KINSHIP AND SOCIETY 1901 - 1906

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Reference Type: Journal Article
Record Number: 122
Author: Mathews, R. H.
Year: 1901
Title: Organisation sociale des tribus aborigenes de l'Australie
Journal: Bulletins et Mémoires de la Société d'Anthropologie de Paris
Volume: 2 (5th series)
Issue: 4
Pages: 415-19
Keywords: Kinship and marriage

Abstract: 'Social Organisation of the Aboriginal Tribes of Australia' (transl.) is one of Mathews' nine French language publications. Like the majority of his articles in French, it was published by Bulletins et Mémoires de la Société d'Anthropologie de Paris, a leading anthropological journal. Although Mathews seems to have had a basic knowledge of French and German, there is no evidence that he could write professionally in either language. A translator is credited in many of his French publications, and although none is acknowledged here, it is most likely that Mathews drafted the article in English. In 2004 the French text was translated back into English by Mathilde de Hauteclocque for inclusion in the Mirranen Archive. The subject of the article is marriage and kinship in Aboriginal society. Mathews begins with some general comments, stating that Australian tribes are generally divided into two phratries (moieties). In some areas each phratry is further divided into two sections, and in others four. 'But whether there are two or four or eight divisions of the whole community, the fundamental principles which rule marriages between the divisions of the group, and the order of succession of the descendants, are all identical'. Having made these introductory remarks, Mathews discusses the case of the Yungmunni people who divide each phratry into four sections. The territory of the Yungmunni is 'an extended area on the plateau which separates the sources of the Roper and Daly rivers in the Northern Territory'. Using tables, Mathews explains the names of sections and which sections are permitted to intermarry. These are the rules governing regular or what Mathews describes here as 'direct' marriages. He writes that polygamy is accepted and that sometimes the second wife is from a different section to the first. Although such a marriage violates the rules governing 'direct' marriages, the community nonetheless tolerates it. There are, Mathews explains, further rules that come into play. He describes these liaisons as 'irregular' or 'alternative' marriages. He emphasises that they are fairly rare and that when they do occur, 'one of the spouses must come from a distant family, to avoid close blood relationship between the parties to the union'. Mathews describes the system as patrilineal: 'marriage, relationships and the line of descent of Australian tribes depends mainly on the father-a rule which applies with equal force in all tribes, throughout all the parts of Australia, to which my investigations have been able to reach up until now'. He would later reject this position, instead arguing that Australian kinship descended matrilineally through generations. Mathews tentatively advances some ideas about the inheritance of totems, stating that 'children of both sexes inherit a totem from their male parent, but irregularities were observed in the direct line of totems, in a few districts, about which I am collecting additional information'. Mathews later revised his opinion on this matter also, proposing in 'Notes on the Arranda Tribe' (1907) and other publications that the totem was determined by the locality at which a mother first realised she was pregnant. Mathews gives no indication of how he obtained the information reported in this article. But there is no evidence that he ever travelled to this part of Australia. Data were probably supplied by white settlers with whom he corresponded.
Notes: TRIBES
1. Yungmunni

LOCATIONS MENTIONED
1. Roper and Daly rivers in the Northern Territory

INFORMANTS
Nil.

CORRESPONDENTS
Nil.

ILLUSTRATIONS
Nil.

REFERENCE TO OWN WORK
Not applicable.
 

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Reference Type: Journal Article
Record Number: 137
Author: Mathews, R. H.
Year: 1901
Title: Some Aboriginal Tribes of Western Australia
Journal: Journal and Proceedings of the Royal Society of New South Wales
Volume: 35
Pages: 217-22
Keywords: Kinship and marriage
Language elicitation
Stories & motifs

Abstract: In this short article Mathews describes rules of kinship and marriage among the tribes inhabiting the sources of the Fitzroy, Margaret and Ord Rivers in Western Australia. These communities are composed of two phratries (moieties), each of which is divided into four exogamous sections (making eight sections in total). Mathews also describes the kinship system found along the Lennard and Lower Fitzroy rivers, on Jurgurra Creek, and along the coast to Broome, Condon and Roebourne. He reports that these communities have two phratries, each of which is divided into two exogamous sections (making four sections in total). The article briefly recounts a legend concerning a lake into which Stuart Creek empties. The lake is reported to be salty because it contains urine left by 'a supernatural monster in serpent form' who made the rivers. The article also contains a brief vocabulary of the Kisha dialect, spoken around Halls Creek in Western Australia. Mathews credits a white correspondent, N. H. Stretch, who collected data under his direction. In 'Notes on the Arranda tribe' (1907) Mathews corrected views on totems and conception expressed in this article.
Notes: TRIBES
1. Kisha
2. Gunyan
3. Lungar
4. Nining
5. Jarrau
6. Walmaharri

LOCATIONS MENTIONED
1. Fitzroy River
2. Margaret River
3. Ord River
4. Sturt Creek
5. Lennard
6. Lower Fitzroy River
7. Jurgurra Creek
8. Broome
9. Condon
10. Roebourne
11. Halls Creek

INFORMANTS
1. Mr. N. H. Stretch 'a long resident in Western Australia' who is also 'my friend, [and] a very reliable observer' (219).

CORRESPONDENTS
1. Mr. N. H. Stretch (219)

ILLUSTRATIONS
Nil.

REFERENCE TO OWN WORK
Not applicable.

CROSS REFERENCES
In 'Notes on the Arranda tribe' (1907) Mathews revised statements made in 'Marriage and Descent among the Australian Aborigines' (1900) and 'Some Aboriginal Tribes of Western Australia' (1901) (this paper). Mathews said he had:

'...reported a variety of totems appertaining to some tribes about Cresswell downs, Stuart's Creek and adjacent country. The information was gathered from me by Mr. Innes, Mr. Stretch, Mr. Wilson and other residents of those regions. Upon continuing my inquiries through these men and gathering further details, I find that the totems are not arbitrarily attached to the particular pairs of quartettes of sections mentioned in my former papers. All the totems therein enumerated are found among the different sections, but instead of being inherited from either parent, are determined by the locality where the mother first became aware that she was enceinte, in accordance with the beliefs reported in my account of the Chau-an tribe in this Journal, vol. XL, pp. 107-111. Metaphorically speaking, it is a certain tree, rock, spring, sandridge, or other natural feature in the family hunting grounds, which produces or bears the child, and confers its totem upon it, instead of these functions being performed by a human mother.'

Paper referred to in quote above is 'Notes on Some Native Tribes of Australia' (1906). It expresses his revised views on conception among Western Australian and Northern Territory tribes.
 

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Reference Type: Journal Article**
Record Number: 204
Author: Mathews, R. H.
Year: 1902
Title: Les Indigènes d'Australie
Journal: L'Anthropologie
Volume: 13
Pages: 233-40
Keywords: Cannibalism
Ceremonies - initiation
Kinship and marriage
Aboriginal settlement of Australia

Abstract: 'The Natives of Australia' (transl.) is one of Mathews' nine French language publications. It was published in the proceedings of the Congrès Internationale d'Anthropologie et d'Archéologie Préhistoriques, in 1902. Although Mathews seems to have had a basic knowledge of French and German, there is no evidence that he wrote professionally in either language. A translator is credited in many of his French publications, and although none is acknowledged here, it is most likely that Mathews drafted the article in English. In 2004 the French text was translated back into English by Mathilde de Hauteclocque for inclusion in the Mirranen Archive. This paper is important for an understanding of Mathews' thinking about the meaning of kinship and initiation. He opens by expressing his ideas about the populating of mainland Australia and Tasmania. Mathews believes that this occurred in the distant past when Africa, Asia, Australia and Papua formed a great southern land mass called Lemuria. The 'first human beings', who were of a 'negroid type', spread across this territory during successive phases of migration. He proposes that in later periods the original 'primitive race' was followed 'by hostile tribes of a higher character and a more advanced civilisation'. These new arrivals were superior fighters. The original inhabitants, forced to abandon many of their old traditions, 'assimilated those from the victors'. The later immigrants, however, never reached Tasmania 'which had become an island following the subsidence of a strip of land which became Bass Strait'. Mathews was convinced that the descendants of these original inhabitants survived in certain regions of South Australia, Western Australia, Victoria and New South Wales. They lacked the complex kinship system that was common across most of the continent. Instead, they had what Mathews called the Tooar (previously spelled 'tu-or') marriage system, in which 'old men assembled in council to appoint the women to the boys'. Mathews writes that in both their physical appearance and cultural practices, the Tooar communities 'greatly resemble the Tasmanians'. Mathews then discusses the more orthodox kinship and marriage systems found elsewhere in Australia-those in which communities are divided into two moieties that might be further divided into either two or four sections. He hypothesises that these systems are the residue of various tribal amalgamations. Mathews cites legends from the Yowerawarrika tribe to support his case. He also writes that the historical experience of migration and inter-tribal merging can be discerned in initiation ceremonies. Commenting on the ceremony at 'Tallwood', New South Wales, which he documented in 'The Bora of the Kamilaroi Tribe' (1896), Mathews proposes that the removal of the novices from their mothers 'may be a symbol of what happened in the past'. During an enemy attack, he conjectures, 'a group of men may have taken charge of the women while the others took the young people away to bring them up in the traditions of the conquerors'. Mathews concludes the article by expressing his conviction that 'neither promiscuity, nor what has been called communal or group marriage ever existed among the Australian tribes'. This article is unusual amongst Mathews' articles because its interpretive approach goes well beyond the straightforward reportage found in the majority of his publications. Some of the ideas expressed here were also advanced in 'The Origin, Organization and Ceremonies of the Australian Aborigines' (1900) and 'Australian Tribes-their Formation and Government' (1906). He also discussed the Tooar marriage system in 'The Organisation, Language and Initiation Ceremonies of the Aborigines of the South-East Coast of N. S. Wales' (1900).
Notes: TRIBES
1. Barkunjee tribe
2. Yowerawarrika tribe
3. Miappe
4. Wombya
5. Kamilaroi

LOCATIONS MENTIONED
1. Africa
2. Asia
3. Van Diemens Land [Tasmania]
4. Papua
5. Lemuria
6. Indian Ocean
7. New Guinea
8. New Caledonia
9. Melanesia
10. Polynesia
11. India
12. Ceylon
13. Nicobar
14. Andaman Islands
15. Malayan Peninsula
16. Java
17. Borneo
18. Celebes
19. Timor
20. South Australia
21. Western Australia
22. Victoria
23. New South Wales
24. Port Lincoln
25. Western Victoria

INFORMANTS
Nil.

CORRESPONDENTS
Nil.

ILLUSTRATIONS
Nil.

REFERENCE TO OWN WORK
1. ‘Australian Divisional Systems’, Journal and Proceedings of the Royal Society of New South Wales, vol. 32, 1898.
2. ‘Australian Divisional Systems’, Journal and Proceedings of the Royal Society of New South Wales, vol. 32, 1898.
3. ‘The Bora of the Kamilaroi Tribes’, Proceedings of the Royal Society of Victoria, vol. 9 (new series), 1896.

RELATED PUBLICATIONS
‘The Bora of the Kamilaroi Tribes’ (1896)
‘The Origin, Organization and Ceremonies of the Australian Aborigines’ (1900)
‘The Organisation, Language and Initiation Ceremonies of the Aborigines of the South-East Coast of N. S. Wales’ (1900)
‘Australian Tribes—their Formation and Government’ (1906)
 

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Reference Type: Journal Article
Record Number: 102
Author: Mathews, R. H.
Year: 1903
Title: Le langage Wailwan
Journal: Bulletins et Mémoires de la Société d'Anthropologie de Paris
Volume: 4 (5th Series)
Issue: 1
Pages: 69-81
Keywords: Ceremonies - initiation
Kinship and marriage
Language elicitation

Abstract: 'The Wailwan Language' (transl.) is one of more than 20 publications documenting Aboriginal languages that Mathews published between 1900 and 1910 and one of nine articles Mathews published in French. It appeared in Bulletins et Mémoires de la Société d'Anthropologie de Paris, a leading anthropological journal. Although Mathews seems to have had a basic knowledge of French and German, there is no evidence that he could write professionally in either language. 'Le langage Wailwan' credits Oscar Schmidt as the translator. In 2004 Schmidt's French version was translated back into English by Mathilde de Hauteclocque for inclusion in the Mirranen Archive. Mathews always adopted a formula in his linguistic writings, using a template when documenting grammar and vocabulary. In this paper Mathews describes Wailwan, the language spoken in northwest New South Wales by Aboriginal communities residing 'on both sides of the Barwon river, from Walgett as far as Brewarrina; it can be heard all the way back up the Castlereagh, Macquarie and Mara rivers up to about 70 miles to the south'. In explaining how he acquired this information, Mathews says it was gathered during 'my own personal investigations, among the native tribes, without the assistance from a single other person'. He also provides a brief description of the Tyattyalla language which is spoken along the Wimmera River in Victoria. In explaining his system of orthography, Mathews states that the method he has used is adapted from a circular issued by the Royal Geographical Society, London. He then describes the grammatical structure of Wailwan, arranging his material under the following headings/sub-headings: 'Nouns' (including sections on 'Number' and 'Gender'); 'Declensions'; 'Adjectives'; 'Pronouns'; 'Verbs'; 'Adverbs'; 'Prepositions'; and 'Interjections and Exclamations'. Mathews then makes some brief comments about the wide distribution of Wailwan and its dialects. He refers the reader to other articles he has written about the ceremonies and kinship system of Wailwan people and their neighbouring communities. The description of the Tyattyalla language of western Victoria appears in an appendix. Mathews thought it appropriate to bring it to the attention of French readers because-in common with the language spoken in a certain area of South Australia-'there exists a triple number, a fact which has not been reported in any other part of the Australian continent'. The explanation of Tyattyalla grammar follows the same format as Wailwan, although it is somewhat shorter. The article concludes with a section headed 'Vocabulary' which contains a list of 200 words in Wailwan. The words are arranged under the following headings: 'The Family'; 'The Human Body'; 'Natural Surroundings'; 'Mammals'; 'Birds'; 'Fishes'; 'Reptiles'; 'Invertebrates'; 'Adjectives'; 'Verbs'. Although no Tyattyalla vocabulary is published here, one can be found in 'The Aboriginal Languages of Victoria' (1902).
Notes: Translated into French by Oscar Schmidt.

