LECTURE VI
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THE BELIEF IN IMMORTALITY AMONG THE OTHER ABORIGINES OF AUSTRALIA
Customs and beliefs concerning the dead in the other tribes of Australia.
In the last lecture I concluded my account of the beliefs and practices of the Central Australian aborigines in regard to the dead. To-day I propose to consider the customs and beliefs concerning the dead which prevail among the native tribes in other parts of Australia. But at the outset I must warn you that our information as to these other tribes is far less full and precise than that which we possess as to the tribes of the centre, which have had the great advantage of being observed and described by two highly qualified scientific observers, Messrs. Spencer and Gillen. Our knowledge of all other Australian tribes is comparatively fragmentary, and accordingly it is impossible to give even an approximately complete view of their notions concerning the state of the human spirit after death, and of the rites which they observe for the purpose of disarming or propitiating the souls of the departed. We must therefore content ourselves with more or less partial glimpses of this side of native religion.
Belief in the reincarnation of the dead among the natives of Queensland. The ngai spirits.
Thus these savages explain the phenomena of birth and death, of conscious and unconscious life, by a theory of a double human spirit, one associated with the heart and the other with the shadow. The psychology is rudimentary, still it is interesting as an attempt to solve problems which still puzzle civilised man.
Beliefs of the natives of Cape Bedford in Queensland.
Beliefs of the natives of the Tully River in Queensland.
Belief of the Australian aborigines that their dead are reborn in white people.
Experience of Sir George Grey.
In South-eastern Australia the natives believed that the souls of the dead were not reborn but went up to the sky.
Beliefs of the Narrinyeri concerning the dead.
Narrinyeri fear of the dead. Mourning customs.
Deaths attributed by the Narrinyeri to sorcery.
Pretence made by the Narrinyeri of avenging the death of their friends on the guilty sorcerer.
Magical virtue ascribed to the hair of the dead.
Belief that the souls of the dead go up to the sky.
Appearance of the dead to the living, especially in dreams.
Savage faith in the truth of dreams. Association of the stars with the souls of the dead.
Creed of the South-eastern Australians touching the dead.
The creed seems to form part of a general advance of culture in this part of the continent.
Possible influence of European teaching on native beliefs.
Vagueness and inconsistency of native beliefs as to the state of the dead. Custom or ritual as the interpreter of belief.
However, it is very difficult to ascertain the exact beliefs of savages as to the dead. The thought of the savage is apt to be vague and inconsistent; he neither represents his ideas clearly to his own mind nor can he express them lucidly to others, even if he wishes to do so. And his thought is not only vague and inconsistent; it is fluid and unstable, liable to shift and change under alien influence. For these and other reasons, such as the distrust of strangers and the difficulty of language, which often interposes a formidable barrier between savage man and the civilised enquirer, the domain of primitive beliefs is beset by so many snares and pitfalls that we might almost despair of arriving at the truth, were it not that we possess a clue to guide us on the dark and slippery way. That clue is action. While it is generally very difficult to ascertain what any man thinks, it is comparatively easy to ascertain what he does; and what a man does, not what he says, is the surest touchstone to his real belief. Hence when we attempt to study the religion of backward races, the ritual which they practise is generally a safer indication of their actual creed than the loudest profession of faith. In regard to the state of the human soul after death the beliefs of the Australian aborigines are clearly reflected in many of the customs which they observe at the death and burial of their friends and enemies, and it is accordingly with an account of some of these customs that I propose to conclude this part of my subject.
Burial customs of the Australian aborigines as evidence of their beliefs concerning the state of the soul after death. Food placed on the grave for the use of the ghost and fires kindled to warm him.
Property of the dead buried with them.
Intention of destroying the property of the dead. The property of the dead not destroyed in Central Australia.
Property of the dead hung up on trees, then washed and distributed. Economic loss entailed by sacrifices to the dead.