Page:Dawson - Australian aborigines (1900).djvu/46

 In nearly all the aboriginal tribes of Australia young men are not allowed to marry until they have been formally initiated into manhood. In some tribes this initiation requires them to be subjected to ordeals and ceremonies more or less repulsive. In other tribes the trials are so severe that they often not only ruin the health, but cause the death of many delicate young men. Indeed, it is possible that they are designed to get rid of the weakly, who would be of no use either in hunting or in war, and would be only an encumbrance to the tribe. The customs, however, of those tribes which are treated of in this volume are quite free from this repulsiveness and severity.

A youth is not considered to be a man until he has undergone this probation, which is called katneetch in the chaap wuurong dialect, katnitt in the kuurn kopan noot dialect, and tapmet in the peek whuurong dialect. During the progress of this probation he is called kutneet, which is really 'hobbledehoy.' No person related to him by blood can interfere or assist in the proceedings. Should the boy have brothers-in-law, they come and take him into a wuurn, dress and ornament him, and remove him to their own country, where he remains for twelve moons. Should he not have brothers-in-law, strangers from a distant tribe come and take him to their country, where he is received with welcome by his new friends. After two moons he is allowed to visit his own tribe, but not without several men to take care of him and bring him back. If, during his sojourn, he becomes ill, he is sent home to his own tribe, for, were he to die, they would avenge his death. During the term of probation his wants are liberally supplied, and he is not permitted to do anything for himself. When he wishes to go anywhere, he must be carried by the men who brought him from his own country. The women also of the tribe must wait upon him with every mark of respect, and should any disobey his orders he has a right to spear them. He is not allowed to speak the language of the tribe, but he learns to understand it when spoken. At the end of twelve moons his relatives call and take him to attend the first great meeting of the tribes. Before leaving, they pull out all the hairs of his beard, and make him drink water mixed with mud; which completes his initiation into manhood. The knocking out of the upper front teeth, which is practised by some other tribes on such occasions, is unknown in the Western District.

He is then introduced to the young woman who is to be his wife. They may look at one another, but are not allowed to converse. When the young man's beard has grown again, and the young woman has attained a marriageable