IDNO

P.85627.ACH2

Description

On Catalogue Card for duplicate print P.300.ACH1: “Tombs of the Tacki Tacki natives on the Darling river.”

A partially prepared burial tomb in the foreground with three completed burial tombs behind. The tombs are constructed from six upright posts with branches and vegetation overlaid horizontally to create a beehive structure. Layered amongst the vegetation are skulls (and possibly other bones but they are not visible in the picture). To the right is an Aboriginal person squatting beside a fire. The grave is visited every morning to see whether an animal came at night. The direction the animal came from determines the direction the killer came from. The nearest kin then has the duty to kill the first person he meets in the direction the animal came from [JD 23/8/2007] [WV 23/4/2009]

Place

Oceania Australasia; Australia; Victoria; Darling River; Murray River

Cultural Affliation

Named Person

Photographer

von Bandowski, Wilhelm [Artist]

Collector / Expedition

von Blandowski, William [Blandowski Expedition to the Lower Murray River, 1857]

Date

1860; 1862

Collection Name

Haddon Collection

Source

?Haddon, Alfred Cort (Dr)

Format

Print Black & White

Primary Documentation

Other Information

P.84200. to P.84255. and P.85603. to P.85634. were tied together in a bundle.

Bibliographical Reference: Blandowski, William von, 1862. Australien in 142 Photographischen (Unpublished), with the caption “Aborigines of Australia, Plate 142. William v. Blandowski, Australia. Tombs of the Tacki Tacki Natives on the Darling River”. The image is signed “G.M.60”. [JD 23/8/2007]

Bibliographical Reference: For discussion of authorship see: Allen, H. 2006. Authorship and ownership in Blandowski's Australien in 142 Photographischen Abbildungen. Australasian Historical Archaeology 24:31-37. [Jane Lydon, Monash University, 8/7/2009]

CUMAA Exhibition: P.84112.ACH2 to P.85713.ACH2 were on display in the SSL as part of the Brook Andrew ‘The Island’ Exhibition, 24th June - 27th September 2008. [JD 25/6/2008]

Publication: Blandowski, W. 1862. Australien in 142 Photographischen Ahbildungen. Gustav Neumann, Gleiwicz. Edited by Harry Alien. Translated from the German by Lillian Barton. Translation Copyright: Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies, 2007. with the caption:
“134. At the confluence of the Murray and Darling Rivers 10-12 vertical sticks are put into the ground around the burial site to form a pyramid-shaped hut and the grass around it is removed. The grave is visited every morning and inspected to see if it has been visited in the night by an animal. If so, they look to see which direction it came from or in which direction it went. This tells them which direction the murderer came from. The nearest kin then has the duty to go to this area and kill the first person he meets. This revenge is practised throughout Australia. Drawing by W, v. Blandowski.” [WV 23/4/2009]

This catalogue record has been updated with the support of the Getty Grant Program Two. [Jocelyne Dudding 23/8/2007]

This catalogue record has been updated with the support of the Aboriginal Visual Histories Project, Monash University. [Wonu Veys 23/4/2009]