SYMBOL, MYTH, AND RITUAL SERIES

lancy D. Munn, Walbiri Iconography: craphi Representation and

Cultural Symbolism in a Central Australian Soctety
MIrccaFlIadc,Australian Religions: An Introduction
WALB|R| |CONOGRAPHY
GraphiO RepreSentatiOn and
Cu|tura| BymDO|iSm in a
Centra| AuStra|ian BOOiety
NANCY D. MUNN
COrne||UniverSity FreSS
ITHACA AND LONDON
''

Copyright 1973 by Cornell University

All rights reserved. Except for brief quotations in a review, this
book, or parts thereof, must not be reproduced in any form without
permission in writing from the publisher. For information address
Cornell University Press, 124 Roberts Place, Ithaca, New York 1485o.
First published 1973 by Cornell University Press.
Published in the United Kingdom by Cornell University Press Ltd.,
2-4 Brook Street, London W1Y 1AA.
International Standard Book Number o-8014-0739-7
Library of Congress Catalog Card Number 72-6361
Printed in the United States of America by Vail-Ballou Press, Inc.
Librarians:LibraryojCongresscataloginginjormation
appearsonthelastpageojthebook.
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|Or IhC WalO|r|
O! YuCnOumu

Foreword
Reeently both tbe researeb and tbeoretieal eoneerns of
aany antbropologists bave onee again been direeted toward

grole of s_m_ls-rel|gious, mytbie, estbetie, politieal,

and even eeonomie-in soeial and eultural proeesses.
-~
Vbetber tbis revivalis abelated respoeto`JevcomVsf+
:tber|.rve(psycology,-u,,lci,.1a-
ties,to:imcon]z cv),OrVhcrhcrItrchcccsarcturn1o a
eentraleoneernafter aperiodofnegleet,is dineulttosay.l n
reeent neld studies, antbropologists bave been eolleeting
aytbs and rituals in tbe eontext of soeial aetion, and im-
rovements inantbropologieal held teebniquebaveprodueed
data tbat are rieber and more rehned tban beretofore, tbese
new data bave probably eballenged tbeoretieians to provide
aore adequate explanatory frames.Vbatevermay bavebeen
tbeeauses,tbereis nodenyingarenewed euriosityabouttbe
nm.e_ .. .hcc_gons between eulture, eognition, and
pereeption. ... a - - I
!!
* ' ' ^ - - --~-*+t~--
Altbougb exeellent individual monograpbs and artieles in
symbolie antbropology or eomparative symbology bave re-
eently appeared, a eommon foeus or forum tbat ean bepro-
vided by a topieally organized series ofbooks bas not been
available. !bepresentseriesisintendedto hlltbislaeuna. ltis
designedtoineludenotonlyneldmonograpbsandtbeoretieal
andeomparativestudiesbyantbropologists,butalsoworkby
NII

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viii lorewor1
sebolars in otber diseiplines, ootb seientihe and bumanistie.
!beappearanee ofstudiesinsueba forum eneouragesemula-
tion, and emulation ean produee fruitful new tbeories. lt is
tberefore our bope tbat tbe series will serve as a bouse of
many mansions, providing bospitality for tbepraetitioners of
any diseipline tbat bas a serious and ereative eoneern witb
eomparativesymbology. !oooften, diseiplines aresealed off,
in sterile pedantry, from signiheant intelleetual innuenees.
Nevertbeless, ourprimaryaim is to bringto publie attention
works on ritual and mytb written by antbropologists, and
our readers will hnd avariety ofstrietly antbropologieal ap-
proaebes ranging from formal analyses ofsystems ofsymbols
to empatbetie aeeounts of divinatory and initiatory rituals.
Naney Vunn's book is an exeellent example of Villiam
Blake's dietum tbat__ raorms bave t

ir
_
j, Sbebegins

erved ae-
eount ofbowtbea

ierepertoireofgrapbiesignsusedbytbe
ValbiriAborigines of eentral Australiais oanipulatedto ae-
eompany tbe telling of stories. First, sbe deseribes women's
tales ofeveryday experienee, passing onto tbeiraeeounts of
dreams. !ben sbe diseusses bow menuse tbe signsi ntelling
tbemaseulineeategoriesofstories,ineludingmytbsaoouttbe
aneestors.Alltbesewaysofbandlingtbesignsysteminstory-
telling are next related to its utilization in various types of
ritual, botb i nbodil, deeoration and i ntbe oanufaeture of
ritual obj eets and parapbernalia. Vunn demonst_esbo

____. -!-" ... +w .-. -^ *'~ ,,. := . . _ ~ +-~+. :~ 5

.'' ' ``''
J
nsodoing
sje provides a' '
enerative' a
_
ou

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tbe
systemitself. sbe explains bow its elements andeombina-
~'~^+.
lorewor1 A
torial rules are employed to generate a potentially unlimited
set of speeine designs, eaeb witb its unique meaning. Vunn
follows tbe patb trodden by tbe great Valinowski in mov-
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i
rs to be ar
atively mar
9![|)g (g __ ,tbe V. of
,_
l|1, thesoeial strueture oftbe band, eeonomie life, and tbe
division of labor) . But berpraetiee strikingl, illustrates tbat
antbropologyis indeed aseienee, eumulative and systematiz-
ing, for sbe brings to ber task eoneeptual tools ofa poteney
and delieaey undreamed ofby tbe etbnologieal pioneers of
Valinowski'speriod.
V:coa !tava
University ofChicago

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Contents
Preface xv
Introduction
. Ethno
g
ra
p
hic Back
g
round 6
2. Cate
g
ories of ncestral Desi
g
ns and Their Functions 32
3 The Sand Stor
y
58
+ Yawalyu: Women's Desi
g
ns 89
5. Guruwari Desi
g
ns, Son
gs, and Countr
y
1 I 9
6. Men's Ancestral Desi
g
ns: Structure, Semantics, and
Differentiation 50
;. Icono
g
ra
p
h
y
and Social S
y
mbolism in Banba
Ceremonies I 8 3
8.
C
onc
l
usion: Wa
l
biri Icono
g
ra
p
h
y
, a
C
ode for
Ex
p
erience
Glossar
y
Biblio
g
ra
p
h
y
Index
2 I
2 23
2 25
2JI
`

I l lustrati ons
NPH
Yucndumu and its environs in the Walbiri re
g
ion of central
Australia 8
DIPGHPN
Jhc Walbiri subsection s
y
stem
I 7
|IGLHEG
l Sand stor
y
vocabular
y 65
. Sand stor
y
scenes
;o
_l
A
ctor-item and enclosure
f
g
ure t
yp
es in the sand stor
y 79
q Actor-item
f
g
ures in desi
g
ns 83
. Charcoal y awalyu desi
g
ns and stor
y
notations 97
o. Yawalyu elements and desi
g
ns toq
;. . rrack
p
rintS and Sand drawin
g
techni
q
ue I :o
H. Track-
p
rint stories and desi
g
ns I :3
< Site-
p
ath notations I 29
l!. T
yp
ical circle-line (site-
p
ath) arran
g
ements in men's de-
si
g
ns I q
l l. Men's stor
y
tellin
g
with sand notations
LfO
l. Desi
g
ns and the intersection of ancestral tracks iq:
l _l Guruwari: basic vocabular
y I 5 I
l + Levels of com
p
lexit
y
in the construction of men's desi
g
ns I
H
l
.
'. The features of ancestors and desi
g
n variation I 59
l(,, Guruwari desi
g
ns and ex
p
lanations I 67
l7. Differentiation and overla
pp
in
g
in meander desi
g
ns I 7 5
H.
T
he iconogra
p
h
y
of banba ceremonies I 96
AIII
rl
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xv Illustrations
P[A1c
l. ^ Walbiri cam
p
at Yuendumu ( I 957) 9
2. ^ child bein
g p
ainted with yawalyu desi
g
ns 35
3 Woman markin
g
the sand during stor
y
tellin
g 6o
+ Woman tellin
g
a sand stor
y
to children 62
5 . A g
ra
p
hic element drawn during stor
y
tellin
g 8 I
6. Two old women
p
ainted with desi
g
ns at a yawalyu cere-
mon
y
Ioo
7 A man's watercolor and
p
encil cra
y
on drawin
g
of rock
holes and connectin
g
tracks .30
8. Three boards
p
ainted with guruwari desi
g
ns I6 3
9 A man's
p
encil cra
y
on drawing of yaribiri snakes and
decorated boards I65
10. Pre
parations for a rat kan
g
aroo ceremon
y I95
I I. Performer decorated for a marsup
ial mouse ceremon
y 200
I 2. Performers dancin
g
a ceremony
re
p
resenting
the ni
g
ht 20I
3 Performer decorated for a kangaroo ceremon
y 204
I4A. Pre
p
arin
g
a sand
p
ainting
for a
f
y
ing ant ceremon
y 206
qB.
T
he
f
nished
p
ost and sand
p
aintin
g
for the
f
y
in
g ant
ceremon
y 206