TRIBES
1. Wailwan
2. Wiradyuri
3. Wongaibon
4. Kamilaroi
5. Yualeai.
6. Yukumbil
7. Pikumbil
8. Tyattyalla

LOCATIONS MENTIONED
1. Barwon river
2. Walgett
3. Brewarrina
4. Castlereagh River
5. Macquarie River
6. Mara River
7. Albury
8. Murray River
9. Wimmera river
10. Western Victoria
11. South Australia

INFORMANTS
Not applicable.

CORRESPONDENTS
Not applicable.

ILLUSTRATIONS
Not applicable.

REFERENCE TO OWN WORK
1. ‘The Burbung of the Wiradthuri Tribes’. Journal of the Anthropological Institute, vol. 25, 1896.
2. ‘The Burbung of the Wiradthuri Tribes (Part II)’. Journal of the Anthropological Institute, vol. 25, 1896.
3. ‘The Burbung, or Initiation Ceremonies of the Murrumbidgee Tribes’, Journal and Proceedings of the Royal Society of New South Wales, vol. 31, 1897.
4. ‘The Bora of the Kamilaroi Tribes’, Proceedings of the Royal Society of Victoria, vol. 9 (New Series), 1986.

RELATED PUBLICATIONS
‘The Aboriginal Languages of Victoria’ (1902).
 

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Reference Type: Journal Article**
Record Number: 69
Author: Mathews, R. H.
Year: 1903-04
Title: Ethnological Notes on the Aboriginal Tribes of Western Australia
Journal: Queensland Geographical Journal
Volume: 19
Pages: 45-72
Keywords: Ceremonies - initiation
Kinship and marriage
Language elicitation
Rock art

Abstract: This substantial article on Western Australia includes sections on 'Origin of the Australian Aborigines'; 'Rock Pictures' (rock paintings, rock carvings); '[Social] Organisation'; 'Superstitions'; and 'Language'. There are short descriptions of initiation ceremonies and the extraction of teeth. The rock art material includes a description of line drawings of rock engravings and a photograph of a painted spirit figure from the Kimberley. The article is not based on personal investigation. Instead, Mathews made extensive use of European correspondents. He wrote to station owners, police officers and other settlers, seeking help in his research. Their assistance is acknowledged. In the section of the paper on social organisation Mathews surmises that in the past smaller tribes amalgamated into larger confederacies. He outlines the various types of kinship and marriage system operative in Western Australia. The section of the article on language gives vocabularies of the Roebourne and Lower Fitzroy districts. Each vocabulary is arranged under headings that include: 'Family Terms, Etc.'; 'Parts of the Body'; 'Natural Objects'; 'Animals'; 'Weapons'; 'Adjectives'. The article concludes with a minor correction of Mathews' article 'Ethnological Notes on the Aboriginal Tribes of the Northern Territory' (1901). In 'Sociology of some Australian Tribes' (1905) Mathews modified his view that the Australian moieties are exogamous. He requested that '[i]n any of my previous articles…in which it may be stated that an aboriginal community comprises "two exogamous divisions," the reader is requested to substitute "two principal divisions."'
Notes: TRIBES
1. Wommalunna (language)
2. Andikarina
3. Arrinda
4. Chingalee
5. Inchalee
6. Warkya (or Waggaia)
7. Parnkalla
8. Yowerawarraka
9. Barkunjee
10. Kishu (language)

LOCATIONS MENTIONED
1. Cumberland County
2. Hunter County
3. Upper Murchison River
4. Gascoyne River
5. Ashburton River
6. Fortescue River
7. Yule River
8. Mount Stewart Station
9. Hillside Station
10. Shaw River
11. De Grey River
12. Lyndon River
13. Murchison River
14. Depuch Island
15. Balla Balla
16. Ord River
17. Halls Creek
18. Margaret River
19. Sturt Creek
20. Fitzroy River
21. Fraser River
22. Lenard River
23. Glenelg River
24. Bachsten Creek
25. Calder River
26. Collier Bay
27. Dongarra
28. Onslow
29. Perth
30. Albany
31. Eucla
32. Norseman
33. Lake Barlee
34. Deeside Station
35. Georgina River
36. Lake Macdonald
37. Greenough River
38. Sanford River
39. Roderick River
40. Wooramel River
41. Lyons River
42. Weld Spring
43. Bonython Creek
44. Lake Throssall
45. Elder Creek
46. Glen Cumming
47. Oakover River
48. Throssell River
49. Roeburne district
50. Maitland River
51. Lower Fitzroy River
52. Ord River
53. Denham River
54. Wave Hill Station on Victoria River
55. Daly Waters
56. Elsey Creek
57. McArthur River
58. Calvert River
59. Rockland Station
60. Charlotte Waters
61. Alice Springs
62. Cape Arid
63. Fremantle
64. Shark Bay
65. Roebourne
66. Condon
67. Carnarvon
68. Geraldton
69. Derby
70. Wyndham
71. Beagle Bay
72. Weld Springs
73. Parker Ranges
74. Minilya River
75. Station at Lyndon River
76. Cossack
77. Yeeda Station, near Derby
78. Darling River

INFORMANTS
1. Station owners/managers (45).
2. Police Force (45).
3. Others, by recommendation of current informants (45).
4. Mr. H. A. Hall (48) - initials given as Mr. W. A. Hall on p. 64.
5. Mr. William Byron (near Balla Balla?) who sent Mathews 'about forty copies of rock carvings on Depuch Island, of which there are hundreds' (48).
7. Mr. J. Wilson (49).
8. Mr. J. C. Rose (49).
9. Mr. J. Hancock (49) and others (49).
10. Mr. Thos. Muir, J. P. of Deeside Station, WA (51).
11. Mr. J. Cahill, manager of Wave Hill Station, on Victoria River (53).
12. Mr. W. Holze, of Daly Waters (53).
13. Mr. M. Costello (54).
14. Mr. A. H. Glissan of Rockland Station (54).
15. Mr. H. T. Knight, station manager, Lyndon River (63).
16. Mr. G. Buchanan, Flora Valley Station, near Hall's Creek in the Kimberley district (63).
17. Baibung, 'a native of the Roebourne district' (66).
18. Mr. A. E. Clifton, manager of the Yeeda Station, near Derby (66).
19. Mr. W. J. Wilson, police officer at Hall's Creek, in the Kimberley district (66).

CORRESPONDENTS
1. Mr H. A. Hall / W. A. Hall.
2. Mr. William Byron (near Balla Balla?).
3. Mr. J. Wilson.
4. Mr. J. C. Rose.
5. Mr. J. Hancock.
6. Mr. Thos. Muir, J. P.
7. Mr. J. Cahill.
8. Mr. W. Holze.
9. Mr. M. Costello.
10. Mr H. T. Knight.
11. Mr. A. E. Clifton.
12. Mr. W. J. Wilson.

ILLUSTRATIONS
1. Drawing - rock carvings.
2. Photograph - rock painting.
3. Mathews believes that it is important to reproduce one of Mr. R. S. Brockman's photographs in this article 'because the Journal of this Society will go into many channels which will not be reached by the report of Mr. Brockman's discoveries' (50).

REFERENCE TO OWN WORK
1. Refers to work on probable origins of Aboriginal People and the development of some of their customs in an article contributed to the twelfth session of the International Congress of Prehistoric Anthropology and Archaeology, held at Paris in 1900 (45).
2. Refers to own published work on rock carvings in New South Wales (46).
3. Refers to work reported to the Anthropological Society at Paris in 1898, which describes paintings similar to those found by Mr. Brockman (50).
4. Refers to work on Nanarri system of New South Wales, described in 1900 (51).
5. Refers to work on details of the intermarriages of the Chingalee tribe, contributed to the Anthropological Society at Washington (53).
7. Refers to work contributed to the Royal Society of New South Wales (53-4).
8. Refers to work on the divisions of the Elsey Creek tribe contributed to the Society of Anthropology at Paris (54).
9. Refers to work on Chingalee vocabulary and totems contributed to the Royal Geographical Society at Brisbane in 1901. Mathews acknowledges the help of Mr. Holze in supplying some of the basic data for this piece (54).
10. Refers to work on the eight sections of the McArthur and Calvert Rivers tribes communicated in 1899 to American Philosophical Society at Philadelphia. Mathews acknowledges the help of Mr. Costello in supplying some of the basic data for this piece (54).
11. Refers to work on the eight sections of the Inchalachee and Warkya tribes, 'which were tabulated under my direction by Mr. A. H. Glissan, Rockland Station, and reported by me in 1899) (54).
12. Refers to work detailing descent of Northern Territory Tribes, contributed in 1901 to the Geographical Society of Queensland (61).
13. Refers to 'tolerably full descriptions' (61) given elsewhere of initiation ceremonies (61).
14. Refers to his article, 'Ethnological Notes on the Aboriginal Tribes of the Northern Territory' (63).
15. Refers to his treatise on 'The Origin, Organisation, and Ceremonies of the Australian Aborigines', which is accompanied by a map ... (63).

CROSS-REFERENCES
‘Ethnological Notes on the Aboriginal Tribes of the Northern Territory’ (1901).
 

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Reference Type: Journal Article**
Record Number: 70
Author: Mathews, R. H.
Year: 1904
Title: Ethnological Notes on the Aboriginal Tribes of New South Wales and Victoria
Journal: Journal and Proceedings of the Royal Society of New South Wales
Volume: 38
Pages: 203-381
Keywords: Avenging
Baiame - stories and motifs
Body scars
Bush tucker
Ceremonies - initiation
Clever people
Cooking & eating
Indigenous knowledge - astronomy
Kinship and marriage
Language elicitation
Mortuary customs
Reproduction - childbirth
Sorcery
Stories & motifs
Technology - implements/tools
Totems

Abstract: At a length of 178 pages, this is the most substantial journal article published by Mathews. With the addition of some extra material (on circumcision and subincision), it was entirely republished one year later as a book. For a detailed abstract see entry for Ethnological Notes on the Aboriginal Tribes of New South Wales and Victoria (1905).
Notes: TRIBES
1. Nguemba
2. Kamilaroi
3. Wirraidyuri
4. Thurrawal
5. Wombya
6. Parnkall community
7. Wailwan
8. Wongaibon
9. Thangatti
10. Kumbainggeri
11. Thoorga
12. Wirraidyuri language
13. Tharumba
14. Tyat-tyalli language
15. Wimmera
16. Woiwurru
17. Bunwurru
18. Wuddyawurru
19. Thaguwurru
20. Tyapwurru
21. Dhauhurtwurru
22. Bungandity
23. Peekwurru
24. Chaapwurru
25. Yota-Yota
26. Darkinung
27. Nimbaldi
28. Kurna

LOCATIONS MENTIONED
1. Barwon River
2. Namoi River
3. Castlereagh River
4. Jerry's Plains (Hunter River)
5. Hunter River
6. Walgett
7. Mungindi on the Barwon River
8. Namoi River
9. Gwydir River
10. Hawkesbury River
11. Cape Howe
12. Brewarrina
13. Darling River
14. Bogan River
15. Nyngan
16. Cobar
17. Byrock
18. Mulga Creek
19. Macleay River
20. Narooma, County of Dampier
21. County of Dampier
22. Upper Lachlan River
23. Clarence River
24. County of Kara-Kara, VIC
25. Bourke, NSW
26. Louth, NSW
27. Swan Hill, VIC
28. Murray River
29. Grampian Hills
30. Wimmera River
31. Beaufort
32. Hexham
33. Wickliffe
34. Port Lincoln, SA
35. Lake Eyre Basin, SA
36. Warrnambool, VIC
37. Portland
38. Dhinmar (Lady Julia Percy Island)
39. Geelong, VIC
40. Castlemaine, VIC
41. Pyramid Hill
42. Forest Hill
43. Sturt's Creek, WA
44. Ord River, WA
45. Fitzroy River, WA
46. Upper Murray River
47. Mitta River
48. Kiewa River
49. Ovens River
50. Buffalo River
51. Upper Goulburn River
52. King River
53. Broken River
54. Yarra River
55. Saltwater River
56. Avoca River
57. Byrock, Parish of Bye, County of Cowper
58. Western Railway Line
59. Caronga Peak woolshed, near Byrock
60. Wilgaroon
61. Wittaguna
62. Lake Cudgellico
63. Kangaroo Valley
64. Upper Lachlan River
65. Port Phillip, VIC
66. Mount Freeling, SA
67. Daly River, NT
68. Tuross River
69. Mehi River
70. Gwydir River
71. Jeparit
72. Horsham Plain
73. Lake Hindmarsh
74. Lake Albacutya
75. Wonga Lake
76. Pine Plain
77. Cow Plain
78. Mukbilli
79. Milparinka
80. Tibooburra
81. Cobham
82. Broken Hill

CROSS-REFERENCES
See 1905 version of this paper for further information.
'Social Organisation of the Ngeumba Tribe, New South Wales' (1908) adds a genealogical table to supplement the material here on the Blood and Shade divisions.
'Folklore of some Aboriginal Tribes of Victoria' (1907) adds further stories from Victoria to those published here.
 

