archive / NT / Descriptive Belief RecordsBoth medicine man and Kurdaitcha have meanwhile put the sacred Churinga between their teeth and when they are thus armed the spear cannot fail to strike the victim.
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