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Preface
ln I 9 56 l went to eentral Australia to study problems in
tbeartandreligion ofoneoftbedesert Australiantribes. At
tbat time tbere was littleinterest on tbe part ofmost soeial
antbropologists in tbe tbeoretieal problems ofeultural sym-
bolism, and myownbaekgroundintbesubj eetwasof avery
general nature. Norwas l awaretbattbegrapbierepresenta-
tionsl intended tomaketbefoeusofmystudymigbtbeame-
nable to some form of struetural analysis , tbat possibility
emerged only some time aner my held work wben l set
about attempting towrite an adequate andsatis[ing descrip-
tion oftbe art and its operation at different levels oftbeso-
eioeulturalsystem.
Vy neld work was earried out among tbeValbiri people
at Yuendumu governmentsettlementintne Nortbern!erri-
tory of Australia from November I 956 to Vareb I 95 7 and
from |une I95 7 to |anuary I 95 8 . Yuendumu is about I 8 3
milesnortbwestoIAlieeSprings,wberelspentabriefperiod
,August to September I 956) witb otber eentral Australian
Aborigines at wbat was tben tbe Bungalow government
settlement. Vy initial familiarization witb tbe sand drawing
tbatis diseussedprominentlyintbisbookoeeurredintbelat-
tereontext.
l was supported in tbis researeb by a Fulbrigbt grant,
wbieb l beld from I95 5 to 1 95 8. !bework was done under
tbe auspiees of tbe Australian National University, and tbe
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xvi Pretaee
writing oftbe original version was madepossible by a grant
from tbe Ameriean AssoeiationofUniversityVomen. Sinee
tbat time lbavepublisbed anumberof sbortpaperson Val-
biri ieonograpby and eosmology ,Vunn 1 962 , 1 964, 1 966) .
!be present study is an almost entirely rewritten and ex-
panded versionoftbe earlier work, and reneetssome ofmy
morereeentinterests.
Duringtbemajorpartofmyneldresearebat Yuendumu, l
eamped about a quarter ofa mile from tbe Europeansettle-
ment. Owing to government regulations l was not able to
eamp direetly in one of tbe Aboriginal eamp elusters, but
Valbiri eamps were mobile, and during m

stay, loeal
groupings aswell as eamp loeales wereeontinually sbifting.
SometimestberewereAboriginaleneampmentsintbegeneral
vieinity ofmyeamp, buttbese were not presenttbrougbout
my stay. l was always, bowever, witbin walking distanee of
alltbeeamps.
Vy resideneeina eamp ratber tbanin a bouse on tbeEu-
ropean settlement was, l believe, tbe most important single
faetor in establisbing a satisfaetory role for me in my work
witb tbe Valbiri. ln partieular, it improved mystatus witb
tbe Valbiri men and inereased tbeir friendliness toward me.
Sinee part oftbis study refers to dataintegral tomen's eult,
wbieb is ordinarily bidden from women ,ineluding wbite
Australianwomenontbesettlement) , lsballeommentfurtber
ontbismatterbere.
Vben l nrst arrived at Yuendumu in November 1 95 6, l
wasbousedontbegovernmentsettlement, wbere l lived for a
fewmontbs. Atnrst, Valbiri menspoke witb me only oeea-
sionally, and mytimewas spentwitbtbewomen, wbo took
me food gatbering, taugbt me Valbiri, told me tbeir sand
stories' ,see Cbapter 3) , and sbowed me tbeir yawalyu de-
Pretaee AN
signs ,Cbapter4) . Vomenweregenerally friendlyandreeep-
tive to my presenee, as werc of eourse tbe eb.ldren, witb
bomlalsospentquiteabitoftime.
During tbe initiation eeremonies of 1 950-1957 Valbiri
men would notpermit meto see any part of tbe eeremonies
probibited to women. !bis experienee was, to say tbe least,
extremely frustrating, but as l look baek, it appears to me
tbatmy eomplianeewitbtbeirwisbes,eombined at tbesame
time witb my partieipation and my good relations witb tbe
women and ebildren, were important faetors in laying tbe
groundwork for good relationsbips witb tbe men. Voreover,
altbougb l later saw seeret eeremonies ,and women knew
tbat l did) , l was always able to maintain tbewomen's good
will.!bus intbeseeondpart ofmystay ,from |une 1 95 7), l
workedaboutequallywitbbotb menandwomen.
During tbe later part of my nrst montbs at Yuendumu,
men beeame morewillingto talk witb me and to teaeb me.
By tbe end oftbisperiod l bad begunto bavesome friendly
informants amongtbeyoungermen,menintbeirtbirtiesand
under) and lbadseeuredtberigbttositwitbmenwIiletbey
were preparing eamp eeremonies of a seeular kind. !bese
eeremonies are observed by all, but are prepared by men
only, initially, l bad notbeenallowed to wateb tbeprepara-
tions, altbougb men expressed pleasure at my attendanee of
tbeperformanees.
ln Vareb tbere was no longer room to bouse me on tbe
settlement, and l bad to leave Yuendumu until government
permission eould be obtained for me to eamp. Vben l was
nnally able to return to Yuendumu in |une 1 95 7 and set up
eamp, tbe Valbiri weleomed me, one of tbe men, Sammy
Dj angala ,abrotber' ofmine,sinee lwaselassedas Nangala
intbe subseetion system) , offered to eome and work for me.

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xv Pretaee
11e tured out to be a good friend and belpful inforoant.
Veneonstantlyremarkedonmynewlivingquarters ,atent),
pointing out tbat l now lived on tbe ground' as did tbe
Valbiri. ln addition, tbe di fferenee between me and otber
women on tbe Australiansettlementwas now spatially es-
tablisbed. ln general, improvement of my relations witb all
tbepeople,butespeeiallywitbtbemen,wasmarked.
From about|uly ij on, l slowly began to be permitted
to seemen'sseeret eeremonies. Vy aeeeptanee at tbeseeere-
monieswas notalwaysautomatie, and lsometimes badto do
somepolitieal maneuvering onmyownbebal ftoobtainper-
mission,intbeseinstanees, l amalso undoubtedlyindebtedto
bebind-tbe-seenes maneuvering on tbe part of my Valbiri
supporters.
Altbougb tbe question of my viewing eeremonies raised
speeial problems, men bad begun to give me information on
totemie representations, religious eoneepts, and eeremonies
quiteearlyinmywork, longbefore lwasaetuallypermitted
toseetbeeeremonies tbemselves. Vyuse ofpaperdrawingas
a majorteebniqueinobtaininginformation ,seetbediseussion
below) was an important aid in my relationsbips witb tbem.
Drawing provided a souree ofeasual entertainment, and a
number of men of all ages espeeially enjoyed demonstrating
tbeirtraditionaldesignsandtalkingabouttbem.
ln sum, my assoeiation witbValbiri men wasless eertain
tban witb tbe women, but it kept improving over time. By
tbe end of my stay l felt tbat l bad a number of friends
amongtbem andtbatotbers werewelldisposedtowardme. l
bad also obtained information tbat belped me to understand
tbe range of tbe visual symbol system. ln tbis respeet, my
workwitbwomenwasasimportantastbatwitbtbemen,but
sineemyrelationsbipswitbtbewomenwerelessproblematie,
lbavenoteommentedontbemindetail.
... .. . .. .....-~.--- ~======= ~-~~
Pretaee xix
During my neld work l eolleeted tbree basie kinds ofvis-
aal data relating to Valbirirepresentations. !bese data form
be basis oftbe illustrations used to demonstrate points made
lntbetext.
. Sand drawings. !bese are various kinds of explanatory
g:apbsdrawnbyValbirimenandwomen intbesandduring
storytelling andgeneraleonversation, oras demonstrationsof
designs assoeiated witb aneestors. lllustrations oftbese draw-
ings are taken frommynotebook eopies made attbe time. l
:eeorded tbe sand stories' told by women in tbe following
aanner. initially, l eoneentrateduponl earning tbe repertory
of sand signs and tbeir meanings, wben l was familiar witb
tbe grapbs, l eoneentrated upon reeording tbe narratives,
aaking notes only oftbose sand grapbs tbat were espeeially
laterestingornovel .lalsotookpbotograpbs,butpbotograpby
had tbedisadvantageofinterruptingnarrativesequenees.
Vost of tbe stories were reeounted to me in or near tbe
valbiri eamps-partieularly tbe singl e women's eamps-
wbile women were sitting around in easual groups and in-
dalging in tbeir ordinary pursuits. !bere were few days at
Yuendumu wben l did notlisten to at least one oftbesesto-
:les, altbougb l sometimes reeorded only a detail of a sand
d:awing, or tbe basie ineidents of a plot. About nfteen
women were my best informants for tbese stories, but l lis-
.eaed to tbe storytelling of many otbers. , Unfortunately, l
dld not bave a working tape reeorder witb me, so l was un-
+|| etomaketapesoftbeseaeeounts.)
+ Paper drawings. l supplied Valbiri witb various-sized
+pers, witb peneil erayons, and ,in tbe initial stages of my
work) witb ebareoal, ebalks, and watereolors. !be peneil
c:+yons worked out most satisfaetorily, tbey partieularly
| eased Valbiri men, wbo liked drawing witb sbarp points
+adarangeofeolors.