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Reference Type: Journal Article**

Record Number: 97
Author: Mathews, R. H.
Year: 1904
Title: Language, Organization and Initiation Ceremonies of the Kogai Tribes, Queensland
Journal: Zeitschrift für Ethnologie
Volume: 36
Pages: 28-38
Keywords: Ceremonies - initiation
Kinship and marriage
Language elicitation
Language - grammar

Abstract: This article was Mathews' first contribution to Zeitschrift für Ethnologie. All five of Mathews' contributions to this German journal were published in English. The bulk of this article conforms to the more than twenty publications documenting Aboriginal languages that Mathews published between 1900 and 1910. In addition it contains brief statements on the kinship system and initiation practices of the Kogai people, who, as Mathews states, 'are scattered over an extensive region of Southern Queensland, watered by the Balonne, Maranoa and Coogoon rivers, and extending westerly towards Wallam Creek'. Mathews adopted a formula in his linguistic writings, using a template when documenting grammar and vocabulary. In explaining his purpose in this article, Mathews says that because the Australian Aborigines are 'rapidly dying out before the advancing tide of European civilization' something must be done to document the languages, ceremonies and social organisation before it is 'lost to science'. Mathews' description of Kogai grammar is preceded by an explanation of his orthography which, he states, is adapted from a circular issued by the Royal Geographical Society, London. The grammatical structure is documented. Mathews arranges his material under the following headings/sub-headings: 'Nouns'; 'Pronouns'; 'Verbs'; 'Adverbs'; 'Prepositions'; 'Conjunctions'; 'Interjections and Exclamations'; and 'Numerals'. Mathews then mentions a 'mystic' or secret language, used by men […]. While pointing to its existence, he does not give any examples of this secret language. The kinship system is described under the heading 'Social Organization of the Kogai'. He states that each tribe is divided into two phratries (moieties), each of which is divided into two sections. His observations on the Kogai initiation ceremony is confined to two paragraphs. He says it is 'identical' to the Kamilaroi Bora which he has previously described in 'The Bora of the Kamilaroi Tribes' (1896). The article concludes with a section headed 'Vocabulary of Kogai Words' which contains 335 English words, followed by their Kogai equivalents. The words are arranged under the following headings: 'The Family'; 'The Human Body'; 'Inanimate Natural Objects'; 'Mammals'; 'Birds'; 'Fish'; 'Reptiles'; 'Invertebrates'; 'Trees'; 'Weapons, etc'; 'Adjectives'; 'Verbs'. In 'Sociology of some Australian Tribes' (1905) Mathews modified his view that the Australian moieties are exogamous. He requested that '[i]n any of my previous articles…in which it may be stated that an aboriginal community comprises "two exogamous divisions," the reader is requested to substitute "two principal divisions."'
Notes: TRIBES
1. Kogai
2. Yualeai
3. Murawarri
4. Pikumbil

LOCATIONS MENTIONED
1. Balonne River
2. Maranoa River
3. Coogoon River
4. Wallam Creek

INFORMANTS
Not applicable.

CORRESPONDENTS
Not applicable.

ILLUSTRATIONS
Nil.

REFERENCE TO OWN WORK
1. Yualeai grammar and vocabulary, Royal Society of New South Wales (first page).
2. Murawarri language, Royal Geographical Society of Queensland (first page).
3. Pikumbil grammar (first page).
4. Mathews refers to his discovery of the double form of the first person of the dual and plural: 'It may me mentioned that I was the first author to give full details of this peculiarity in the aboriginal languages of Australia' (second page).
5. Mystic language Royal Society of New South Wales: 'I was the first author), [sic] to draw attention to this mystic tongue …. I consider my discovery of this mystic form of speech is of great linguistic importance, and I invite the reader to peruse the vocabularies in the book referred to' (sixth page).1901 article on songs used at initiation ceremonies, Royal Geographical Society of Queensland (sixth page).
 

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Abstract: This article is one of more than 20 publications documenting Aboriginal languages that Mathews published between 1900 and 1910. He adopted a formula in his linguistic writings, using a template when documenting grammar and vocabulary. In this paper Mathews describes Dhauhurtwurru, the language spoken by the Ngutuk people who live around Portland and Lake Condah in Victoria. The article also contains observations on initiation, folklore and kinship. In explaining how he acquired this information, Mathews says that he spoke to 'old men and women in the native camps'. He does not name his informants. In the opening paragraph Mathews states his motivation for conducting this research. He began to take 'special journeys among the remnants of the Victorian tribes' because 'the rites and customs of the people had not received the attention which their importance deserved'. Mathews then explains the system of orthography used in the article. He states that the method he has used is adapted from a circular issued by the Royal Geographical Society, London. This is followed by a description of the grammatical structure of Dhauhurtwurru in which material is arranged under the following headings/sub-headings: 'Articles'; 'Nouns' (including sections on 'Number', 'Gender', 'Case'); 'Adjectives'; 'Pronouns'; 'Verbs' (including notes on 'Voice', 'Mood' and 'Tense'); 'Adverbs'; 'Prepositions'; 'Conjunctions'; and 'Numerals'. The grammar is followed by a section headed 'Vocabulary' which contains about 260 English words, followed by their equivalents in Dhauhurtwurru. The words are arranged under the following headings: 'The Family'; 'The Human Body'; 'Inanimate Nature'; 'Mammals'; 'Fishes'; 'Reptiles'; 'Invertebrates'; 'Weapons, etc'; 'Adjectives'; 'Verbs'. The linguistic material is succeeded by other ethnographic data. Initiations are mentioned in one short paragraph which refers the reader to the Mathews' descriptions of the Wonggumuk and Kannety ceremonies, published in 'Some Initiation Ceremonies of the Aborigines of Victoria' (1905). A section headed 'Folklore' recounts two legends that were told to Mathews 'by some old aboriginals of the Hopkins and Eumeralla rivers in western Victoria'. The first, titled 'Tyuron, the Eel Spearer', concerns a man of the Kappaty phratry who was a notable ancestor of the plovers. The second, titled 'Murkupang and Mount Shadwell', concerns Murkupang, a giant hairy man who lives in a cave on the Hopkins River. He creates various landmarks after killing two children. He turns into the mopoke after being tracked down by warriors. A section headed 'Sociology' describes the kinship and marriage system of western Victoria. The communities are divided into two intermarrying phratries (moieties) which are not divided into sections. Mathews published a slightly expanded version of the story 'Murkupang and Mount Shadwell' in American Antiquarian under the title 'A Giant in a Cave-An Australian Legend' (1907). In 'Sociology of some Australian Tribes' (1905) Mathews modified his view that the Australian moieties are exogamous. He requested that '[i]n any of my previous articles…in which it may be stated that an aboriginal community comprises "two exogamous divisions," the reader is requested to substitute "two principal divisions."'
Notes: TRIBES
1. Dhauhurtwurru
2. Bungandity
3. Wuddyawurru
4. Tyattyalli
5. Kamilaroi

LOCATIONS MENTIONED
1. Portland, VIC
2. Lake Condah, VIC
3. Glenelg River
4. Gellibrand River
5. Hopkins River
6. Eumeralla River
7. Maroona
8. Wickliffe
9. Hexham
10. Mount Shadwell
11. Castlemaine
12. Pyramid Hill
13. Lake Tyrell
14. Lady Julia Percy Island ('the native name of which is Denmar') (70).
15. Warnambool

INFORMANTS
1. 'old men and women in the native camps' (62).
2. 'the aboriginal speakers' (55).
3. 'some old aborigines of the Hopkins and Eumeralla rivers in western Victoria' (66).
4. 'some old blackfellows' (70).

CORRESPONDENTS
Not applicable.

ILLUSTRATIONS
Nil.

REFERENCE TO OWN WORK
1. 1898 paper contributed to Anthropological Society at Washington on initiation ceremonies and divisional systems of Victorian Aborigines (55).
2. 'In 1902 I read another paper on the aboriginal languages of Victoria before the Royal Society of New South Wales' (55).
3. 'I was the first to report, in any of the Australian languages, the important grammatical forms referred to in this paragraph' (55).
4. 'my Bungandity grammar' (60).
5. 'my Kamilaroi grammar' (61).
6. 'I have elsewhere described some important ceremonies of initiation in use among the native tribes of Victoria' (66). He goes on to briefly describe some of these ceremonies (65).
7. 'Other inaugural ceremonies used in eastern Victoria and elsewhere are described by me in a contribution tot he Anthropological Society at Washington' (66).
8. Article published in 1898: 'I gave a short description of the social organisation of the tribes occupying the southwestern districts of Victoria' (68).

RELATED PUBLICATIONS
'Some Initiation Ceremonies of the Aborigines of Victoria' (1905)
'Ethnological Notes on the Aboriginal Tribes of New South Wales and Victoria' (1905)
An expanded version of ‘Murkupang and Mount Shadwell’ was published as 'A Giant in a Cave—An Australian Legend' (1907).
 

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Reference Type: Journal Article**
Record Number: 158
Author: Mathews, R. H.
Year: 1904
Title: The Wiradyuri and other Languages of New South Wales
Journal: Journal of the Anthropological Institute
Volume: 34
Pages: 284-305
Keywords: Ceremonies - initiation
Kinship and marriage
Language elicitation

Abstract: This article is one of more than 20 publications documenting Aboriginal languages that Mathews published between 1900 and 1910. Mathews adopted a formula in his linguistic writings, using a template when documenting grammar and vocabulary. In this paper Mathews describes three New South Wales languages: Wiradyuri (also spelled Wiradjuri), spoken in 'an immense region in the central and southern portions' of the state; Burreba-Burreba, spoken 'from about Deniliquin to Moulamein, and from the latter southerly towards the Murray river'; and Ngunawal, spoken in 'the country from Goulburn to Yass and Burrowa, extending southerly to Lake George and Goodradigbee'. Mathews says he gathered the information personally from speakers of the languages. This is followed by a statement on the system of orthography used in the article. Mathews states that his method is adapted from a circular issued by the Royal Geographical Society, London. Mathews then describes the grammatical structure of Wiradyuri, arranging his material under the following headings/sub-headings: 'Nouns' (including sections on 'Number', 'Gender', 'Case'); 'Adjectives'; 'Pronouns'; 'Verbs' (including notes on 'Voice', 'Mood' and 'Tense'); 'Prepositions'; 'Adverbs'; 'Interjections; and 'Numerals'. The grammar of Burreba-Burreba and Ngunawal and described in similar fashion. There is a brief section headed 'Initiation Ceremonies and Marriage Laws' which concerns the Burreba-Burreba community only. Mathews says that their initiation ceremonies are 'the same in all essential respects' to those of the Wiradyuri which he has described in 'The Burbung, or Initiation Ceremonies of the Murrumbidgee Tribes' (1897). The kinship and marriage system is also similar to the Wiradyuri. He explains it by means of a table which shows the community to be divided into two exogamous phratries (moieties), each of which is divided into two sections. The article concludes with a section headed 'Vocabulary of Wiradyuri Words' which contains about 430 English words, followed by their equivalents in Wiradyuri. The words are arranged under the following headings: 'Family Terms'; 'Parts of the Body'; 'Natural Objects'; 'ANIMALS-Mammals'; 'ANIMALS-Birds'; 'ANIMALS-Fishes'; 'ANIMALS-Reptiles'; 'ANIMALS-Invertebrates'; 'Trees and Plants'; 'Weapons'; 'Adjectives'; 'Verbs'. This is followed by 'Vocabulary of Ngunawal Words' in which 290 words are arranged under the same headings. There is no vocabulary of Burreba-Burreba.
Notes: TRIBES
1. Wiradyuri
2. Ngunawal
3. Kamilaroi
4. Burreba-burreba language

LOCATIONS MENTIONED
1. Goulburn
2. Yass
3. Burrowa
4. Lake George
5. Goodradigbee
6. Lachlan River
7. Macquarie River
8. Murrumbidgee River
9. Deniliquin
10. Moulamein
11. Murray River
12. Swan Hill

INFORMANTS
1. ' the old native men and women who still speak the native tongue' (285).
2. 'Wiradyuri natives' (299).
3. ' old men and women in the native camps' (302-3).

