KEEPING THE LAW

Evening Star, Issue 22619, 10 April 1937, Page 32

KEEPING THE LAW

AMONG AUSTRALIAN BLACKS RUNNING THE ORDEAL Law and order amjug the Australian aborigines is discussed in an informative contribution to the ‘ Australian Museum Magazine,’ by Miss E. Brainell, M.A., I) ip. Ed. The author states that kinship ties are of immense importance in the conduct of all social, economic, and religious matters. A man’s mode of behaviour towards his fellows is not left to individual whims, nor guided by personal likes and dislikes, but is based on traditional patterns that have been followed through the ages. The kinship circle is so wide that it includes not only an individual’s own family and clan, but all those connected by marriage, including the whole of their families, and, lastly, any others with whom ho can establish a link of some kind. Towards each one of these people he is required to adopt a particular attitude that is prescribed by custom. Such obligations are mutual, everyone has his place in the scheme. If a man will not play his part, he becomes an outcastj and soon finds that if he is to join m community life at all he must be prepared to give as well as to receive. A breach of social etiquette incurs the severe censure of his fellows, and this is far-reaching enough in its effects to ikeep him more or loss amenable to custom. ELDERS AS GUARDIANS. The guardians of the tribal morals are the elders. They meet in informal council away from the women and the uninitiated. Age is not, however, the only qualification for membership. A man must, of course, be of mature years and be fully initiated, but a gift of eloquence, knowledge of tribal lore, skill in magic or fighting qualities, may win him a place amongst the leaders of the community. Great deference is paid to the elders for their superior knowledge and wisdom; certain coveted foods are reserved for their consumption alone. The assembly of elders concerns itself with all communal matters, both external and internal. External affairs include relations between groups, such as negotiations for peace or war, the settling of quarrels with or without bloodshed, conduct of trade, reception of visitors, and the attitude to _he adopted towards non-tribesmen. With regard to internal affairs, the council decides when and where the camp is to be shifted, directs all ceremonies, allots wives, and maintains social harmony. Minor disputes are left to be settled by the individuals concerned, but violent (juarrels, which result in serious physical injury or homicide, are grave enough to be taken in hand by the elders, and the disputants are obliged to abide by their decision. The aborigine makes a distinction between criminal and civil law—-i.e.. between misdeeds which are considered to he offences against society as a whole and those which harm onlv the individual. Compared with civilised jurisprudence, his code permits of fewer public but a greater number of private offences. To him a crime means black magic, incest, or a breach of the marriage laws, and the revealing of sacred secrets. These are the most serious offences that can be committed, and in the old days a person guilty of any of them suffered the extreme penalty—death.

The practice of magic with evil intent, whether it be to encompass sickness or death, excites general indignation, and is universally condemned. The medicine man may be encouraged to use his skill against a hostile group, but not against a fellow clansman. The discovery of a malicious sorcerer who directs his powers against his fellows arouses such fear and horror that the community seldom permits him long to outlive his victim. Not infrequently he is enticed to some lonely spot and is put to death by the agents of the central authority. With regard to incest or unions between persons forbidden to each other by the social code, there exists a very stringent prohibition against marriage of close kin. An illicit marriage is not an offence that can be easily atoned for and forgotten; it is an act deserving of moral reprobation and calls forth the strongest feelings of repulsion and disgust. So horror-stricken are the members of the community upon discovery of an irregular union that the execution of the guilty couple is considered to be the just and proper penalty. Homicide, or the taking of human life, does not receive the moral condemnation acc vded in our own society. To the aborigine the act of slaying a human being is not an evil thing in itself. Generally it is reprehensible and deserving of punishment only if the victim is a member of the home group, or if it brings trouble from outside upon the murderer’s kin in the form of a demand for compensation. Actually it is the identity of the murdered person and his social relationship to the murderer that count. Thus homicide is regarded from two. different angles, according as the victim is a member of the community or an alien. In the former case, the murderer may not be slain for the deed, because his death would mean further injury to the group: in the latter instance, his act is regarded with indifference, perhaps even with approval by his own friends, though he runs the risk of death at the hands of the victim’s sympathisers. THE BLOOD REVENGE. The blood revenge expedition is a custom of which we have all heard. Nevertheless, its real nature is often misunderstood. Some observers have emphasised the wild savagery of aboriginal justice because they have seen only the act of vengeance and understood nothing of what lies at the back of the deed. They are unaware that the avenger is acting for, and with the consent of, the community as a whole. It is not a wild act of revenge carried out by a" hall-crazed creature, but is a regulated procedure of organised vengeance. Anv man might be called upon to take such a role, which depends upon the degree of relationship to the injured person. The nearest male relative bears the major part of the responsibility, and it is shared by other close relatives and friends. The duty cannot be avoided under penalty of severe criticism by the rest of" the community. Should the father of a young boy be killed and no one be available to avenge the murder, then, when lie attains years of discretion and streng th, he is expected to perform this dutv. Moreover, bo is reminded of his obligation by the elders, who are the instigators of many a revenge expedition. In the light of these facts, one can understand the reason for the apparently wilful killings amongst the natives of North Australia which are reported from time to time. There are, however, less violent forms of retaliation than that of blood revenge. One is the expiatory ordeal. In North Queensland the culprit might ohor himself voluntarily for tlio penally due. He mav have to submit to a blow on the 'head for philandering with another man’s wife,

or allow the injured person to strike him on the mouth for slanderous utterances, or again he may have to face a party of armed men and, himself unarmed, have to dodge the weapons hurled at him. This ordeal may last from a few minutes to a couple of hours (in the latter case he may be provided with a shield), and it comes to an end when his attackers decide that his infuries are commensurate with his offence.