XX Preface
!be maj ority of tbe drawings by Valbiri adults are tbe
work ofmen. Vomenon tbewboledidnotrespondwellto
tbepeneil-and-papermedium. Altbougb tberewereaboutnf-
teen to twenty men wbo were my most regular informants,
tbeworkofmanyotbersisrepresented.Vuebof tbedrawiug
was donein or neartbesinglemen'seampsorfurtberoutin
tbebusbwellawayfromtbewomen. Onentberewerea few
menworkingattbesametime. l usuallyearried drawingma-
terials witb me eaeb day, so tbat iftbe opportunity arose to
obtaindrawings, tbe materials were always at band. Vben l
did not bave extra paper witb me, Valbiri often drewinmy
notebooks.
lusedtbepaper drawingslikevisualtexts. '!brougb tbis
metbod l gained not onlyinformation on Valbiri ieonogra-
pby, butalsoa differentperspeetiveontbewayValbirimen
eoneeive of tbeir mytb and eosmology tban l gained from
verbaltexts.
. !otemie designs painted during ritual, or tbat l ob-
served on saered boards and stones. Vomen also demon-
stratedsomedesigns formebypaintingtbemontbeirbodies.
lllustrations derived from tbese sourees are from my pboto-
grapbsandsketebes.
!wo sorts of line drawingsillustrate points made in tbe
text. Some oftbeillustrationsdemonstrategeneraltypesofel-
ements and arrangements oeeurring in tbe grapbie system.
Otbers depiet partieular instanees ofgrapbie representation
byValbiriinformants. lllustrationsoftbeseeondsortarere-
drawn from tbe originals as aeeurately as possible, but tbe
mainempbasisbasbenonretainingtbesignifcant patterning
of elements and relationsbips, ratber tban minute details.
Sinee l am eoneerned bere witb tbe essential features oftbe
grapbiesystem,reproduetioninoutlineis quiteadequate for
Pefaee XXI
arposes oftbe argument, altbougb it does not do justiee to
.'everynnequalityofValbiriwork.
!be analysis oftbe totemie designsisbasedupon a eollee-
..on of ; designs.!beeolleetioneonsistsofdesignsbelong-
. ag to botb men and women, and is derived from all tbree
.,pesofdatalisted.
lt may be useful to indieate tbe ortbograpby for native
|erms employed in tbe text. l transeribe tbe native plosive,
1ental, and glottal sounds by tbe b-d-gseries ratber tban tbe
-t-kseries also used by linguists forAustralian languages. A
1otunderaletterdenotesretroexion.
l am grateful to a number ofpeople forbelp intbeeourse
o|tbis work. Professor David Bidney nrst interested me in
.'estudy ofsymbolie tbeory wben l was agraduate student
+ lndiana University. Professor V. E. H. Stanner of tbe
\ustralian National University provided praetieal belp as
well asprofessionaleritieismduringand aftermyheldwork.
|r was only tbrougb bis efforts on my bebalftbat l was able
to obtain tbe neeessary governmental permission to eamp at
Yaendumu. l am mostgratefal to bim for bisinterestin my
workandbiseneouragement.
At tbe time of my neld work several people provided me
w. tb belpfal preparatory materials. Vervyn Veggitt made
++| | able to oe tben-unpublisbed data froobisownreseareb
+aongtbeValbiriatHooker'sCreek. A.Capellkindlymade
+a.lable bis materials on tbe Valbiri language ,attbattime
. 'e only aeeount by a linguist available) . C. P. Vountford
+a1 N. B. !indale generously openedto me tbeir eolleetions
oIanpublisbedpaperdrawingsbydesertAborigines.
|ield work eould not bave been undertaken witbout tbe
eraission and eooperation oftbe Australian Department of
1 Pretaee
!erritories and tbe Vel fare Braneb oftbe Nortbern !erri-
tory Administration. l am partieularly indebted to R. Varsb
andD. VeCartby,tbenoftbeformerdepartment.
Duringmyneldworksomemembers oftbecommunityat
Yuendumu wereespeeiallykind. l am gratefulto tbeRever-
end andVrs.!. FlemingoftbeBaptistmissionatYuendumu
andtoL. Vilson, an assistantmanageroftbesettlementdur-
ing my stay. Vitbout tbeir good will and tbougbtfulness,
eamping at Yuendumu would bave beenverydifneult. !bey
belped mesetup eamp, provideddryquartersduringoneor
two beavy rains tbat noodedmeout, andrendered memany
generalserviees.
l owe a speeial debt ofgratitudeto Vr. and Vrs. Douglas
Bournerof AlieeSprings, andto Vrs. VargaretKoppe, tben
of Aliee Springs. !be, were very good friends wbo went
outof tbeirwaytoaidmeintimesofsieknessandstress.
ProfessorLauriston R. Sbarp made itpossibleforme tobe
i n residenee at Cornell University during tbe time wben l
was writing up myneld work in 9 59 and 1 960 and be also
was a souree oferitieism and eneouragement. l am indebted
tobim fortakingtbetimetoaidme,as lwasnotastudentat
Cornell. ProfessorRaymondFirtbalsomadesomeverybelp-
ful suggestionsontbeoriginalversionoftbisstudy,andsome
ofbissuggestionsbavebeenineorporatedbere.
Vy major debt is, of eourse, to tbe Valbiri tbemselves.
!bey were my friends and teaebers, and knowing tbem bas
immeasurably enriebed my own experienee. ln tbe years
sineelbavebeenatYuendumu,tbeireulturebaseontinuedto
faseinate me in its quality and deptb. Vy bope is tbat tbis
bookwillmakesomesmalleontributiontoourunderstanding
andknowledgeoftbisintrieatesoeiety.
N+cvD. Vt
Amherst, Massachusetts
WALBIHI ICONOGHAFHY
Graphic Representation and
Cultural Symbolism in a
Central Australian Society
l