CORRESPONDENTS
Not applicable.

ILLUSTRATIONS
Nil.

REFERENCE TO OWN WORK
1. Map in article published by American Philosophical Society 1898 (284).
2. Map in article published by Royal Society of New South Wales 1898 (284).
3. Map in article published by Anthropological Society at Washington 1898 (284).
4. Article on Kamilaroi language published by Journal of the Anthropological Institute of Great Britain (284).
5. Article on Wiradyuri initiation ceremonies (285).
6. Wiradyuri initiation ceremonies (294).
7. 1896 article on Bunan ceremony Anthropological Society at Washington (294).
8. 1900 account of abbreviated inaugural ceremony (294).
9. 1901 article on songs, including musical notation, Royal Geographical Society of Queensland (295).
 

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Reference Type: Journal Article
Record Number: 67
Author: Mathews, R. H.
Year: 1904-05
Title: Ethnological Notes on the Aboriginal Tribes of Queensland
Journal: Queensland Geographical Journal
Volume: 20
Pages: 49-75
Keywords: Language elicitation
Kinship and marriage

Abstract: Like many of the Mathews articles titled 'Ethnological Notes…', this is a mixed bag of ethnographic data. Information on kinship and marriage customs is combined with linguistic documentation and anthropological debate. The title is also a little deceptive in that the section titled 'Sociology of Tribes in Central Australia' has nothing to do with Queensland. The first six pages of the article describe the kinship and marriage laws of three Queensland tribes: the Wonkamurra who occupy the southwest corner of Queensland around Warry-Warry Creek and Lower Wilson River; the Murawarri (also spelled Muruwari), who occupy 'an extensive region on the southern frontier of Queensland between the Warrego and Culgoa Rivers, reaching also some distance into New South Wales'; and the Baddyeri 'whose hunting grounds extend from about Yantabulla to Hungerford, Eulo, Thargomindah, and intervening country'. While the Wonkamurra community is divided into two intermarrying phratries (moieties) without further 'sections' or sub-divisions, each of the two moieties of the Murawarri and Baddyeri communities are further divided into two exogamous sections. In the discussion of each tribe, the kinship system is explained through use of a table. While this was typical of Mathews' writings on kinship, there are signs of how his views had changed since his discussion of Ngeumba kinship in 'Ethnological Notes on the Aboriginal Tribes of New South Wales and Victoria' (1904) (republished as Ethnological Notes on the Aboriginal Tribes of New South Wales and Victoria [1905]). The Murawarri people are the northern neighbours of the Ngeumba, and Mathews discerned an important similarity between their kinship systems. Mathews writes in this article that Murawarri kinship is significantly complicated by the existence of social categories which he calls 'bloods' and 'shades'. He states that the 'blood' and 'shade' divisions, as well as the moiety and section, must be taken into consideration by tribal elders when spouses are chosen. He describes the political significance of betrothals, and how they allow certain families to form alignments that permit them greater say in the tribal councils. This is followed by a section of about six pages titled 'Grammar of the Baddyeri Language'. It adheres to the model established by Mathews in most of his linguistic analysis. Mathews states that his system of orthography is adapted from a circular issued by the Royal Geographical Society, London. He then describes the grammatical structure of Baddyeri, arranging his material under the following headings/sub-headings: 'Nouns' (including sections on 'Number', 'Gender', 'Case'); 'Adjectives'; 'Pronouns'; 'Verbs' (including notes on 'Voice', 'Mood' and 'Tense'); 'Adverbs'; 'Prepositions'; and 'Numerals'. A section headed 'Vocabulary' contains 320 English words, followed by their equivalents in Baddyeri. The words are arranged under the following headings: 'The Family; 'The Human Body'; 'Inanimate Nature'; 'Mammals'; 'Birds'; 'Fishes'; 'Reptiles'; 'Invertebrates'; 'Trees and Plants'; 'Weapons and Effects'; 'Adjectives'; and 'Verbs'. The section headed 'Sociology of the Inchalachee or Inchalanchee Tribe' concerns communities residing around the Gregory and Nicholson rivers, on Barclays Tableland, Yelvertoft, Rocklands, Camooweal and extending into the Northern Territory. Mathews states that he is adding to material published in 'The Group Divisions and Initiation Ceremonies of the Barkunjee Tribes' (1898) and 'Divisions of Some Aboriginal Tribes, Queensland' (1899). Working from new data supplied by 'the same capable and reliable friends who worked under my directions', he supplies a new table explaining the eight section kinship system of the Inchalachee communities. It is backed up by discussion of totems and argument that the system is matrilineal. Mathews also argues that there were 'irregularities' in the marriage customs of this community. His correspondents found that in some cases where a man had more than one wife, she came from a section other than that into which he was expected to marry according to the standard regulations. This was nonetheless tolerated by the community. The section of the article titled 'Sociology of Tribes in Central Australia' is in part an amendment to earlier publications. Table VI, concerning the Neening tribes, amends Table 1 of 'Ethnological Notes on the Aboriginal Tribes of the Northern Territory' (1900-01). Table VII, concerning the Binbingha tribe of the McArthur River, amends a table in 'The Wombya Organization of the Australian Aborigines' (1900). The most important material in this section of the article concerns the succession of totems and the relationship between peoples' totems and their territory or 'recognised hunting grounds', as Mathews called it. The article concludes with an appendix which replies to accusations made by W. Baldwin Spencer in his paper 'Totemism in Australia', published in the Tenth Report of the Australasian Association for the Advancement of Science (1905). Spencer had denigrated Mathews' anthropology, claiming that it 'corroborate[s] or make[s] use of the works of Messrs. Howitt, Fison, Ridley, and others, without adding any matter of importance.' Mathews refutes this by citing examples of Spencer and Gillen's writings that corroborate (while failing to acknowledge) writes he had made about Central Australian kinship and marriage customs in publications predating their own. In 'Sociology of some Australian Tribes' (1905) Mathews modified his view that the Australian moieties are exogamous. He requested that '[i]n any of my previous articles…in which it may be stated that an aboriginal community comprises "two exogamous divisions," the reader is requested to substitute "two principal divisions."' On page 73 of 'Initiation Ceremonies of the Murawarri and Other Aboriginal Tribes of Queensland' (1906) Mathews made some minor corrections to this article.
Notes: TRIBES
1. Murawarri
2. Yualeai
3. Pikumbil
4. Baddyeri
5. Kogai
6. Wonkamurra Nation
7. Parnkalla Nation
8. Barkunjee Nation
9. Inchalachee
10. Workaia
11. Mullinchi
12. Kullalli
13. Bunthamurra
14. Yanderawantha
15. Yowerawarrika
16. Warkaia
17. Neening
18. Binbingha
19. Koodanjee

LOCATIONS MENTIONED
1. Balonne River
2. Moonie River
3. Weir River
4. Macintyre River
5. Maranoa River
6. Coogoon River
7. Cloncurry
8. Camooweal
9. Halifax Bay
10. Yelvertoft
11. Nicholson River
12. Warry-Warry Creek
13. Lower Wilson River
14. Milparinka
15. Bullo Downs
16. Warrego River
17. Culgoa River
18. Gregory River
19. Barklay's Tableland
20. Rocklands
21. Sturt Creek
22. Victoria River

INFORMANTS
1. 'reliable correspondents residing in that part of the country' (51).
2. 'trustworthy correspondents who resided in the locality' (65).
3. 'the same capable and reliable friends' (65).

CORRESPONDENTS
1. 'one of my best correspondents' (67).

ILLUSTRATIONS
Nil.

REFERENCE TO OWN WORK
1. 1902 grammar of Murawarri language (49).
2. 1902 grammar and vocabulary of Yualeai language (49).
3. 1902 grammar of Pikumbil dialect (49).
4. 1904 grammar and vocabulary of Kogai language (49).
5. 1898 article on Queensland tribal boundaries, American Philosophical Society (50).
6. 1899. Social divisions of Yanderawantha and Yowerawarrika: 'Their social divisions … were first discovered and reported by me' (51).
7. 1900 Social divisions of Yanderawantha and Yowerawarrika (51).
8. 1902 grammar and vocabulary of Murawarri language (52).
9. Journal Royal Society of New South Wales article describing 'blood' and 'shade': 'Perhaps it should be stated that I was the first author to discover and report the castes of "blood" and "shade''' (54).
10. 1898 Royal Society of New South Wales paper on Inchalanchee sections (65).
11. 1899 Royal Society of New South Wales paper on divisions of same region (65).
12. General reference to other published lists of totems (67).
13. No. 3 and no. 4 marriages (67).
14. No. 2 marriage 'with the exception of Rev. L. Schulze, I was also the first to report the 'alternative' law of marriage' (67).
15. 1898 - 1901, various sociologies of important tribes in Central Australia (68).
16. 1901 Royal Geographical Society of Queensland - eight-section system of the Neening (68).
17. 1899 American Philosophical Society article on sociology of the McArthur River (69).
18. 1900 Chingalee, Koodanjee, Binbingha totems (70).
19. 1901 totems in the same region (70).
20. 1901 tabulation of the eight sections, differently arranged (71).
21. 'Ethnological Notes on the Aboriginal Tribes of New South Wales and Victoria' (74).
22. 1898 eight sections of Wombaia tribe (see 'other notes') (74).
23. 1899 Binbingha sociology (see 'other notes') (74).
24. 1900, 1901 eight sections of Chingalee tribe (see 'other notes') (74).
25. 1900 Royal Society of New South Wales article with sections table (74).

CROSS-REFERENCES
‘Initiation Ceremonies of the Murawarri and Other Aboriginal Tribes of Queensland’ (1906), page 73, makes minor corrections to this article.

RELATED PUBLICATIONS
‘The Group Divisions and Initiation Ceremonies of the Barkunjee Tribes’ (1898)
 

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Reference Type: Book**
Record Number: 66
Author: Mathews, R. H.
Year: 1905
Title: Ethnological Notes on the Aboriginal Tribes of New South Wales and Victoria
City: Sydney
Publisher: F.W. White General Printer
Number of Pages: 183
Keywords: Avenging
Baiame - stories and motifs
Body scars
Bush tucker
Ceremonies - initiation
Clever people
Cooking & eating
Indigenous knowledge - astronomy
Kinship and marriage
Language elicitation
Mortuary customs
Reproduction - childbirth
Sorcery
Stories & motifs
Subincision
Technology - implements/tools
Totems

Abstract: Running to 183 pages, this book is Mathews' longest and most substantial anthropological publication. Printed by W. F. White in Sydney, it was jointly funded by Mathews and the Royal Society of New South Wales. While the ten-page appendix is new, the remainder of the text-as the author acknowledges-is an exact replication of the long article of the same title, published in in 1904. It was not common for the Royal Society to publish articles of such great length. Perhaps in recognition of Mathews' substantial publication record the society accommodated this article in the journal and then assisted financially in the production of the book. However the involvement of the Royal Society imposed certain restrictions upon Mathews who, by 1905, had been regularly publishing ethnological material for twelve years, and would have been in a position to release his major findings in book form. This was not possible in a publication backed by the Royal Society which had received complaints about Mathews republishing in different journals some of his early articles on initiation and rock art. The society insisted, as Mathews states, that the 'Ethnological Notes' contain 'original matter only, which had never been published anywhere before'. Mathews could not re-present or refine earlier findings and found it necessary to 'enumerate all my former works' in a bibliography. Ninety-five publications are listed, although the bibliography is not definitive. Some publications, including all his contributions to Science of Man, are omitted. Others, listed as independent titles (eg. 'Dharruk Language and Vocabulary'), are only sections or appendices of other articles. Owing to the length of this publication, it is not possible to give a full summary in this abstract. The overall scope of the book can be determined from the Table of Contents, cited below.

