Page:Native Tribes of South-East Australia.djvu/119

III On the south side of Lake Eyre there is a tribe, or perhaps more properly a horde of the Urabunna calling themselves Yendakarangu, and their murdns are as follows, as far as I have been able to ascertain; but it is evident that these are only a part of the totems that the Yendakarangu must have possessed in common with the other tribes of Lake Eyre:—

It is to be noted that the totems which were obtained for me some years ago in the Yendakarangu district differ in some respects from those given by Spencer and Gillen, in the first place the class names in my list are those of the Dieri, while in the latter they are Kirarawa and Matthurie. As regards Matthurie, the difference may be due merely to the different pronunciation by the native informant, or the inability of my correspondent to seize the exact pronunciation, but I do not think this will apply to the other class name, because the difference seems too marked to have been overlooked. It seems possible that the Yendakarangu, who are near neighbours of the southern Dieri and of the Tirari, may, in fact, have the same form of class names as both, and also have those murdus which are not given in the list by Spencer and Gillen. But I feel that it is only fair to these authors to say, that where there is doubt as to the totems of the Urabunna, who include the Yendakarangu, I should incline to their view, rather than that of my correspondent, who had not their scientific training or wide knowledge of the subject.