I ntroduction
Sincetbeturn oftbeeentury, wbenBaldwin Speneer and
F. |. Gillen eegantopublisbtbeirresearebontbeAboriginal
peoples ofeentral Australia, tbe grapbie designs used in tbis
areato represent totemie aneestorsbaveattraetedwidespread
interest. Using Speneer and Gillen's data, Durkbeim (I 9 I 5)
gave tbe designs apivotal funetioni nbistbeoryoftbesoeie-
tal infrastrueture ofelementary' religious beliefs and rites.
ln bis view, tbese markings were eompaet, visible eodes tbat
stamped' tbe moral autbority and soeial sentiments of tbe
group upon obj eets embedded in tbe artifaetual and natural,
or profane, world, tbus, tbey translated tbese obj eets into
tbesoeiallygroundedrealmoftbesaered.
Robeim ( I 945) was also interested in tbe designs and at-
tempted to interpret tbe eoneentrie eireles so prominent in
tbem aeeording to tbe tenets of psyeboanalytie tbeory. Al-
tbougb tbe result was a Freudian reduetion of tbe eomplex
meanings of tbe eultural symbolism, Robeim's study ,based
onbis own neld work) tbrowsmueb ligbt ontberiebnessof
tbeeulturalsymbolismas wellasonformalandsemantieeon-
tinuities between diferent eontexts in wbieb tbe eirele and
relatedelementsoeeur.
Otberstudents ofeentral Australian art, for example, Da-
vidson I93 7 ; Vountford I 93 7-I 93 8; Streblow 1 964) bave
extended tbe deseriptive literature on tbe grapbie art, but
bave notadvaneeda full-lengtb analytie aeeountof itsinter-
l

!
z W albiri ieonograp|y
nal strueture and soeioeulturalsignineaneeinasingleAustra-
lian soeiety. Despite tbe apparent importanee ofvisual sym-
bolism as suggested by tbese and related sourees for otber
areas in Australia ,see, for example, R. Berndt I ,I; Elkin
and Berndt i ,o, Vountford i ,e, Stanner i ,-i e i ),
tbe topie bas been peripberal to tbe major tbeoretieal em-
pbasesofAustraliansoeialantbropology.
One reason for tbis state of affairs bas been tbe generally
low level ofinterest in symbolism among soeial and eultural
antbropologists until reeently. Analytie eoneern witb tbis
subj eetbasresurged onlywitbintbelast deeade, andevenso
tbe topie ofvisual representation bas reeeived less attention
tban bave otber symbolie areas. ln addition, tbe tendeney in
antbropology bas been to view art' as a speeial area of
study, essentially trivial i n eomparison witb sueb bard-eore
problems as kinsbip and soeial strueture. Only now is it be-
ginningtoappeartbattbe frameworkofsymbolietbeoryean
integrate tbe study of soeial, religio-eosmologieal, and aes-
tbetiesystems.
ln Australia itself, soeial antbropologists working in tbe
post-Radeliffe-Brownian era eoneentrated most of tbeir at-
tention on kinsbip and related topies, even tbougb investiga-
tors eertainly reeognized tbesignineanee ofreligion and vis-
ualsymbolism ,see, forinstanee, C. Berndt i e, ) . AsVeggitt
, i ; : . e,) bas reeently pointed out . tbe exploration of
Aboriginalreligionstilleontinued, but| essentiallyitplayeda
minor role in tbe investigator's explanatorysebemes. Despite
lipservieepaidtoRadeliffe-Brownian, andalsobytbenVal-
inowskian, postulatesoffanetionalinteraetionandbolistiein-
tegration, empbasis was primarily ,often exelusively) onana-
lysing tbe various systems of kinsbip beeause, itwas taeitly
assumed, tbese provided tbe key to explaining tbe range of
intro1uetion 3
forms displayed by Aboriginal soeieties. ` ln tbe late i eo's,
bowever, a returntoissues in Australian religion, mytb, and
e
'
smology and tbeir relations to tbe soeial system bas pro-
videdanatmospberemoreeongenialtotbeexplorationofvis-
ualsymbolism.
!bepresentstudyattemptstonll a gap inourknowledge
andunderstanding ofeertainproblemsinvisual artandeom-
munieation systems tbrougb an exploration oftbe ieonogra-
pby of

be eentral AustralianValbiri. !be totemie designs

areeonsidered bere as part ofa wider grapbiesystem,wbieb
l examinefrom two perspeetives . as a representationalstrue-
ture and assoeioeulturalsymbolism. !beformerreferstotbe
intern

al, formal and semantiestrueture oftbegrapbie repre-

sentations, tbe latter to tbeir signineanee and nnetion in
Valbiri

osmology and soeiety. As l see it, tbese two prob-

lemsaremterrelatedandmutuallyilluminating.
l would stressinpartieular tbat astruetur

l
_
aIysiftbe
r

presentational system is essential m:6to an interpreta-

tion oftbedynamiestbrougbwbiebtbeforms are generated,
butalsotoanexplanationoftberelationbetweentbegrapbie
system and tbe wider soeioeultural order. l am eoneerned
witb tbestrueturalanalysisnotsimplyas anendinitself, but
more fandamentally as a means oftbrowingligbtonValbiri
soeiety and eulture. !bus forreaders familiar witb tbe Val-
biritbrougb Vervyn Veggitt's ,e: ) aeeount oftbeirsoeial
struet