CONTENTS
Introduction
System of Spelling
Sociology of the Nguemba Tribes
Sociology of the Kamilaroi Tribes
Sociology of the Thurrawal Tribes
Childbirth
The Nguemba Language
The Nguemba Vocabulary
Language of the Thangatti Tribe
Thangatti Vocabulary
Pirrimbir or Avenging Expedition
Explanation of Illustration
The Search for Food
Food Regulations, Totems, etc
Mumbirbirri or Scarring the Body
Some Burial and Mourning Customs
Sorcery or Magic
Aboriginal Astronomy-the Zodiac
Sociology of the Tribes of Western Victoria
Sociology of the Tribes of Eastern Victoria
Language of Mothers-in-law
The Wonggoa or Wongupka Ceremony
The Tyibbauga Ceremony
The Dolgarrity Ceremony
Notes on the Initiation of Girls
Aboriginal Mythology and Folklore
- Baiame
- Dhurramulan
- Miscellaneous Superstitions
- Dyillagamberra the Rainmaker
- How the Wongaibon obtained Fire
- How Water was obtained by the Makilaroi People
- The Dhiel and her Water-trough
- Yandhangga
- The Moon and its Halo
- Two Young Men and the Moon
- The Yaroma
- Wallanthagang
- The Wawi and the Song-makers
Achievements of the Brambambults
1. The Ngihdyal
2. Ngaut-ngaut
3. Wirnbullain
4. Dyuni-dyunity
5. Gartuk
APPENDIX
Rite of Subincision
Additional Folklore
The Bat, his Wives and the Native Cat
Origin of Tulliwaka Ana-branch

As the Table of Contents indicates, the book is something of a mixed bag of ethnographic data. In some parts, such as the sections on the Nguemba and Thangatti languages, the exposition is similar to that of his many other articles containing linguistic documentation. Yet there are aspects of this book that break new ground. The Preface contains information on Mathews' motivations and working methods. The Introduction opens with two pages of autobiographical reflections on the author's childhood and background as a surveyor. The material on the 'Sociology of the Ngeumba Tribe' contains data not previously reported by any author. The Ngeumba-speaking people, according to Mathews, 'formerly occupied the country from Brewarrina to the Darling River southerly up the Bogan almost to Nyngan.' Their territory also stretched westwards beyond Cobar and Byrock, including 'the upper portions of Mulga Creek and surrounding country'. In his writings on Aboriginal kinship and marriage, Mathews had written extensively about the phratries (moieties), sections and totemic groups into which communities were divided. While Mathews' research pointed to the existence of a similar kinship structure in Ngeumba society, he writes that the system was further complicated by 'blood' and 'shade' divisions which he refers to as 'castes'. These caste distinctions, he reports, must also be taken into account when spouses are selected. They also 'regulate the camping or resting places of the people under the shades of large trees in the vicinity of water or elsewhere'. Many other sections of the book contain unique insights on Aboriginal life in Victoria and New South Wales. Especially notable are the sections on childbirth, scarification, burial and astronomy. The 'Notes on the Initiation of Girls' run to only two-and-a-half pages, but they are notable because the (mostly male) anthropologists of this period paid scant attention to the ceremonial life of women. The section titled 'Aboriginal Mythology and Folklore' is Mathews' most substantial documentation of story-telling traditions. Although he retells the stories in his own words (he never attempted to replicate the syntax of his informants), the documentation is invaluable. Individual informants are not identified, however he does name the tribe or locality from which each story originated. Mathews' perspective as a surveyor-his interest in topographical specificity-is fully apparent in his recording of folklore. The stories frequently explain the formation of rivers, mountains and other landmarks. The section of the appendix titled 'The Rite of Subincision' was not included in the 1904 version of the publication is preceded with a warning that parts of it are 'not suitable for the general lay reader'. It describes the initiatory rite of subincision, […] which was practised in a small part of northwest New South Wales (and in many other parts of Australia). Mathews describes the operation in some detail and reproduces two photographs of a subincised penis that were first published by Professor T. P. Anderson-Stuart in volume 30 of the Journal and Proceedings of the Royal Society of New South Wales. In 'Sociology of some Australian Tribes' (1905) Mathews modified his view that the Australian moieties are exogamous. He requested that '[i]n any of my previous articles…in which it may be stated that an aboriginal community comprises 'two exogamous divisions,' the reader is requested to substitute 'two principal divisions.'' In 'Australian Folk-tales' (1909) he revealed that the story of Yarroma was told to him by the Jirringan (Dyirringan) tribe of the New South Wales South Coast.
Notes: TRIBES
1. Nguemba
2. Kamilaroi
3. Wirraidyuri
4. Thurrawal
5. Wombya
6. Parnkall community
7. Wailwan
8. Wongaibon
9. Thangatti
10. Kumbainggeri
11. Thoorga
12. Wirraidyuri language
13. Tharumba
14. Tyat-tyalli language
15. Wimmera
16. Woiwurru
17. Bunwurru
18. Wuddyawurru
19. Thaguwurru
20. Tyapwurru
21. Dhauhurtwurru
22. Bungandity
23. Peekwurru
24. Chaapwurru
25. Yota-Yota
26. Darkinung
27. Nimbaldi
28. Kurna

LOCATIONS MENTIONED
1. Barwon River
2. Namoi River
3. Castlereagh River
4. Jerry's Plains (Hunter River)
5. Hunter River
6. Walgett
7. Mungindi on the Barwon River
8. Namoi River
9. Gwydir River
10. Hawkesbury River
11. Cape Howe
12. Brewarrina
13. Darling River
14. Bogan River
15. Nyngan
16. Cobar
17. Byrock
18. Mulga Creek
19. Macleay River
20. Narooma, County of Dampier
21. County of Dampier
22. Upper Lachlan River
23. Clarence River
24. County of Kara-Kara, VIC
25. Bourke, NSW
26. Louth, NSW
27. Swan Hill, VIC
28. Murray River
29. Grampian Hills
30. Wimmera River
31. Beaufort
32. Hexham
33. Wickliffe
34. Port Lincoln, SA
35. Lake Eyre Basin, SA
36. Warrnambool, VIC
37. Portland
38. Dhinmar (Lady Julia Percy Island)
39. Geelong, VIC
40. Castlemaine, VIC
41. Pyramid Hill
42. Forest Hill
43. Sturt's Creek, WA
44. Ord River, WA
45. Fitzroy River, WA
46. Upper Murray River
47. Mitta River
48. Kiewa River
49. Ovens River
50. Buffalo River
51. Upper Goulburn River
52. King River
53. Broken River
54. Yarra River
55. Saltwater River
56. Avoca River
57. Byrock, Parish of Bye, County of Cowper
58. Western Railway Line
59. Caronga Peak woolshed, near Byrock
60. Wilgaroon
61. Wittaguna
62. Lake Cudgellico
63. Kangaroo Valley
64. Upper Lachlan River
65. Port Phillip, VIC
66. Mount Freeling, SA
67. Daly River, NT
68. Tuross River
69. Mehi River
70. Gwydir River
71. Jeparit
72. Horsham Plain
73. Lake Hindmarsh
74. Lake Albacutya
75. Wonga Lake
76. Pine Plain
77. Cow Plain
78. Mukbilli
79. Milparinka
80. Tibooburra
81. Cobham
82. Broken Hill


INFORMANTS
1. 'my aboriginal informants' (v).
2. 'the wife of a station manager in the north-western districts of New South Wales. This lady had been a trained nurse and has witnessed several cases of accouchement among the black women on the station where she resided' - childbirth (15).
3. 'the aboriginal speakers' - Thangatti vocabulary (34).
4. 'the remnants of the native tribes' - avenging expedition (37).
5. 'two old aborigines' - tree markings and songs (48).
6. 'the aborigines in various places in New South Wales and Victoria' - food procurement (50).
7. 'My informants were old men who had been operated on in their youth, who showed me their scars, and had a very vivid recollection of the formalities connected with the ordeal' - scarring (60).
8. 'old blackfellows' - on trees and astronomy (80).
9. 'old natives' - star names (81).
10. 'A very old Gurgoity blackfellow on the Wimmera River' (90).
11. 'native men who had passed through the ceremonies' (105).
12. 'an old woman of the Wuddyawurru tribe' - several interviews 'respecting the language and customs of her people (133).
13. 'an old native' on the Mitta Mitta and Ovens Rivers - on the initiation of girls (134).
14. 'old men and women' (135) - myths and folklore

CORRESPONDENTS
Not applicable.

ILLUSTRATIONS
1. Photographs of a tree marked by Pirrimbir Warriors (49).
2. Photographs showing the the effect of subincision on the organ (175).

REFERENCE TO OWN WORK
1. 1904 article of same title: 'This fact will no doubt be considered a sufficient guarantee that it is up to the standard required in scientific investigations' (iii).
2. States that the Royal Society of New South Wales has restricted him to 'original matter only, which had never been published anywhere before' (iv), and that, because he couldn't include any of his previous writings, he had to 'enumerate all my former works in the 'Bibliography'' (iv).
3. 'I have recorded and published the grammars of fifty Australian languages and dialects' (iv).
4. Refers readers to 'the comprehensive maps of Australia printed in some of the articles enumerated in the 'Bibliography'' (v).
5. In previous contributions 'I have comprehensively dealt with aboriginal rock-pictures, languages, the bora and several other initiation ceremonies, bullroarers, message-sticks, and native customs generally' (vi).
6. More self-promotion: 'my works have been distributed into the libraries of most of the learned Societies throughout the world' (vi).
7. Refers to methods of other researchers: 'I have adopted none of the opinions nor followed any of the methods of other Australian authors, but have struck out on my own lines, recording all the new and interesting facts within my reach' (2, emphasis added).
8. Treatises on aboriginal ceremonies and customs published in European and American journals (2-3).
9. States that he has introduced some additional rules of orthoepy to meet the requirements of Australian pronunciation (3).
10. Original work on Kamilaroi grammar and vocabulary, published last year (13).
11. Refers to work published on the secret language of the Kamilaroi 1902 (14).
12. Article contributed to Royal Society of New South Wales in 1900 re Thurrawal social organisation (14).
13. 1898 report on eight sections of Wombya tribe, NT (15).
14. 1900 report on eight sections of Wombya tribe, NT (15).
15. Reports that the languages of both Wailwan and Wongaibon have already been published by himself (17).
16. Refers to himself as the first author to report on the importance of pronouns (19).
17. Grammar and vocabulary of Wirraidyuri language contributed to Anthropological Institute of Great Britain 1904 (60-1).
18. Initiation ceremonies of Wirraidyuri contributed to Royal Geographical Society at Brisbane, 1896 (61).
19. Social organisation of Wirraidyuri contributed in two articles to Anthropological Society at Washington in 1897 (61).
20. Dolgarrity ceremony (84).
21. Article on origin of the intermarrying divisions of Australian tribes, read at International Congress on Anthropology and Archæology held at Paris in 1900 (88).
22. Article on sectional divisions, 1897 (88).
23. Article on 'confederacy' hypothesis: 'possibly in the distant past the present names of the sections represented small independent tribes, which became incorporated with each other, for the purpose of mutual defence, or for other reasons' (88).
24. Tyat-tyalli grammar and vocabulary published in 1902 (90).
25. 1900 - marriage laws of Parnkall nation (94).
26. 1900 - 'limits of the country occupied by the Parnkall nation, and supplied a map, which no previous author had attempted, in which the boundaries were accurately delineated' (94).
27. 1900 - initiation ceremonies of the Parnkalla nation (94).
28. Intermarrying laws and inaugural ceremonies among eastern Victoria tribes, contributed to Anthropological Society at Washington in 1898 (96).
29. 1899 sociology of tribes on Sturt's Creek, Ord River, Fitzroy River, WA, 'which was the first time the eight-section system had ever been reported in that State' (103).
30. 1900 article on geographic limits of eight-section system (103): 'I was the first to observe and publish the marriages which are provisionally distinguished as 'alternative,' 'rare,' and 'exceptional'' (103).
31. Grammars published in New South Wales and America on south-western Victorian languages (102-3).
32. Work on mystic language of the Kamilaroi, communicated to the Anthropological Institute of Great Britain (104).
33. Kannety ceremony of initiation in south-west Victoria (120).
34. Wonggumuk ceremony in central and northern districts of Victoria (120).
35. Grinding places reported and illustrated previously (140).
36. Additional information supplied in a paper which was read before the Royal Society of New South Wales in 1904 (174).
37. 1900 article on phallic rites and initiation ceremonies in SA (174). Photographs of subincised penis complement this article (174).

CROSS-REFERENCES
‘Australian Folk-tales’ (1909) reveals that the story of Yarroma was told to Mathews by the Jirringan (Dyirringan) tribe of the New South Wales South Coast.
 

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Abstract: This article marks a surprising turnaround in the author's views on kinship and marriage customs. Mathews opens with muted acknowledgment that he has previously been wrong in advocating the generally accepted position that the moieties, which divide Aboriginal communities, are invariably exogamous. He is confident that the case presented here 'will show the fallacy of the hitherto accepted belief in exogamy among Australian tribes and abrogate all the old-school notions respecting their sociology generally'. Mathews requests that '[i]n any of my previous articles, whether published in this Journal or elsewhere, in which it may be stated that an aboriginal community comprises "two exogamous divisions," the reader is requested to substitute "two principal divisions."' This change affects at least 23 of Mathews' previous publications. The evidence to support his argument is drawn from Central and Northern Australia, as well as some long-settled districts in New South Wales. It was evidence concerning 'alternative' or 'irregular' marriages that convinced Mathews that the moieties (which he describes as both 'phratries' and 'cycles' in this article) are not entirely exogamous. This is by no means the first mention of 'alternative' marriages in Mathews' articles on kinship. He raised the subject as early as 1896 with a contribution to American Anthropologist titled 'Australian Class Systems [Part 1]'. But in this article he gives it a new emphasis, perhaps in an attempt to denigrate the work of W. Baldwin Spencer, A. W. Howitt and other contemporaries. An 'irregular' marriage, according to Mathews, typically occurs when a married man takes a second or third wife. His first marriage had been 'regular', which is to say that his spouse came from a designated group or 'section' of the tribe which was always a sub-division of the moiety that was not his own. This was not always the case, however, in cases of polygamy, as Mathews explains in discussing customs of the Northern Territory. Although marriages within one's own moiety were technically in violation of the kinship laws, their commonality convinced Mathews that they were socially sanctioned: that the kinship regulations were more complex and in some ways more flexible than was generally recognised. This was an enormously controversial position at the time and it inspired some spirited rebuttals. Writing in American Antiquarian in 1908, Howitt argued that Mathews' views on irregular marriages were erroneous because the marriage customs of the tribes he had been studying were in malaise owing to contact with Europeans. Yet the data presented in this paper must complicate this argument, for it shows that Mathews was drawing his inferences not only from New South Wales communities, but from those in Northern Australia that were only recently affected by Europeans. Howitt attacked Mathews after this article was published. Mathews' tone in this paper is very hostile. He ridicules Spencer, Howitt and Gillen for their erroneous position on exogamy without mentioning that he shared it for years. Minor corrections to this article were made in an erratum published in 'Notes on Some Aboriginal Tribes' (1907).
Notes: TRIBES
1. Nguemba
2. Kamilaroi
3. Wongaibon
4. Wirraidyuri
5. Barkunjee
6. Wombaia
7. Yungmunni
8. Chingalee
9. Warramonga
10. Jarrau
11. Dippil
12. Murawarri
13. Baddyeri
14. Inchalanchee

LOCATIONS MENTIONED
1. Cresswell Creek
2. Burnett Downs NT
3. Halls Creek WA
4. Booligal
5. Lachlan River
6. Euabalong
7. Nyngan
8. Cobar
9. Paddington
10. Ivanhoe
11. Cape York Peninsula

INFORMANTS
1. 'My correspondents in the Northern Territory' (113).

