Page:Native Tribes of South-East Australia.djvu/790

764 off, saying that, if I did that, all the fish would leave the Coorong Inlet and they would be without food.

In the Wolgal tribe the game was divided as in the Ngarigo tribe. When a married man caught a kangaroo or other large game, he sent it all to his father's camp, and would himself eat small game; but if he had no other meat, his father would send him the head and part of the backbone. His wife would have to rely on her relations for a share of their meat. There was no rule in the Yuin tribe as to sharing game, but if a man had more than he wanted, he would give the excess to some relative or friend, for instance, to his parents, or his wife's parents. But he was not under any obligation to do so.

The Wiradjuri divide the food on the rule of the community of goods, a general distribution, or sharing alike.

In the Wotjobaluk tribe all game was divided by one of the hunters, who parcelled it out in certain portions, leaving a part for himself As an instance, when a man killed a kangaroo, and there were in the camp his mother's brother, an old man, his wife's parents, a married man, and two young men, he gave the body of the kangaroo to the old man, who gave some to his sister's son who was with him; the head and forequarters to his wife's parents; a leg, the tail, and some fat to the married man, and the young men had the remainder.

Among the Mukjarawaint, if an unmarried man killed a kangaroo, and a Garchuka or some other man, say a Wurant, were with him, the game would be first cooked, then they would eat some and afterwards divide it into three parts. The hunter would take his part home. If the hunter lived with his grandparents (there being no young men's camp there), he would give his grandfather all his share. If married, he would send some to his wife's parents by her, because he could not go near her mother, or her father might come himself for some. If the hunter's parents were there, she would take them some, or his mother would come for it. There is no rule as to which part of the kangaroo is given.