re, tbepresentworkmayprovidebotbsupplementary
materal on tbe Valbiri and anotber perspeetive on eertain
aspeets oftbeirreligion,ritual, andsoeialorder. lnaddition, l
bope tbat tbe representational analysis will eontribute to tbe
literature on visual modes of eommunieation, for eontempo-
rary antbropologylaeks detailed analyses of representational
systems.
l
4 W albiri ieonograp|y
ltmay beusenltoexplainberewbylebaraeterizeValbiri
grapbie art as representational . ' For present purposes, l de-
nnea representational system asa system ofdenotative signs
eharaeterized bysome ieonie regulation ofsemantieity. Val-
biri grapbie art eonsists of representations in tbat tbe forms
bavereferential, denotativemeaning, andan element oflike-
ness' or ieonieity' limitstbe assignment ofreferents to tbe
signvebieles. !be pietorial properties oftbe Valbirisystem
are of tbe sort onenoverlooked by western observers, sinee
tbe elements are for tbe most part simple forms oftbe kind
misleadingly labeled geometrie' or abstraet. ' Voreover,
tbe semantie struetureinvolveswbat l bave referred to in a
previous publieation as diseontinuous meaning ranges' , tbat
is, beterogeneousmeaningitemsareofteneomprebendedbya
singlevisualelement,Vunn i ee) .
!be ieonograpbyiselaboratedinarange ofdifferentsoeial
eontexts, Valbiritbemselvesdistinguisb severaleategoriesof
representation. l attempttomap botb tbe eontinuities oftbe
systemaerossValbirieoneeptualandsoeialboundaries' and
tbediIferentiating fanetionsand formal-semantieebaraeteris-
ties tbat mark off separate eategories and eontexts of use.
!bisoverview makesit apparenttbattbemen`stotemie de-
signsand tberitualusesoftbemaretbeapexofasystem op-
erative at differentlevelsofeomplexity and aneboredinnar-
rative eommunieation. Veanings,l suggest, arebuiltinto tbe
moreeomplex,speeializedrepresentationsassociatedwitbrit-
ualbeeausetbegrapbs alsooperateintbe nonspeeialized sub-
stratumofnarrativeeommunieation.
As in many Australian soeieties, Valbiri eosmology bas
embeddedwitbinitaeulturaltbeoryor folkmodeleoneern-
ingvisualandverbalsigns and tbeirrelationsbip to tbesoeial
andnaturalorders,totemiedesigns,aswesballsee,playasig-
|ntro1uction ,
nineantpartintbismodel.!bissemiotie'isimportant,sinee
it integrates key eoneepts tbat set out tbe basie spatiotem-
poral organization of tbe Valbiri world. As we sball see, it
binds notions sueb as aneestors,' eountry, ' and dreams'
into a unitarymatrix ofideas, andit dennestberelationsbe-
tween tbe present world ofproximal, visible forms and tbe
aneestralworldtbatisdistalandoutofsigbt. '
lndeed, Valbiri semiotie, as eoneretely formulated in
mytb, sign media, and ritual proeesses, and worked out in
speeineideasaboutlife sourees andereative origins, isof eon-
siderable importanee in understanding tbe widersoeiety. ln
effeet, it eonstitutes an ordering strueture of tbe kind to
wbieb Lvi-Strauss , i ,:iie) refers wben be speaks of
struetures wbieb instead ofbeing related toanotber strue-
ture, opening new eorrelations, are really related to all tbe
struetures taken togetber and belp to elose tbe soeial strue-
ture. '
lntbisbookl dealindeptbwitbValbirigrapbiesignsand
tbeir plaee intbis semiotie model. Vy aim is to examine tbe
multifaeeted forms and operations oftbe grapbie system and
so to probe its dynauiesandsignineaneein Valbiri soeiety.
|
CHAPTER
Ethnographi c Background
1
The Walbiri are a people of the western desert region of
central Australia. According to Meggitt (I 962: Iff) Walbiri
country originally extended from Stuart Bluff range on the
south, west and north to Hooker's Creek and east to Central
Mt. Stuart. This region is one of typical mulga, eucalypt, and
spinifex desert marked by rocky ranges and outcrops and
low-lying hills. In this low rainfall area the main sources of
surface water are the rock holes and smaller seepages; in addi
tion, Walbiri dig soaks in the sand of the dry creek beds.
Like all Australian Aborigines, W albiri were seminomadic
hunters and gatherers before European contact. In the recent
\ past they were subdivided into four major communities
the Ngalia, Walmalla, Waneiga, and Lander Walbiri-
each of which ranged over a region of Walbiri country (see
Meggitt I96 2 : map facing p. 4). The Ngalia Walbiri commu
nity, of primary interest in the present study, included differ
ent local constellations that were based in specic regions of
the wider Ngalia country, although wanderings were not
confned to these regions. The constellations were not what
Radcliffe-Brown called "patrilocal hordes," but each con
tained adult males united by various kinship ties. Members of
one such local group did not always move together but
would break up into larger or smaller bands according to the
permissiveness of the season.1
' There has been considerable argument about traditional Walbiri
local organization. My account differs somewhat from Meggitt's
( 1 962), since I consider local constellations within the wider "commu
nity" as constituting the basic local units. For recent commentaries
6
Ethnographic Background j
In the daily search for vegetable food and game, these
groups moved from water hole to water hole. A common pat
tern of movement appears to have been that of circling i
the rather narrowly defned region that included home base,
then occasionally swinging out over wider stretches of theJ
community country, returning fnally to the starting point
(See Fig. 9, no. I, p. I 29). The movements of these local
groups overlapped, and they often met together at various im-
portant centers such as Mt. Doreen and Vaughan Springs
in Ngalia Walbiri community country.
In Walbiri symbolism this nomadic patterning of life
the movement from water hole to water hole-takes prec
edence as an organizing focus over other large-scale
rhythmic cycles such as that of the rainy and dry season. The
small-scale concomitant of this pattern-the daily depar
ture from the camp for hunting and food gathering and the
nightly return to the camp-is also of importance.
At the present time Walbiri are living at government and
private settlements primarily within or adjacent to their orig
inal country. Despite economic changes and the shif to a
semistabilized residence, they retained in 195 j, when this re-
search was done, much of their traditional culture and social
organization.
Yuendumu government station, the locus of this study, is a
Walbiri reserve some I 8 j miles northwest of Alice Springs in
a section of Ngalia Walbiri community country. Yuendumu
is central to Mt. Doreen cattle station about forty miles to the
west, Mt. Allan and Conistan stations to the east. With all
these settlements Walbiri at Yuendumu maintain close con-
tacts.
on the problem of Australian (and specifcally Walbiri) local organi
zation see Birdsell ( 1970)-with criticisms by Berndt, Hiatt, etc. ;
Strehlow (i971 :99f. See also note 3 below.
.
'