CORRESPONDENTS
1. 'My correspondents in the Northern Territory' (113).

ILLUSTRATIONS
Nil.

REFERENCE TO OWN WORK
1. 1894 marriage systems (104).
2. 1904 article on subdivisions 'which had quite escaped the observation of all previous writers' (104).
3. Eight division structures in Central and Western Australia (105).
4. Wongaibon language and initiation ceremonies (see 'other notes') (115-6).
5. 1898 paper on initiation ceremonies of Barkunjee (118).
6. Impossibility of exogamy (see 'other notes') (119).
7. Divisions (119-20).
8. 1898 Dippil sociology (121).
9. 1900 Cape York Peninsula phratries (122).
10. Murawarri, Baddyeri and Inchalanchee intermarrying laws 'which are altogether opposed to exogamy' (122).

CROSS-REFERENCE
In 'Notes on Some Aboriginal Tribes' (1907), p. 87, Mathews made corrections to this article. He says that on p. 120, line 25, Butha should read Ippatha. On lines 28 and 29 of the same page Buth and Ippatha should be transposed.
 

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Abstract: This short article describes the kinship and marriage rules of 'some tribes occupying the northeastern corner of Western Australia, comprising the country drained by the sources of the Ord, Denham, King and other rivers, Stirling Creek, Sturt Creek, Margaret River and the Upper Fitzroy'. The tribes of the area include the Lunga, Kityu, Charrau and Nining. Mathews explains that the tribes are divided 'into two portions, which may be called phratries, groups, or any other distinguishing title'. Each phratrie is divided into four sections which are named in a table. The article concludes that membership of a section is determined by the mother but that the 'totem of the offspring is determined by the old men in accordance with customary laws'. Information was supplied by 'correspondents who reside in the Kimberl[e]y district of Western Australia'.
Notes: TRIBES
1. Lunga
2. Kityu
3. Charru
4. Nining

LOCATIONS MENTIONED
1. Ord River
2. Denham River
3. King River
4. Stirling Creek
5. Sturt Creek
6. Margaret River
7. Upper Fitzroy River
8. Kimberley district

INFORMANTS
1. 'correspondents who reside in the Kimberly district of Western Australia' (32).

CORRESPONDENTS
1. 'correspondents who reside in the Kimberly district of Western Australia' (32).

ILLUSTRATIONS
Nil.

REFERENCE TO OWN WORK
1. Article on customs of native of WA, American Philosophical Society 1900 (32).
 

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Abstract: This short article describes the kinship and marriage rules of the Chingalee tribe of Northern Australia. Mathews explains that the tribe is divided into two phratries (moieties). Each phratry is divided into four sections which are named in a table. Mathews explains which sections are permitted to intermarry. The rules are complicated by the acceptability, on occasions, of a man making an irregular or 'alternative' marriage which does not conform to the normal rules. Mathews also makes some brief comments on totems. He provides a table listing the names of Chingalee people and their section name, their totem name and the totems of their father, mother and offspring. Mathews says he is trying to ascertain how the totems descend-'whether through the men or the women'. While Spencer and Gillen have argued for descent through the men, Mathews is 'dissatisfied with their conclusions'. The information in this article was provided by 'trustworthy correspondents residing in the territory of the Chingalee tribe'.
Notes: TRIBES
1. Chingalee
2. Wombaia
3. Wombya

LOCATIONS MENTIONED
Not applicable.

INFORMANTS
1. The following Chingalee (Djingilee) informants are named in a table: Charlie, Lucy, Harry, Nora, Jacob, Daisy, Old Dad, Old Dad's wife, Toby, Belle, Rowley, Rowley's wife, Jack, Mary.

CORRESPONDENTS
1. 'one of my valued and careful correspondents' (303).
2. 'trustworthy correspondents residing in the territory of the Chingalee tribe' (303).

ILLUSTRATIONS
Nil.

REFERENCE TO OWN WORK
1. 1900 Anthropological Society of Washington article on Wombya organisation (301).
 

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Abstract: This article is unusual among Mathews' writings. An overview of Aboriginal society, it complements 'The Origin, Organization and Ceremonies of the Australian Aborigines' (1900). The author gives insights on the structure and organisation of Aboriginal society, explaining the meaning of many terms that appear frequently in his publications including tribe, nation, headman, etc. He also provides data on tribal divisions and territory. While a variety of tribal names and groups are mentioned in the article, most data were drawn from inland New South Wales. Mathews defines 'tribe' as 'an aggregation of a number of families or groups, which may, for convenience of reference, be termed subtribes, who speak the same tongue and whose territory is situated within specified geographic limits.' Each tribe is distinguished by its general name, 'in most cases derived from the language spoken by its members'. On the subject of tribal boundaries, Mathews writes: 'The ethnographic limits of the district occupied by a tribe, especially if its members be numerous, are not very clearly defined, but seem to overlap or melt into each other'. He says there is usually 'a narrow strip of 'no man's land' between them, which is sometimes occupied by one people and sometimes by the other'. Boundaries of smaller tracts of country 'are not infrequently defined by hills, watercourses, belts of scrub, stretches of plain, or other remarkable features'. The boundary is invariably 'rigorously respected by both parties'. Describing political power in Aboriginal communities, Mathews says there 'was no kingly rule or arbitrary chieftainship…but matters of tribal interest were managed by a sort of informal council composed of the leading men of each local group'. Leadership was not hereditary, but decided by the qualities of the individual. Magic men, warriors or 'noted song-maker[s]' were likely candidates for a role of leadership. Mathews makes several observations about law enforcement. When a marriage contravenes the customary laws, the woman can be beaten and the man required to appear 'at an appointed meeting place, and submit to exemplary punishment'. Mathews recounts a story he heard when he attended the bora ceremony at 'Tallwood', New South Wales, described in 'The Bora of the Kamilaroi Tribes' (1896). It was related that a number of youths had been killed because they absconded from the ceremony.
Notes: TRIBES
1. Gundungurra
2. Thurrawal
3. Kumbainggeri
4. Wirraidyuri
5. Kamilaroi
6. Wongaibon
7. Wailwan
8. Pikumbil
9. Dhauhurtwurru
10. Bungandity
11. Thagwurru
12. Bunwurru
13. Woiwurru
14. Nundatyalli dialect
15. Buibatyalli dialect
16. Tyattyalli dialect
17. Yagwatyalli dialect
18. Bewatyalli dialect
19. Yota-yota
20. Yaako
21. Yarlo
22. Oitibi
23. Iyi
24. Thangatti
25. Thoorga
26. Wirraidyuri
27. Kamilaroi

LOCATIONS MENTIONED
1. Gippsland
2. Murray River
3. Raffles bay
4. Coburg Peninsula
5. Croker Island
6. Port Essington
7. Mount Kosciuszko
8. Dividing Range
9. Albury
10. Gulargambone
11. Castlereagh River
12. Hay
13. Yass
14. 'Gundabloui' Station

INFORMANTS
Not applicable.

CORRESPONDENTS
Not applicable.

ILLUSTRATIONS
Nil.

REFERENCE TO OWN WORK
1. 'Kamilaroi class system', Royal Geographical Society of Queensland, 1894 (943).

RELATED PUBLICATIONS
‘The Bora of the Kamilaroi Tribes’ (1896)
‘The Origin, Organization and Ceremonies of the Australian Aborigines’ (1900)
 

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Reference Type: Journal Article**
Record Number: 36
Author: Mathews, R. H.
Year: 1906
Title: Bemerkungen uber die Eingebornen Australiens
Journal: Mitteilungen der Anthropologischen Gesellschaft
Volume: 36
Pages: 167-73
Keywords: Avenging
Ceremonies – initiation
Kinship and marriage

Abstract: ‘Notes on the natives of Australia’ (transl.) is one of nine articles Mathews published in German. It appeared in Mitteilungen der Anthropologischen Gesellschaft, a leading anthropological journal published in Vienna. While Mathews seems to have had a basic knowledge of French and German, there is no evidence that he could write professionally in either language. In 2004 the published German article was translated back into English by Christine Winter for inclusion in the Mirranen Archive. Mathews deals with various subjects and localities in this article which is divided into three sections. The first, headed ‘Sociology of the Ngunnhalgu, Mailpurlgu and Maraura Tribes’, describes kinship and marriage customs of several communities residing along the Darling River in western New South Wales. In outlining the territory of these groups, Mathews writes that the Ngunnhalgu are neighbours of the Kurnu people. The Ngunnhalgu live along the Darling from Winbar to Wilcannia. Some way south of the latter settlement, they border with the Mailpurlgu whose territory extends downriver to include the towns of Menindee and Cuthero. The Maraura people occupy the lower parts of the Darling River, their territory extending to the town of Wentworth at the Murray junction. Mathews says that all these communities are divided into two phratries (or moieties). The system perpetuates itself matrilineally over generations, with children in all cases sharing the moiety of their mother. Every individual has a totem, and while it is possible for a man to take a wife from his own moiety, marriage within totemic groups is strictly forbidden. Mathews also writes that people are further classified according to the ‘blood’ and ‘shade’ divisions that he had observed in other parts of western New South Wales. The second part of the article is titled ‘Sociology of some Queensland Tribes’. Concerned with the marriage and kinship customs of north Queensland, it describes the Chunkunji, Gamete and Tanegute tribes who live in the vicinity of Batavia River. They are speakers of the Ngerikudi language which has various dialects. These communities are divided into two phratries (moieties), each of which is divided into two sections. Every individual has a totem. Both sections and totems descend matrilineally through the generations. Mathews briefly mentions male initiation and scarification in these communities. The final section of the article is titled ‘Gure or Revenge Expeditions’. It describes a traditional method of wreaking revenge on an enemy, practised along the Victoria, upper Murray, Mitta Mitta, Ovens, upper Goulburn and Yarra rivers in Victoria. Information was provided by a ‘native from the Mitta Mitta River in northeast Victoria’. Mathews gives a detailed account of the expedition, describing the preparation of weapons, the use of magic spells, the carving of designs onto gray box trees and the attack itself. This type of expedition bore similarity to the pirrimbir which Mathews had described in Notes on the Aborigines of New South Wales (1907).
Notes: TRIBES
1. Ngunnhalgu
2. Mailpurlgu
3. Maraura
4. Kurnu
5. Ngeumba
6. Kamilaroi
7. Wirraidyuri
8. Wailwan
9. Wongaibon
10. Chunkunji
11. Gamete
12. Tanegute
13. Ngerikudi

LOCATIONS MENTIONED
1. Darling River, NSW.
2. Wilcannnia
3. Winbar
4. Menindee
5. Cuthero
6. Wentworth
7. Cape York
8. Mapoon
9. Batavia River
10. Duyphen Point
11. Jardine River
12. Archer River
13. State of Victoria
14. Murray River
15. Mitta Mitta River
16. Ovens River
17. Goulburn River
18. Yarra River

INFORMANTS
1. A ‘native from the Mitta Mitta River in northeast Victoria’.

CORRESPONDENTS
1. No reference.

ILLUSTRATIONS
Nil.

REFERENCE TO OWN WORK
1. ‘Sociology of some Australian Tribes’ (1905).
2. ‘Ethnological Notes on the Aboriginal Tribes of New South Wales and Victoria’ (1904), pp. 206-16.
3. ‘Ethnological Notes on the Aboriginal Tribes of Queensland’ (1904-05).
 

