IDNO

LS.109120.TC1

Description

On Catalogue Card: "Australia. Warramunga.
Ceremonies of the Wollunqua Totem. 3rd ceremony." [first manuscript in ink]
"North. T.C.A. p.242." [second manuscript in ink]

A group of Waramanga (Warramunga) men working on a ground drawing connected to the second ceremony of the Wollunqua (mythic snake) totem which is concerned with a spot called Upitingnari. The drawing consists of five series of concentric circles, three of these represent ant-hills, and to one of these two half-circles were attached, which indicate an especially large ant-hill. A big tree is represented by the largest series of these concentric circles. The fifth series has a wavy band attached to it which was supposed to indicate the tail of the Wollunqua.
The landscape in the background consists of shrubbery. [WV 18/2/2009, description based on record P.393.ACH1, JD 01/09/2017]

Place

Oceania Australasia; Australia; Central Australia

Cultural Affliation

Warramuga [also known as Warumungu]

Named Person

Photographer

Baldwin Spencer, Walter; or Gillen, Francis James

Collector / Expedition

Northern Tribes of Central Australia fieldwork by Baldwin Spencer, Walter and Gillen, Francis James [March 1901 - March 1902]

Date

March 1901 - March 1902

Collection Name

Teaching Slide CollectionHaddon Unmounted Collection

Source

?Haddon, Alfred Cort (Dr)

Format

Lantern Slide Black & White

Primary Documentation

Other Information

Publication: Image published in Baldwin Spencer, W. and F. J. Gillen, 1904. The northern tribes of central Australia. (London), p. 240, fig. 78 with the following caption:
"Preparation of the ground-drawing in connection with a ceremony of the Wollunquua Totem. Warramunga tribe." [JD 9/1/2017]

Expedition: Baldwin Spencer and Gillen spent one year from March 1901 to March 1902 in a traverse from Oodnadatta to Powell Creek and then across, eastwards to Borraloola at the mouth of the Macarthur River, on the Gulf of Carpentaria. (Baldwin Spencer, W., 1928. Wanderings in Wild Australia (Macmillan, London), Vol. 1, p. xvi). [WV 10/2/2009]

Cultural Group: Baldwin Spencer and Gillen describe the Waramanga [Warramunga] nation as including the Warramunga, Worgaia, Tjingilli, Umbaia, Bingongina, Walpari, Wulmala, and Gnanji tribes. (Baldwin Spencer, W. and F. J. Gillen, 1904. The northern tribes of central Australia. (London), p. 75). [WV 10/2/2009]

Photographer: Note in Baldwin Spencer, W. and F. J. Gillen, 1927, p. xiii states all photos were taken by the authors. [WV 23/1/2009]

Context: The making of the Wollunqua mound is described by Baldwin Spencer and Gillen as follows:
"On the fourth day the Kingilli men, under the guidance of the old Tjupila man of the Worgaia tribe, spend the whole day in building up, out of sandy earth, a curious mound called Mini-imburu. The Uluuru men were not allowed to come anywhere near to the place at which the Kingilli were at work on the mound, and the latter was enclosed and completely hidden from view by two brakes of boughs. First of all a trench, fifteen feet in length and two in width, running north and south, was dug out and then filled again with sand mixed with water, every handful being carefully patted down until finally a keel-shaped mound was made, about two feet high and tapering off towards either end, its length corresponding to that of the original trench. On the smooth surface a long wavy band, about four inches in width, was outlined on each side, the two bands meeting at both ends. At the northern end a small round swelling indicated the head, and at the southern a short median prolongation represented the tail (Fig. 75). The whole double band indicated the body of the Wollunqua, and was finally covered with dots of red down; the rest of the surface of the mound was one mass of little dots of white down. The mound itself was emblematic of the sand-hill by side of which the snake stood up and looked around. The Kingilli were hard at work upon it all day long, singing chants referring to the Wollunqua, its wanderings and its going down into the ground. Every now and again they broke out into refrains such as "Yunga le deba; le deba; yunga le deba"; or "Waiu irri; we gar dudu; waiu wanga wanga; waiu irri; irri wanga; du du du; wanga du du du," all of which have no recent meaning and belong to the Wingara. The words were repeated time after time with wearisome repetition, the singing as usual beginning on a high note, very loudly, and gradually dying away, falling lower and lower as it did so. The mound was completed between five and six in the late afternoon, and then word was sent out to the elder men of the Uluuru moiety that all was ready. It must be remembered that the mound really belonged to these Uluuru men, but that, in accordance with the customs of the Warramunga tribe, they had not been allowed to come anywhere near the sacred ground while the mound was being constructed. Escorted by an old Tjupila man, they approached in single file. The Kingilli stood round about while the Uluuru, led by the old Tjapeltjeri man who was the head of the Wollunqua totem, walked round and round the mound, after which one of them, taking a gum bough in his hand, stroked the ground all around its base (Figs, 76, 77)." (Baldwin Spencer, W. and F. J. Gillen, 1904. The northern tribes of central Australia. (London), p. 231-234). [WV 10/2/2009]