8 W albiri Iconography
W81IB
AUSTRALIA
' i
i 1BB11OBY
, QUEENSLAND
Alicsprg
.......
SOUTH
Yuendumu and its environs in the Wal bi ri regi on of central Austral i a
In 195 7 there were approximately 375 Walbiri who
camped more or less regularly at Yuendumu. The majority of
these belonged to the Ngalia Walbiri community country,
but (southern) W almalla and some W aneiga W albiri were
also represented. The present study of W albiri iconography
refers primarily to southern W albiri, who have strong cul
tural afnities with the Aranda peoples to the east and the
Bindubi to the south and west. I would stress that the time
period to which I refer in the "ethnographic present" is be
tween 1956 and 195 8 and that certain changes have taken
place at Yuendumu since then.2
2 Most notably, there has been an influx of non-W albiri (Bind ubi)
peoples, radically expanding the population of the settlement, as well
as acculturative changes such as, for example, an increased use of
houses by Aborigines.
Ethnographic Background 9
Except in unusually dry seasons, Walbiri at Yuendumu
generally camp within a half-mile radius of the government
settlement, moving their camp sites frequently within this
limited area. Shelter is of two kinds: the bough hut (com
monly supplemented with sheets of tin and odd bits of bur
lap) or the corrugated iron lean-to. Outside or fanking this
shelter is a low semicircular windbreak-of boughs or cor
rugated
.
iron-in front of which oval hollows in the sand
mark the sleeping places of occupants (Plate 1).
Plate 1. A Wal bi ri camp at Yuendumu ( 1 957) . The fami l y sleeps i n oval
hol lows in the ground in front of a low wi ndbreak.
Each such residence shelters an elementary or composite
family: a man, his wife (or wives), and their young children.
The family is ideally and normally polygynous; the typical
polygynous family includes two wives. Several family camps
will usually be clustered together, and the whole community
W albiri Iconography
: is a loose aggregation of such nuclear groups. The actual con
' stitution of each group often shifs as men commonly change
their camping mates. A man might camp variously in clusters
containing his own or close brothers, father, sisters' husbands,
male cross-cousins or other close kin. There are no stringent
residence rules, but it was not uncommon to fnd brothers-in-law
constituting a persistent camp nucleus.
The family camp (ngura) is a most important concept in
Walbiri thought, and we shall see later that it appears cen-
i trally in the iconography and symbolism. As members of one
family camp, a man and his wife (or wives) are said to share
"one sleep." The reciprocal structure of their rlationship is
also expressed in Walbiri emphasis upon the food exchanges
that take place between them: the husband is said to give his
wife meat (guyu) and the woman to give him vegetable food
(miyi, nonmeat foods including, nowadays, damper, canned
fruits, and so on) . This exchange is part of the wider system
of exchanges between affnes. A man is expected to give meat
to his mother-in-law, while a mother-in-law should give veg
etable food in return to her son-in-law. Since a man must
avoid his wife's mother, these exchanges take place through
the agency of the wife, thus, in effect, confrming the pivot of
the affnal relationship between the two families. The bonds
of food exchange provide a constant symbolism expressing
the afnal bond within the family and between a man and his
wife's family.
Thus the conjugal relationship is interlocked with the tra
ditional daily activity of hunting and food gathering, which
in the past began in the morning with a departure from the
camp-a separation of men and women in their daily
activities-and ended in the evening with the return to
camp, the sharing of food and sleep. As the locus of the con-
Ethnographic Background t i
jugal family, the camp is symbolic in Walbiri imagination of
heterosexual (marital) relationships, with their economic and
procreative functions.
In addition to the family residence, one or more contiguous
camp clusters include a women's camp where widows and
unmarried girls sleep, and a men's camp for unmarried initi
ated men (or visitors without their wives) and older boys.
Thus Mt. Doreen, Mt. Allan (and Conistan), and Vaughan
Springs are areas that represent for the W albiri general re
gions in which different segments of the Yuendumu commu
nity based themselves in the recent past (see also Fig. , no.
) . The camps of each segment are oriented accordingly: Mt.
Doreen Ngalia camp to the west or northwest, and members
of the northern community of Waneiga Walbiri camp with
them; the Mt. Allan Ngalia (also linked with Cockatoo Creek
near Conistan) camp on the east or southeast of the other
camps; the Vaughan Springs (and Mt. Singleton) people
camp in the southwesterly clusters. The Mt. Allan people are
closely associated in the Walbiri view with the (non-Walbiri)
Yanmadjari with whom they have intermarried; members of
the latter group stay in the Mt. Allan clusters when they
visit. The Vaughan Springs people are not sharply distin
guished from the community of Walmalla Walbiri, and in
fact they ofen described themselves to me (and were de
scribed by others) as being Walmalla rather than N galia.
3 My data are not suffciently clear on the historical identity of this
subgroup. Meggitt (1962: map facing p. 4) places both Mt. Singleton
and Vaughan Springs in Ngalia country, but a number of my in
formants who linked themselves with these regions regarded them
selves as Walmalla, and/or were identifed by others as Walmalla.
Some informants told me that the W almalla whose descendants are
now at Yuendumu moved eastward (perhaps within the last sixty
years) and fought the inhabitants of the Mt. Doreen region, after
/
iz Walbiri Iconography
These people have close associations with the Bindubi, who
stay in these camps when they visit. Although camp shifts or
dinarily do not interfere with the general orientations of these
divisions, the groupings are not marked by sharp boundaries,
and in some encampments the clusters of one group may fow
into those of another.
Life at Yuendumu is marked by the traditional division be
tween men's and women's daily activities, and by the realign
ment into family units in the evening. During the day women
congregate at the women's camps within their own or a
nearby locale. Here they nurse their children, gossip, prepare
food, sleep, and play an occasional game of cards. The sand
stories dicussed in more detail below are also told in these
surroundings. Much of the time that is spent in these camps
would in the past have been devoted to food-fathering activi
ties, but hunting and food gathering have ceased to be the
source of the staple diet; foraging activities are largely re
stricted to weekends and holidays, and the Walbiri now de
pend primarily upon government rations.
The focus of men's activities is the men's camps, or a shady
spot in the bush outside the camps where men gather to go
.
s
sip and play cards, or to prepare a ceremony. The contrast
atmosphere between men's and women's camps is marked.
While the latter are usually hot and dusty, beset by numerous
children and dogs, the former are more or less free of such
distractions and ordinarily placed, as well, in a bit of choice
shade.
which they settled down and "became Walbiri." Tindale ( 1963:363)
notes the historical complexity of group composition at Yuendumu
and the changing concepts of identity. Unfortunately, I was preoccu
pied with other matters at the time, and did not pursue these prob
lems.
Ethnographic Background
When going hunting, men and women leave the camps in
mall foraging groups; women may take with them the small
children and girls; older boys generally go together with the
rncn. Women ordinarily gather the wild fruits and vegetables,
yams, honey ants, and smaller game. Men track the larger
game, such as kangaroos, wallabies, and emus. Occasionally a
husband and wife may go out hunting together.
The traditional implements and weapons and the various
receptacles have been supplemented (and in a few cases sup
planted) by European introductions, but on the whole are
still in daily use. The Walbiri water carrier (ngami), a high
sided oval wooden scoop, and the shallower oval food scoops
(hili) have been supplanted by the Australian "billy" (a metal
pot with a handle across the top) used for cooking and carry
ing water and food. The similarly shaped container for carry
ing children (baradja) is, however, still in use. A digging stick
is employed for food gathering, and a heavier stick (or the
digging stick) for fghting.
Hooked and curved (nonreturn) boomerangs, spears, spear
throwers, and oval shields are used by men. A rife occasion
:rlly supplements the boomerangs and spears in hunting. All
of these items (except for digging sticks) are made by men,
who control the tools and technical knowledge. None are or
dinarily decorated except for ceremonial purposes, but they
:rrc grooved and rubbed with red ocher.
Social Structure and the Subsection System
W albiri social structure includes groups and categories
built out of patrilineal, matrilineal, and generational princi
ples. Walbiri recognize three types of moiety divisions: patri
lineal, matrilineal, and generation moieties. The latter are
1 6 W albiri Iconography
Walbiri marriage rule, which prescribes marriage with a form
of second cousin (a man and his distant "MoMoBrDaDa" or
"F aF aSiSoDa") ; as an alternative, Walbiri also approve mar
riage with a distant cross-cousin.
The kinship terminology provides what Service , I 960 i7)
has called "egocentric" social categories in which "the cate
gory of any individual depends on who the speaker is." In ad
dition, W albiri align kinship terms into a set of eight categories
with "sociocentric," absolute names of the sort referred to in
the literature on Australia as subsections.6 Diagram I sets out
the W albiri subsection names, the way in which kin are allotted
to each, and the principles relating the categories. Readers may
fnd it useful to refer to the diagram 7 in following the com
ments on this system.
" Marriage is actually prescribed with a woman of a particular clas
sifcatory kin category. Recently, some anthropologists have ques
tioned the adequacy of interpreting these marriage rules in terms of
types of genealogical kin such as MoMoBrDaDa, but these issues are
outside my purview here.
' The classic study is Radcliffe-Brown (1930). I am not concerned
here with the controversies regarding the nature or derivation of the
subsection system (see, for example, Lawrence 1937, Goody 1961, Du
mont 1966).
7 My diagram is similar in some respects to that used by Hammel
(1966:4). I use this arrangement because it displays the patrilineal
subsection couples and moieties more clearly than the traditional dia
grams developed by Radcliffe-Brown (1930-1931), and these are the
features of the system most relevant to the present study. It is under
stood that the diagram illustrates the way in which the subsection
system defnes the ideal structuring of relations. If a woman should
marry a man of the wrong subsection, the children's designation
would be the same as if she had made a correct marriage, that is, as
in other Australian societies, the mother's subsection determines the
child's.
The Wal bi ri subsection system
Ethnographic Background
A2
Ojangal a
Nan_al a
-
Ojambi dj i mba
",j; mba
i ;
Ojabanangga Ojabangari Oj abal djari Oj ungarai
---- -
Nabanangga Nabangari Nabal djari Nungarai
81 82 02
Djag.,
Nagamara
l
Oj uburul a
-
Nabarul a
C2
01
Key: Terms with i niti al Dj= mal es of the subsecti on; terms with i nit i al
N= females.
= i ntermarri ng subsections. E.g., Djabangari (Na-
bangari ) marries Nambi dji mba (Oj ambi dj i mba).
= father-son patricoupl es (e.g. , A 1 , A2 = one patri
coupl e of subsecti ons) .
A and C; 8 and 0 = patrimoieties. A and C = one patri moi ety; 8 and
0 = the opposite moiety.
1 , 2 = matri moi eties. A1 , 81 , C1 , 01 = one matrimoiety;
A2, 82, etc., = the opposite moiety.
A2, 01 , C2, 81 = one generation moi ety; A 1 , 02, etc. the oppo
site moiety.
!