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Reference Type: Journal Article
Record Number: 114
Author: Mathews, R. H.
Year: 1906
Title: Notes on Some Native Tribes of Australia
Journal: Journal and Proceedings of the Royal Society of New South Wales
Volume: 40
Pages: 95-129
Keywords: Avenging
Bush tucker
Ceremonial objects - Bullroarers
Cooking & eating
Kadaitcha
Pastoral industry workers
Kinship and marriage
Language elicitation
Stories & motifs

Abstract: Mathews states that his intention in this article is to 'deal with the sociology, language, and customs of some native tribes located in parts of the continent far removed from each other'. He addresses a different theme in each of eight sub-titled sections. The first, headed 'Sociology of the Kurnu Tribe', concerns the Aboriginal people who occupy 'both sides of the Darling River, from Bourke down to Winbar Station, extending back both northward and southward into the hinterland of the Darling for long distances'. The community, he says, is divided into two moieties or 'cycles', each of which is further divided into two sections. Members of one section must find their spouse from members of another, designated section. Mathews states that '[e]verything in the universe, animate and inanimate, belongs to one or other of the two cycles'. In addition, 'every individual in the community claims some animal or plant or other object as his or her totem'. The kinship system of the Kurnu people also divides the community into 'bloods' and 'shades', similar to that of the nearby Ngeumba people which Mathews described in Ethnological Notes on the Aboriginal Tribes of New South Wales and Victoria (1905) and other publications. There is extended discussion of how the kinship system operates in a practical sense. The second section is titled 'Sharing of game and other food'. Most of the information is not specific to particular parts of the country. Rather it describes customs 'universal' in Aboriginal Australia. Mathews describes how an animal is divided among relatives. Particular people get particular parts of an animal, while the hunter keeps the worst parts for himself. A similar practice is followed with yams, fruit, seeds, etc. The third section is titled 'Sociology of the Chau-an tribe'. The Chau-an occupy the country around the Katherine River in the Northern Territory. Mathews supplies information on Chau-an marriage and kinship. The community is divided into two moieties or 'cycles', each of which has four sections. Mathews explains the marriage laws, claiming that a man can marry women from various sections in accord with his theory on the admissibility of 'irregular' or 'alternative' marriages. He goes on to describe the importance of totems and spirit ancestors to mythology, and he refers to work by others writers on Aboriginal spirit ancestors and reincarnation. Section 4 is titled 'Languages of tribes about Alice Springs'. It opens with advice on how to get to Alice Springs from Adelaide. Mathews hopes this will encourage other researchers to record ethnographic information. However he makes no claim to having made the journey himself. He then discusses the ways in which Aboriginal people are finding employment in the region. The actual description of the language is sketchy. He details the pronouns in Arranda and Loritya. He also gives an 89-word vocabulary of the Loritya language. This was sent to him 'by one of my most valued correspondents in that locality'. A section titled 'Native shoes in the Northern Territory' describes the bark shoes sometimes worn when traversing the hot desert country. Referring to the work of E. M. Curr, he also describes the 'kooditcha' shoes made of feathers and worn by 'Shamans of the tribe' so as to leave no tracks. The section titled 'Bullroarers' describes two kinds of instrument used in the Adelaide district: one for ceremonial purposes and one for hunting. A section titled 'Naming of some native languages' discusses the custom of naming Aboriginal tribes after the negative adverb in their language. The eighth and final section is titled 'Gure or Avenging Party'. Mathews discusses the need amongst Victorian tribes in the areas of the upper Murray, Ovens, upper Goulburn and Yarra rivers to avenge a death so that the spirit of the deceased would not 'saunter about and harass his relations'. He provides a detailed account of how an avenging party, or Gure, goes about its business. This article reveals a general reluctance to name Indigenous informants or white correspondents. However, Aboriginal informants who were consulted by Spencer and Gillen are named.
Notes: TRIBES
1. Kurnu
2. Barkunjee
3. Yungmunni
4. Chau-an
5. Chingalee
6. Arranda (language)
7. Loritya
8. Yaako
9. Yarlo
10. Iyi
11. Oitibi

LOCATIONS MENTIONED
1. Darling River
2. Bourke
3. Winbar Station
4. Warrego River
5. Fords bridge
6. Alice Springs
7. South-western district of Victoria
8. Katherine River
9. Elsey Creek
10. Port Darwin
11. Finke River
12. Mount Freeling
13. Adelaide
14. Port Lincoln
15. Port Augusta
16. Daly River
17. Coburg Peninsula
18. Perth
19. Oodnadatta
20. Hamilton Bore
21. Bloods Creek
22. Horse-shoe Bend
23. Alice Well
24. Alberga Creek
25. Charlotte Waters
26. Goyders Creek
27. Old Crown Point
28. Depot Well
29. Frances Well
30. Deep Well
31. Ooraminna
32. Lindsay River
33. Lower Finke River
34. Stuart
35. Pine Creek
36. Palmerston
37. Winnecke
38. Arltunga
39. Glen Helen Cattle Station
40. Macdonnell Ranges
41. Musgrave Ranges
42. Lake Amadeus
43. Ehrenberg Ranges
44. Blythe Ranges
45. Petermann Ranges
46. Lake Eyre
47. Croker Island
48. Raffles Bay
49. Port Essington
50. Port Phillip
51. Mary River
52. Upper Murray River
53. Mitta Mitta River
54. Ovens River
55. Upper Goulburn River
56. Yarra River

INFORMANTS
1. 'the natives' (95).
2. 'a capable and reliable resident' (of the Elsey Creek district) (105).
3. Mathews mentions, by name, two of Spencer's and Gillen's informants: '[t]he two blackfellows, 'Jimmy' and 'Warwick,' who acted as interpreters to Messers. Spencer and Gillen, are natives of the Lower Finke and Lindsay Rivers country, where they are usually employed on stations and otherwise' (115).
4. 'a resident' of the Macdonnell Ranges, who forwarded, at Mathews' request, information regarding pronouns (117).
5. States that the Loritya vocabulary supplied 'has been written down from the mouths of the native speakers, by one of my most valued correspondents in that locality' (120).
6. 'an aboriginal native of the Mitta Mitta River' (124).

CORRESPONDENTS
1. 'a valuable correspondent in the Alice Springs district' who, at Mathews' request sent the latter information regarding the rules relating to the partitioning of game (104).
2. 'I am informed that ... ' (106) - by whom?
3. States that 'some friends of mine have had business at the mining fields, in the Alice Springs district' (114). Mathews does not state that these friends are informants, but this might be surmised. Alternatively, it might indicate that Mathews carried out his own fieldwork in the district under the 'patronage' of these friends.
4. 'a resident' of the Macdonnell Ranges, who forwarded, at Mathews' request, information regarding pronouns.

ILLUSTRATIONS
Nil.

REFERENCE TO OWN WORK
1. Refers to article on elementary grammar and vocabulary of the Kurnu language, contributed to the Royal Society of New South Wales in 1902 (95).
2. Refers to a supplementary grammar of the Kurnu language forwarded to the Anthropological Society in Paris in 1904 (95).
3. Refers to a description of Kurnu initiation ceremonies submitted to the Anthropological Society in Vienna in 1904 (95).
4. Refers to an article illustrating the sociology of the Barkunjee tribe, contributed to the Royal Society of New South Wales in 1905 (96).
5. Refers to sociology of the Yungmunni community (Elsey Creek) described for this journal in 1900 (105).
6. Refers to having described in 1899 sections and grammatical structure of the language of the people around Alice Springs (116-7).
7. Refers to 1900 published report on Loritya social organisation (four divisions) (118).
8. Notes having reported in 1903 'some other methods adopted by tribes ... in naming their dialects' (124).
9. Refers twice to a previous description of the 'Pirrimbir', which is a similar avenging expedition to the gure (126 and 129).

CROSS-REFERENCE
Mathews referred to the views on pregnancy expressed on pp. 107-11 of this article as correct when he revised opinions expressed in earlier publications. This occurred in 'Notes on the Arranda tribe' (1907) when he retracted what he had said in 'Marriage and Descent among the Australian Aborigines' (1900) and 'Some Aboriginal Tribes of Western Australia' (1901).
 

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Reference Type: Journal Article
Record Number: 121
Author: Mathews, R. H.
Year: 1906
Title: Organisation sociale de quelques tribus australiennes
Journal: Bulletins et Mémoires de la Société d'Anthropologie de Paris
Volume: 7 (5th series)
Issue: 3
Pages: 164-74
Keywords: Kinship and marriage
Religion - Totemism
Reproduction - conception
Stories & motifs

Abstract: 'Social Organisation of some Australian Tribes' (transl.) is one of nine articles Mathews published in French. It appeared in Bulletins et Mémoires de la Société d'Anthropologie de Paris, a leading anthropological journal. Although Mathews seems to have had a basic knowledge of French and German, there is no evidence that he could write professionally in either language. Oscar Schmidt is here credited as the translator. In 2004 Schmidt's French version was translated back into English by Mathilde de Hauteclocque for inclusion in the Mirranen Archive. The article is principally concerned with marriage and kinship customs. Mathews' primary case study is the Yungmunni tribe who occupy a large part of the plain separating the sources of the Roper and Daly rivers in the Northern Territory. Mathews says that he has never personally visited Yungmunni territory. His information was provided by 'owners and managers' of pastoral properties with whom he corresponded. The article is, in most respects, typical of Mathews' writings on kinship. He describes how the Yungmunni community is divided into two 'cycles' or 'phratries' (moieties), each of which is further divided into four sections. He explains the standard marriage rules through the use of tables that indicate which of the eight sections are permitted to intermarry. Mathews then explains his theory of 'irregular' or 'alternative' marriages-alliances which, although not governed by the standard rules, do not occur indiscriminately. By studying the section names of the offspring of irregular marriages, Mathews tries to prove that the Yungmunni kinship system descends matrilineally through the generations. The discussion of kinship is followed by a detailed description of totemism in Central Australia and the means by which an individual acquires his or her totem. Mathews describes how the landscape is populated with ancestor spirits, 'each possessing their own hunting ground in a part of the tribe's territory'. The spirits, whose exploits are well known through orally transmitted folklore, are associated with particular sites. 'After a number of generations, all the camps, all the ponds, all the large rocks, the springs, the hills, the noteworthy trees etc of this territory were packed, saturated, so to speak, with spirits'. A child's totem is determined by the locality at which a pregnant woman feels 'for the first time, movement within her'. This is interpreted as the 'spirit or the soul of a late ancestor' entering the body. 'When the child is born, it will be given the totemic name of the mystical ancestor attributed to this special place'. Mathews claims that a lack of understanding of this belief has confused other authors who claim that 'the filiation of totems is made via the father'. Mathews concludes the argument with some critical remarks about his Australian rivals. Stating that 'exogamy is absolutely impossible in the native tribes of the Northern Territory, New South Wales, Victoria, Queensland and eastern Australia', he attacks the publications of W. Baldwin Spencer and F. J. Gillen, as well as their friend A. W. Howitt. Mathews also reiterates his firmly held opinion that neither 'sexual promiscuity, nor what has been called 'group marriage' have ever existed within the Australian tribes'. He denies that the kinship system was devised to prevent marriage within families, instead proposing that it 'gradually developed under the influence of the environment'. After M. Papillault of the Société d'Anthropologie de Paris sought clarification of aspects of this article, Mathews was inspired to contribute 'Sociologie de la tribu des Chingalee du territoire septentrional' (1907).
Notes: TRIBES
1. Yungmunni
2. Kamilaroi
3. Wirraidyuri
4. Ngeumba
5. Dippil

LOCATIONS MENTIONED
1. Roper and Daly rivers of the Northern Territory.
2. New South Wales.
3. Queensland.
4. Victoria.
5. Eastern Australia

INFORMANTS
Not applicable.

CORRESPONDENTS
Not applicable.

ILLUSTRATIONS
1. Nil.

REFERENCE TO OWN WORK
1. ‘Organisation Sociale des Tribus Aborigènes de l’Australie’, Bulletins et Mémoires de la Société d’Anthropologie de Paris, vol. 5, issue 4, 1901.
2. ‘The Kamilaroi Class System of the Australian Aborigines’, Proceedings and transactions of the Royal Geographical Society of Australasia, vol. 10, 1894-95.
3. ‘The Totemic Divisions of the Australian Tribes’, Journal and Proceedings of the Royal Society of New South Wales, vol. 31, 1897.
4. ‘Divisions of Queensland Aborigines’, Proceedings of the American Philosophical Society of Philadelphia, vol. 37, 1898.
5. Ethnological Notes on the Native Tribes of New South Wales and Victoria, (Sydney: 1905, F. W. White).

CROSS REFERENCES
‘Sociologie de la tribu des Chingalee du territoire septentrional’ (1907) addresses limitations identified by M. Papillault of the Société d’Anthropologie de Paris.
 

