IDNO

LS.109137.TC1

Description

On Catalogue Card: "Australia. Mara.
Water Intichiuma Ceremony.
"singing" the water." [first manuscript in ink]
"North. T.C.A. fig. 105. p.314." [second manuscript in ink]

On Catalogue Card for duplicate print P.350.ACH1: "Mara, Rain ceremony. North T.C.A. fig. 105."

Aranda (Arunta) man, belonging to the Mara tribe, stooping in the high grasses as part of the rain ceremony of the Mara tribe. [WV 2/2/2009, from record P.350.ACH1, JD 21/8/2012]

Place

Oceania Australasia; Australia; Central Australia

Cultural Affliation

Mara

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. 314, fig. 105 with the following caption:
"Water Intichiuma. Mara tribe" [WV 10/2/2009]

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]

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 Mara tribe as described by Baldwin Spencer and Gillen includes the Anula, Mara, and probably other tribes on the western coast of the Gulf of Carpentaria
(Baldwin Spencer, W. and F. J. Gillen, 1904. The northern tribes of central Australia. (London), p. 76). [WV 10/2/2009]

Context: The rain making ceremony of the Mara tribe is described as follows in Baldwin Spencer and Gillen:
"In regard to rain-making the simplest ceremony is that of the Mara tribe, in which the performer merely goes to a pool, and, taking care that no women or strangers are in sight, bends down over and "sings" the water; then he takes some up in hi shands, drinks it, and spits it out in various directions (Fig. 105). After that he throws water all over himself, and after scattering some all around, returns quietly to his camp, and rain is supposed to follow." (Baldwin Spencer, W. and F. J. Gillen, 1904. The northern tribes of central Australia. (London), p. 313-314). [WV 10/2/2009]