I 8 W abiri Iconography
Each individual belongs to one subsection. The system al
locates kin to different categories according to two underly
ing principles that intersect each other: the sex of the linking
relatives, and the generation level. For example, Ego fnds his
(or her) "father" (girana) and "father's sister" (bimari) in a
different subsection from his own, while his "mother" (ngadi)
and "mother's brother" (ngamini) are in still another subsec
tion, which may intermarry with Ego's father's (but not
Ego's own) subsection. 8 A man's child cycles into his father's
subsection, but his sister's child belongs to a different cate
gory (namely, the category of his or her father's father) . A
man's son's child cycles back into his own subsection, but his
daughter's child is allocated to a different subsection, and so
on. Thus a man fnds in his own subsection his male and fe
male siblings, son's child and father's father and their siblings
-that is, persons of his own and alternate generations who
are linked through males. In his father' s subsection he fnds
persons of the adjacent generations to his own who are also
linked to the kin of his subsection through males (as, for ex-
8 It is, of course, the kin relations covered by the categories girana,
ngadi, etc. that are being classed in this way by the subsection rules,
not simply particular genealogical kin. Readers not familiar with clas
sifcatory kinship terminologies of the Australian type may fnd it
helpful to be alerted to the fact that we are dealing here with a grid
of category terms that serves to classify everybody in the society ir
respective of genealogically traceable relationships. In these systems, a
term like Walbiri ngadi, for example, is not only used to refer to in
dividuals who are kin of different specifable types such as mother,
mother's sister, and mother's female parallel cousins, among others,
but also may be applicable for other reasons-for instance, because
an individual is an older woman of Ego's mother's subsection. In my
discussion I refer for convenience and ease of explanation to key
types of kin using the convention of designation in the singular (for
instance, father's sister rather than fathers' sisters).
Ethnographic Background t
ample, brother's child or father's sibling) . Two father-son
subsections constitute a patrilineal couple, and defne a semi
moiety.
Ego's patrimoiety is constituted by his own subsection cou
ple or semimoiety, and the patricouple that may intermarry
i nto his mother's father's and his sister's child's subsections
(i. e. , the subsection couple of his mother's mother and moth
er's mother's brother, on the one hand, and of his mother's
mother's brother's child on the other) . Matrimoiety divisions
realign the subsections, cutting across the patricouples and
patrimoieties, as the diagram indicates. For example, Djangala
(A2 ) , Djabaldjari (D2 ) , Djuburula (C2 ) , and Djabangari (B2 )
belong to one matrimoiety; on the other hand, Djangala (A2 ) ,
Djambidjimba (AI ) , Djuburula (C2 ) , and Djagamara (CI ) be
long to one patrimoiety. Still a third realignment of the
subsections constitutes the generation moieties (see the dia
gram) .
We can see that the subsection system provides a sociocen
tric way of naming the different moiety divisions recognized
by the Walbiri: instead of one name for each moiety, how
ever, it yields four names that list the subsection subsidiaries
making up each moiety. 9 In the case of the patrilineal moi
eties, Djangala-Djambidjimba, Djuburula-Djagamara people
(A and C in the diagram) constitute one patrimoiety, and
Djabangari, and so on (B and D in the diagram) constitute the
other. If Ego is Djangala, his kin will be distributed as fol
lows:
9 See Dumont ( r g66: 2 36), who has suggested that the subsection
(and section) labels can be regarded as ways of naming the more in
clusive social units.
, I
zo W albiri Iconography
OWN PA TRIMOIETY
Djangala (A2) Ego (male), brother and sister; son's child; fa
ther's father and father's father's sister, etc.
Djambidjimba (A 1 ) Father and father's sister; son and daughter,
etc.
Djuburula (C2) Mother's mother and mother's mother's
brother mother's mother's brother's son's child, etc.
Djagaara (C 1 ) Mother's mother's brother's child; sister's
child's spouse, etc.
OPPOSITE PATRIMOIETY
Djungarai (D1 ) Mother's mother's brother's daughter's child
(the MoMoBrDaDa is a potential spouse; i.e., Ego's wife and
brother-in-law are ideally in this category); father's mother and
father's mother's brother, etc.
Djabaldjari (D2) Sister's child; wife's father, etc.
Djabanangga (Bl ) Mother's father and sister; mother's brother's
child (father's sister's child), etc. Cross cousins are an alternate
marriage possibility, so that wife's brother could be in this cate
gory.
Djabangari (B2) Mother's brother; son's wife; daughter's hus
band, etc.
It should be noted that the relationship between the patri
moieties is in certain respects the "type" of maternal and
affnal relations, since one's brother-in-law, father-in-law,
mother's brother and mother's father are in the opposite
moiety to one's own, while father, father's father, and mot
er's mother's brother are in one's own moiety. return to this
point later.
The subdivision of the patrimoieties into four cycles ot
couples of father-son subsections (semimoieti

s) is also osig
nifcance in Walbiri thought, since it is used m the classifca
tion of the patrilineal descent groups and their associated to-
Ethnographic Background zi
ters. Each descent group is classed in one of the four
subsection couples; in this way it is named and located within
the moiety system. The subsections act as a classifcatory de
vice, each set of two names (as for example, Djangala-Djam
bidjimba) comprehending any number of individual descent
groups. In this way the general types of kinship relationships
that any given group bears to other descent groups in the sys
tem are identifable, and the position of a single group can be
defned with respect to all the descent groups in the society.
From this perspective, it is apparent that a signifcant as
pect of the subsection system is its provision of a synthesizing
code that lays out the articulation of the basic principles of
the social structure in a single framework. While on the one
hand the system can be translated into the more specifc ego
centric code for kinship (and vice versa) , on the other hand it
serves to name and express the semimoiety and moiety rela
tionships that are the widest categorical divisions of the whole
society. Thus the subsection code provides a grid on which
one can locate or project any egocentrically defned kin rela
tionship between individuals or groups in its relation to the
social structure as a whole.
Patrilineal Descent Groups and Cult T otemism
The patrilineal descent group is the important "landown
ing" unit in Walbiri society. "Ownership" refers to ritual
rights exercised by men of the group over a series of ancestral
l ocalities and their associated ceremonies, cult objects, and an
cestral totemic designs.
Descent groups of different subsection and moiety aflia
tions are included within a single local constellation, and
have rights over named sites in a broad sector adjacent to
and including their home base. For example, a Djan-
l
| '
zz W albiri Iconography
gala-Djambidjimba group of the Mt. Allan-Conistan re
gion has charge of the rain track from Walabanba (where the
rain emerged) west to the area of Yuendumu. Another
closely related group of the same subsection couple from Mt.
Doreen then takes over and controls the rain track westward
through Megindji (near Mt. Doreen) and out into the Tanami
desert. On the other hand, an eaglehawk site in the vicinity of
Yuendumu (and not far from the track of the rain) is con
trolled by a Djabaldjari-Djungarai group from Mt. Doreen.
As Meggitt ( 1962 :64) points out (and my data confrm) de
scent groups belonging to different subsection couples and
opposite patrimoieties have rights over totemic places in the
same general region of the country.
Walbiri descent groups are lineagelike units in that they
are small, genealogically shallow groups within which genea
logical relations can be traced. There is, however, no hierar
chical lineage organization such as characterizes lineage struc
ture in parts of Africa; instead, the subsection and moiety
systems constitute supervening classifcatory arrangements
that express the relationship of each "lineage" to an over-all
societal structure.
A typical Walbiri lineage includes about seven to twelve
adult men who constitute the male cult group or "lodge" that
exercises ritual prerogatives for the lineage as a whole.1 A
boy is initiated into the lodge of his patrilineage through a
circumcision rite, nowadays at about the age of thirteen or four
teen. Women of the lineage, although excluded from the
10
About ten such lodges, representing all four subsection couples,
were active at Yuendumu during my stay, although members of addi
tional lodges were also present. Meggitt ( 1962 : zo6) has estimated that
there are about thirty or forty lodges in the tribe as a whole.
Ethnographic Background zj
lodge, are thought to have corights over the totemic ancestors
and sites of which their fathers and brothers are the actual rit
ual guardians.
I I
Walbiri ancestors are usually personifed aspects of the en
vironment such as rain, honey ant, fre, wild orange, yam,
and so on. Other ancestors are wholly human in form, and
referred to by proper names. There are female as well as male
ancestors, but the latter are more common and for the most
part more important. Ancestors who are distinctive species
a

e referred to by their species names; as we shall see, the spe

Cies features are important in the representational forms of
the totemic designs.
All of these beings are thought of as having emerged from
the ground during ancestral times; wandering through the
country they created various topographical features as they
moved along lengthy tracks or circled within a more nar
rowly defned region. Walbiri use the term djugurba, which
also means "dream" and "story," to denote these ancestral in-
.
1
One way in whic
_
h men conceptualize the unity of the patrilodge
.s terms of the notiOn of "one bilirba." The patrilineal bilirba is a
spmtual essence located in the stomach of a man. Men say that
women do not have this
.
bilirba insie them, for it is acquired only
thro

h lodge membership. As I pomted out earlier, there is also a

matnlmeal il!rba, which Walbiri distinguish from that acquired
through patnhneal lodge membership, and which is inside women as
well as men.
My female informants
.
were aware of the character of the lodges
ansome women could hst some of the members of the patrilodge to
which her brothers belonged. A woman also thinks of herself as hav
ing special interests in her husband's patrilodge. Women feel, how
eve

, that knowledge of the ceremonies and myths and other infor

matiOn
.
controlleby the lodges belongs rightflly to men. In general,
possessiOn of this knowledge is an aspect of masculine role and
women regard it as such.
i
. i
.

