ANTHROPOLOGICAL STUDIES
by David Andrew Roberts
The discipline of social anthropology that burgeoned
in Europe from the mid-nineteenth century has paid particular
attention to the Aboriginal peoples of Australia. The culture
and language of the Lake Macquarie/Newcastle region has formed
a key component of that work, thanks partially to the rich body
of ethno-historical evidence and to the fortunate survival of
Awabakal people and culture well into the twentieth century. The
following is an overview of the earliest contributions that are
of relevance to the Aboriginal peoples of the Newcastle-Lake Macquarie
region.
Among the earliest pioneer anthropological work
relating to this region was that contributed by Alfred W. Howitt
on the "Geawe-gal" or "Geawegal" people of
the Singleton/Maitland district. Howitt's work was based largely
on information gathered from George William Rusden, clerk to the
Legislative Council of Victoria and son of the first chaplain
at Maitland, who spoke the language (Howitt
1904; Fison
and Howitt 1880: 279-84). In the Journal of the Anthropological
Institute in 1896, Robert Hamilton Matthews published a key
paper on the Keeparra initiation ceremony of the north-coast Aborigines,
based on observations made on the Manning River. The article included
a diagram of a ceremonial ground and discussion of the Dhalgai
ceremony (Matthews
1896). Matthews had earlier documented and drawn Aboriginal
rock paintings on Bulgar Creek, near Singleton (Matthews
1893). Robert Miller in 1886 wrote on the Wonnaruah people
of Hunter River in an essay that asserted broad similarities in
language and culture between Aborigines on the Hunter River and
the Hawkesbury region (Millar
1886). At about the same time, Reverend
Dr. John Fraser of Maitland offered papers to the Royal Society
of New South Wales, and compiled his landmark linguistic study
of the language he termed Awabakal (Fraser
1892).
In two short essays for the Science journal
in 1898, J.W. Fawcett outlined the "customs and dialect of
the Wonnah-Ruah tribe", discussing the collection and preparation
of food, weapons and implements, infanticide, initiation and marriage
laws, and featuring a vocabulary of around 200 words (Fawcett
1898a; Fawcett
1898b). A decade later, Bernard McKiernan published "Some
notes on the Aborigines of the lower Hunter River", describing
clothing, body decoration, social organisation and marriage customs
(McKiernan 1911).
They were followed by A.P. Elkin whose field work in this region
in 1931 resulted in his "Notes on the social organization
of the Worimi", which discussed regional clan and kinship
systems, totems, ceremonies, language, and the powers of the "Karadji"
or clever man (Elkin
1932).
In the first half of the twentieth century,
the principal student of Aboriginal culture, past and present,
was the ethnologist, Walter
John Enright of Maitland and Dungog, who for over fifty years
pursued his studies, particularly in the Port Stephens region,
benefiting from "confidential relations" with Worimi
peoples. "So secretive were they" Enright wrote, "and
so apprehensive of having what was sacred to them ridiculed, information
was never volunteered, and when sought it was only given to those
whom they thought respected their beliefs". (Enright
1936: 86) Enright's first essay on the Port Stephens Aborigines,
researched with the assistance of R.H. Matthews, was published
by the Royal Society of NSW in 1899, detailing the use of the
bullroarer and describing body decorations, messengers and food
taboos associated with the Keeparra ceremonies (Enright
1899). Enright published more than twenty works in respected
journals such as Mankind, Oceania, Science of
Man, and the Journal and Proceedings of the Royal Society
of New South Wales. His notes and essays canvass a wide variety
of topics including Aboriginal social organisation, initiation
and mortuary ceremonies, language and placenames, tribal boundaries,
trading routes, bora-grounds, stone arrangements, "axe factory"
sites, rock paintings and carvings. Enright also took a strong
interest in Aboriginal technology and material culture, documenting
a great range of items and devices, including stone implements,
dilly bags, canoes and paddles, fish traps, and some sacred ceremonial
objects.
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