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Reference Type: Journal Article
Record Number: 132
Author: Mathews, R. H.
Year: 1906
Title: Sociology of Aboriginal Tribes in Australia
Journal: American Antiquarian
Volume: 28
Pages: 81-88
Keywords: Kinship and marriage

Abstract: In this article Mathews presents to an American audience arguments that he had previously advanced in 'Sociology of some Australian Tribes' (1905), the article that marked a dramatic turnaround in the his views on kinship and marriage customs. Mathews has high expectations of the article which he believes will 'revolutionize or completely dispel all the antiquated notions of previous writers regarding exogamy…and enable investigators to make a fresh start'. The opening pages of the article articulate Mathews' views on kinship during this period. Communities are divided into two 'parts or phratries' (moieties). In many areas each phratry is further divided into two divisions, and in others into four. 'But whether there are two, or four or eight partitions of the community,' he writes, 'the fundamental principles governing the intermarriages are the same in them all'. That general principle is 'that the matrimonial alliances are really between the grandchildren of a brother and the grandchildren of his sister'. This, he says, is the case in the Kurnu (of western New South Wales), Kamilaroi (of northern New South Wales), Warramonga (of the Northern Territory) and in various Victorian communities. Each of these is discussed in some detail. Tables showing phratry and section names explain which groups intermarry and how the section of the offspring is determined. The existence of 'alternative' or 'exceptional' marriages provide evidence that the phratries are not invariably exogamous. In the case of the Kamilaroi, for instance, there are occasions when 'the men of any and every given section, taken collectively, can marry into the whole four sections of women'. Mathews also gives a fairly thorough description of the 'shade' and 'blood' classifications that are operative in areas of New South Wales. While the article aims to 'revolutionize' kinship study, its brevity and its failure to address the theories being implicitly criticised reveal a degree of wishful thinking on the part of the author. A. W. Howitt and Lorimer Fison are not mentioned at all, although they had written an internationally recognised book on Kamilaroi communities. Although it is not stated in the article, this is only half the text. The continuation appears under the title 'The Totemistic System in Australia', also published by American Antiquarian in 1906.
Notes: TRIBES
1. Kamilaroi
2. Kurnu
3. Warramonga
4. Victorian tribes
5. Nguemba
6. Wongaibon
7. Wailwan
8. Barkunjee

LOCATIONS MENTIONED
1. Alice Springs
2. Katherine River
3. Gregory River QLD
4. Ord River WA
5. Fitzroy River WA
6. Darling River NSW
7. Bourke River
8. Winbar station
9. Warrego River
10. Fords Bridge
11. Jerrys Plains
12. Hunter River
13. Walgett
14. Mungindi
15. Barwon River
16. Namoi River NSW
17. Gwyndir River NSW
18. Geelong VIC
19. Castlemaine VIC
20. Pyramid Hill VIC
21. Tennant Creek telegraph station
22. Davenport Range
23. Whittington Range

INFORMANTS
1. 'several independent correspondents who have resided in the country of the Waramonga for many years' (81).

CORRESPONDENTS
1. 'several independent correspondents' (81).
2. 'my correspondents residing in [the Warramonga] district' (88).

ILLUSTRATIONS
Nil.

REFERENCE TO OWN WORK
1. 'I was the first author to publish the divisions which I have denominated 'Blood' and 'Shade' respectively in any Australian tribe' (81).
2. Social organisation and descent in NSW and VIC (87).
3. Victorian initiation (87).
4. 1898 article showing 'alternative marriage' (88).
5. 1901 Warramonga sociology and 'alternative wives' (88).
6. 1901 'exceptional marriages' (88).

RELATED PUBLICATIONS
'Sociology of Some Australian Tribes' (1909)
'Sociology of Aboriginal Tribes in Australia' (1905)
'The Totemistic System in Australia' (1906)
 

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Reference Type: Journal Article
Record Number: 175
Author: Mathews, R. H.
Year: 1906
Title: The Totemistic System in Australia
Journal: American Antiquarian
Volume: 28
Pages: 140-47
Keywords: Kinship and marriage
Reproduction - conception
Stories & motifs

Abstract: A note at the top of this paper reads 'Second Article'. A footnote establishes that it is a direct continuation of Mathews' previous contribution to American Antiquarian 'Sociology of Aboriginal Tribes in Australia' (1906). The paper continues the discussion of the Warramonga people of the Northern Territory and their marriage system. This information was gained 'from capable and reliable men who reside in that part of the country'. Mathews includes a table showing section names and legitimate marriage partners then goes on to explain totems in a way that is highly attuned to the influence of environment and locality. Connections are drawn between kinship and mythology. Mathews writes that '[i]n the course of many generations all the camping places, waterholes, large rocks, springs, hills, trees and remarkable objects' in an area of country 'would become saturated, so to speak, with spirits of all sorts'. He explains how the exact location of 'every one of these notable ancestral spots has been handed down by oral tradition to all the present natives, who give a poetical and much embellished account of the doings of their ancestors, largely intermixed with superstition'. Mathews claimed that Aborigines 'are quite ignorant of the natural facts of procreation', believing that conception is independent of sexual intercourse. 'When a woman for the first time feels the movements of the child in the womb, commonly called by us 'quickening,' she takes particular notice of the spot where it occurred and reports it to the people present'. At this moment it is assumed 'that the spirit or soul of some deceased progenitor has just at that moment entered the woman's body'. When the child is born it receives the totemic name of the 'mythical ancestor' belonging to that locality. The article concludes with a denunciation of Mathews' rivals. W. Baldwin Spencer and F. J. Gillen are chided for publishing a table showing the eight divisions of the Warramonga tribe in a way that is 'nothing more than an incongruous jumble'. A. W. Howitt, in his book The Native Tribes of South-East Australia, reveals 'that he is unacquainted with even the elements of Australian sociology'. Howitt responded to these criticisms in an article titled 'The Native Tribes of Southeast Australia' (1908), published in volume 30 of American Antiquarian.
Notes: TRIBES
1. Kamilaroi
2. Kurnu
3. Warramonga
4. Wombaia

INFORMANTS
1. 'capable and reliable men who reside in that part of the country' (142).
2. 'my correspondents' (142).
3. 'thoroughly reliable correspondents' (147).

CORRESPONDENTS
1. 'my correspondents' (142).
2. 'thoroughly reliable correspondents' (147).

ILLUSTRATIONS
Nil.

REFERENCE TO OWN WORK
1. Various articles on Aboriginal sociology (140).
2. 'several articles on the sociology of the aborigines of Australia, which have been published in various scientiflc [sic] journals in Australia, America and Europe' (146).
3. A map 'showing the boundaries of tribes with two divisions, those with four and those with eight … Such a map had never been attempted before' (147).

RELATED PUBLICATIONS
'Sociology of Some Australian Tribes' (1909)
'Sociology of Aboriginal Tribes in Australia' (1905)
'The Totemistic System in Australia' (1906)
 

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Reference Type: Journal Article
Record Number: 118
Author: Mathews, R. H.
Year: 1906-07
Title: Notes on the Aborigines of the Northern Territory, Western Australia and Queensland
Journal: Queensland Geographical Journal
Volume: 22
Pages: 74-86
Keywords: Ceremonial objects - Bullroarers
Kinship and marriage
Reproduction - conception
Subincision

Abstract: This article describes marriage, kinship, and various other Aboriginal beliefs and customs in the Northern Territory, Western Australia and Queensland. The article is divided into three parts. Part I is titled 'Northern Territory'. It opens by describing the kinship and marriage system of the Chingalee people who reside in the vicinity of Daly Waters, Powells Creek and Newcastle Waters. Mathews presents two tables which show the community is divided into two 'cycles' (moieties), each of which is divided into four sections. The tables indicate which sections intermarry and also show the section names of the children. Mathews presents a finding which he claims has never been previously published: that among the Chingalee the section name of a male or female 'who has passed through the ceremonies connected with the attainment of puberty is different from the section name which he or she bore from birth up to that time'. Mathews then recounts Chingalee beliefs about conception and the entry of the child's spirit to the mother's body. This is followed by some brief ethnographic observations: on circumcision among the Chauan tribe; on nose boring along the Katherine River; on stone implements and boomerangs around Daly Waters; and on the use of timbers along the Victorian River and its hinterland. All information pertaining to the Northern Territory seems to have been provided by correspondents. Part II is titled 'Western Australia'. It commences by describing the kinship and marriage customs of the tribes around Malcolm, Erlistoun, Lake Wells and other places in the vicinity of the Mount Margaret goldfield. In these communities the tribes are divided into two 'cycles' (moieties), each of which is divided into two sections. The sections permitted to intermarry and the section names of the offspring are indicated in a table. Mathews' information was provided by a correspondent, Thomas Muir JP. Mathews compares Muir's findings to reports published by Daisy Bates and other authors. This section of the article concludes with various ethnographic observations about subincision and bullroarers. The manufacture and storage of bullroarers is described with reference to testimony from L. A. Wells, a correspondent from Joanna Spring, about 130 miles south of the Fitzroy River. Part III of the article is titled 'Queensland'. It describes the kinship system of Kittabool-speaking people who Mathews had known in the years 1872-74 while living at Deepwater and Tenterfield in the New England district of New South Wales. At that time the Kittabool were residing around Woodenbong in northern New South Wales, however their traditional territory 'extended northerly over the Queensland frontier' to the sources of the Logan River. Mathews revisited the community in 1898 and documented their kinship system. There are two primary 'cycles' (moieties), each of which is divided into two sections. The system descends matrilineally through the mother. Mathews also gives a 'reliable list of totems'. Mathews then reports on the kinship system he had documented at Maryborough and in other parts of southeast Queensland. Repeating criticism that he had first made in 'Divisions of Queensland Aborigines' (1898), Mathews attacks A. W. Howitt's claim that descent of the kinship system in this area is patrilineal. Mathews is convinced that Howitt was led astray by Harry E. Aldridge, a settler in the district with whom Mathews had also corresponded. The reliability of Aldridge's testimony was raised in 1907 when Mathews and Howitt quarreled in the letters pages of Nature. See 'Literature relating to Australian Aborigines [Letter to the Editor]' (1907). In 'Notes on the Aborigines of the Northern Territory, Western Australia and Queensland' (1906-07) Mathews revealed his suspicion that Howitt was misinformed by Harry E. Aldridge, a Queensland settler with whom both Mathews and Howitt had corresponded. In 'Sociology of the Chingalee tribe, Northern Australia' (1908) Mathews elaborated on his discovery that the section names in the Chingalee kinship system change after initiation.
Notes: TRIBES
1. Chingalee
2. Chauan
3. Binbingha
4. Warramonga
5. Mt. Margaret tribes
6. Barkunjee
7. Kittabol
8. Turrubul
9. Murawarri
10. Baddyeri
11. Wonkamurra
12. Wawpah
13. Bunjellung
14. Wawpa
15. Nguemba
16. Dippil
17. Turrwan
18. Dyerwain
19. Kaibara


LOCATIONS MENTIONED
1. Daly Waters, NT
2. Powells Creek, NT
3. Newcastle Water, NT
4. Katherine River, NT
5. Port Darwin, NT
6. Elsey Creek, NT
7. Victoria River, NT
8. Barrow Creek, NT
9. Wilton River, NT
10. Roper River, NT
11. Malcolm, WA
12. Erlistoun, WA
13. Lake Wells, WA
14. Mount Margaret, WA
15. Albany, WA
16. Perth, WA
17. Halls Creek district, WA
18. Joanna Spring, WA
19. Fitzroy River, WA
20. Burnett River, QLD
21. Mary River, QLD
22. Dawson, River, QLD
23. Condamine River, QLD
24. Camooweal, QLD
25. Barklays Tableland, QLD
26. Gulf of Carpentaria, QLD
27. Beenleigh, QLD
28. Port Curtis, QLD
29. Logan River, QLD
30. Bremer River, QLD
31. Brisbane River, QLD
32. Banana, QLD
33. Deepwater
34. Tenterfield
35. Stanthorpe
36. Woodenbong
37. Warwick
38. Goondiwindi, QLD
39. Clarence River, NSW
40. Richmond River, NSW
41. Drake
42. Tabulam
43. Leyburn
44. Pikes Creek
45. Inglewood
46. Dalby
47. Ipswich
48. Rockhampton
49. Wide Bay
50. Maryborough
51. Dawson River

INFORMANTS
1. 'the Kittabool blacks' (83).
2. 'Old men of the Kittabool tribe' (84).
3. Mr. T. Petrie (84).
4. 'some intelligent old blacks' at Maryborough (85).

CORRESPONDENTS
1. Mr. Thos. Muir, J. P. (80).
2. Mr. T. Petrie (84).
3. Mr. T. Petrie (84 - footnote).
4. Mr. H. E. Aldridge (86).
5. 'A correspondent who has been in that district [Katherine River] for many years past' (76-7).
6. 'My correspondents' (77).
7. 'One of my correspondents in the Hall's Creek district' (81).
8. 'A correspondent residing on the Upper Finke river in the Northern Territory' (81).

ILLUSTRATIONS
Nil.

REFERENCE TO OWN WORK
1. 1900-1 paper in same journal listing the sections of the Chingalee tribe (74).
2. Articles 'contributed to several learned Societies during the past nine years' (78).
3. Volume XX of this journal 'I have a description' of tribes in south-western QLD (82).
4. Refers to work on blood divisions of Nguemba and other tribes (83).
5. Refers to 1898 work on Dippil marriages, similar to those reported by Ridley for the Turrubul (84).
6. Reference to collecting details of the 'Toara Ceremony of Initiation', 1898 publication (85).

CROSS-REFERENCE
'Literature relating to Australian Aborigines [Letter to the Editor]' (1907)
‘Sociology of the Chingalee tribe, Northern Australia’ (1908)

RELATED ARTICLES
‘Divisions of Queensland Aborigines’ (1898)
 

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