IDNO

LS.109197.TC1

Description

On Catalogue Card: “Australia.
Warramunga.
Burial Customs. Examining the kakita. i.e. the little mound raised on the spot where a man has died to see if there are any tracks which might give a clue to the identity of the murderer of the dead man.”

On Catalogue Card for duplicate print P.408.ACH1: “Examining the kakita, i.e., mound at spot of death. North T.C.A. fig.134.”

Group of four Waramanga (Warrramunga) men examining the kakita, small mound of earth piled up on the spot where a man has died. The men are carrying boomerangs in their waist belts. One of the men is still decorated with white down? from his corrobboree.
The landscape in the background consists of shrubbery and small trees. [WV 19/2/2009, from record P.408.ACH1, JD 24/8/2012]

Place

Oceania Australasia; Australia; Central Australia

Cultural Affliation

Warramunga

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

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]

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]

Context: The kakiti mound is explained by Baldwin Spencer and Gillen as follows:
“Next morning there was not a sign of any habitation to be seen on the side of the creek on which the dead man’s camp had formerly been placed. The only trace left was a small mound of earth called kakiti, piled up on the actual spot on which the man had died, and around this the ground was carefully smoothed down for a few feet in every direction. Every camp was removed to a considerable distance from the scene, as not one was anxious to meet with the spirit - the ungwulan - of the dead man, which would be hovering about the spot, or with that of the man who had brought about the death by evil magic, as it would probably come to visit the place in the form of an animal.” (Baldwin Spencer, W. and F. J. Gillen, 1904. The northern tribes of central Australia. (London), p. 516-517). [WV 19/2/2009]