.
zq W albiti leouogtap|y
babitautsoftbe eouutty aud tbe timesiuwbiebtbeyttaveled
atouudeteatiugtbewotldiuwbiebpteseut-dayValbitiuow
live.
Djugurba, astbeaueesttalpetiod,tefetsiuValbititbougbt
topetsousaudeveutsoutsidetbememotiesofliviugaetots,it
iswbatSebutz , : e; . : o)basdesetibedastbe'putewotldof
ptedeeessots, fot uoue of tbe petsous aud eveuts of tbis
wotld ovetlap iu time witb tbe liviug. !be tetmyidjaru, iu
eouttast, deuotestbewotld oftbeliviug,tbeougoiugpteseut,
oteveutswitbiutbememotyoftbeliviug,tbesametetmalso
meaus teal ot ttue, aud wakiug expetieuee iu eouttast to
dteamiug.Humaubeiugs, asdistiuetftomaueesttalbeiugsate
yaba ,people) otyaba yidjaru. !beteasousfottbeassoeiatiou
betweeuaueestotsauddteamswillbeeomeeleatlatet.
!be uumbet ofValbiti aueestots is uot nxed, it is iuden-
uitelylatge, aud almostauypbeuomeuou eau be tbougbt of
asau aueestot. !bis aspeet i simpottaut i u uudetstaudiug
tbe totemie desigu system, fot as we sball see, tbe way iu
wbieh desigusate eousttuetedmakesitpossibleto teudet au
iudenuiteuumbet ofdiffeteutpbeuomeuabymeaus ofatela-
tivelysimplesystemofvisualfotms.
A siugle pattiliueal lodge geuetally eouttols a uumbet of
aueestots wbo ate assoeiated witb a siugle tegiou otwbose
ttaeksiutetseetatasiuglesite,butitteudstoempbasizeouly
tbemostimpottautoftbese. lusomeiustaueestbelessimpot-
taut oues appeat as satellites ofa eeuttal aucestot, iu otbets,
1
2 I have also discussed the association in two papers: Munn 1964,
1967.
13 At Yuendumu, I collected from designs and myths, and from in
formation on "conception" totems (see below, p. 28), a list of more
than sixty-fve totemic species and there are certainly more. Meggitt
( 1 962:205) counted over 150 totems for the Walbiri as a whole.
Lt|uogtap|ie 8aekgtouuc :5
eaeb istelativelyiudepeudeutiutbe mytbology, altbougbte-
giouallyliuked.
!bus tbe lodge wbieb bas ebatge oftbe taiu ftom Vala-
baubato Yueudumu, alsoeouttolsayawagi betty audeettaiu
suake aud lizatd aueestots wbose sites ot ttaeks tbe taiu
etossed iu tbis seetiou ofits j outuey, tbese-aud tbe betty
iu pattieulat-ate ofteu tteated as satellites oftbe taiu. Raiu
itselfbas almost wbolly absotbed ligbtuiug aud taiubow, ' `
wbieb ate sometimes tteated as sepatate aueestots but appeat
fottbemostpattaseompoueutsoftbetaiueomplex.
Valbitispeakofaueestots asbelougiugto oue oftbe fout
fatbet-sou eouples of subseetious. Au aueestot may be te-
fetted to, fot example, as Dj augala-Dj ambidjimba , A:-A: iu
tbe diagtam) meauiug tbat be belougs to tbis fatbet-soueou-
ple. Allmeuoftbesesubseetiouseallbimfatbet otfatbet's
fatbet, aud tegatd tbemselves as owuets ot masters (gira)
of tbe televaut sites aud eetemouies. !beit tigbts, bowevet,
ate based upou tbe faet tbat tbey staud iu patallel sttuetutal
positiousiutbe kiusbip systemto tbemeu oftbe aetual owu-
iuglodge. tbus, tbeyate elassineatoty mastets oftbe titual.
lu au eveu widet elassineatoty seuse all meu of tbe same
pattimoiety as tbe lodge owuets ate also gira of tbe tituals,
wbile meu oftbe opposite pattimoiety ategurungulu ,tbose
wbo eousttuet tbe eetemouial obj eets, wotkets) . lu lodge
eetemouies,gurungulu maketbeeetemouialtegaliaauddeeo-
tate tbegira daueets ,seeCbaptet;). Siueelodgemembets of
eaeb moiety ate teeiptoeally mastets aud wotkets fot eaeb
otbet, membets ofauy ouelodge will at diffeteut times play
eaebtole.
14 Utilizing Meggitt's data, Peterson (1969:32) has suggested that
"workers" do not participate as members of "Fa/son subsection pairs
helping the owners" (and so not presumably in their capacity as pa-
) I '
2 6 W albiri leouograp|y
Aueestral sites,liketotemieaueestors, areelassinedaeeord-
iugtotbesubseetious oflodgeowuers. Vbeutraeks beloug-
ingto di ereutsubseetiousiuterseetat tbesamesite,meure-
gard botb subseetiou eouples as masters. For example, at
Yurudj uruwauu, asiteuortbofYueudumu,lizardaudkauga-
roo traeksbelougiugto subseetious oftbeopposite patrimoi-
eties aresaid to eross eaeb otber. Botbsubseetiou eouples are
saidtobemastersfortbesite.
trilodge members), but rather as WiMoBr / SiDaHus to each other
(see Meggitt 1 962 : diagram p. 2 1 7). Moreover, "the primary relation
ship between the owners and the workers is that of WB/SH and
MB/ZS." Peterson's view appears to be that since the workers' rela
tions to each other and to the owners are conceptualized in
affi nal / matrilateral terms, and in a way suggesting their reciprocal in
terests in the exchange of women, that the workers are participating
in the ritual on the grounds of domestic, "secular" relationships and
interests rather than on the grounds of politico-ritually defned, patri
lineally ordered relationships. My Walbiri informants, however, re
garded particular patrilodges of men as especially important grung
ulu for rituals belonging to closely intermarried lodges of the
opposite moiety (suggesting, in effect, that there were "boss" grung
ulu patrilodges). Similarly, Meggitt ( 1 972: 77) states that "a particular
lodge of the opposite moiety, frequently that whose senior men are
brothers-in-law of the senior men of the performing lodge, should
take the lead in the practical preparations of that ritual." Thus I
would disagree with Peterson on this point, although I am in broad
agreement with much else in his paper. My interpretation is rather
that the relation between the moieties constitutes a symbolic model
on a political-jural plane for the relational principles of affinity and
matriliny, as well as for the specifc interests in procreation and mari
tal. arrangements of the domestic level. That is, in my view the patri
m

o
iety relationships model the domestic relationships. I would say
then that the workers are participating in a political capacity (this is
the implication of the basic patrimoiety organization), but that this
participation is "about" or has as part of its symbolic content their
domestic, secular interests and relationships. See the section on "Planes
of Sociocultural Structure" (this chapter), and Chapter 7 On the no
tion of one level of social organization modeling another see Leach
( 1 95 8 : 1 4J).
Lt|uograp|ie 8aekgrouud
lu additiou, differeut aueestors of tbe same speeies may
eaeb beliuked witb iudepeudeut sites, sometimes baviug dif-
fereut subseetiou aud patrimoiety amliatiou. For iustauee,
tbere are two ya!a ,big yam) aueestors iu differeut parts of
Ngalia eouutry. Oue is i utbeebarge ofapatrilodge ofDj a-
baugari-Dj abauauggameu, tbe otber iu tbe ebarge of a Dju-
burulalodge. ltalsobappeustbattbeleugtbytraeksofdiffer-
eut aueestors oftbe same speeies may iuterseet at oue site.
Vbeu tbis oeeurs, tbese aueestors usually seem to bave tbe
samesubseetiouafnliatiouiutbisregiouoftbeeouutry.
Asiuglelougaueestraltraekwillbeeoutrolledby differeut
patrilodges of meu aloug adjaeeut segmeuts oftbe route. lu
tbe examples available to me, tbeselodgesbeloug totbesame
subseetiou eouple.Vbeuatraekpassesiuto auotber eouutry,
bowever, ebauges of subseetiou aud moiety amliatiou may
oeeur.
Plaues of Soeioeultural Strueture
aud tbe Notiou of Guruwari
lu tbis study l sball be eoueerued witb two plaues of
Valbirisoeiety aud eulture,totbe exteut tbattbese arerele-
vaut to tbe ieouograpbie symbol system. !be oue plaue is
partieularistie aud persoual aud bas its soeial loeus iu tbe
eoujugal family, tbe otberis eosmieaudsoeietal,orsoeiopo-
litieal, aud basitsloeus iu tbe patriliueal deseeutgroups aud
patrimoieties.
!be family is, ofeourse, tbe fuudameutal proereative tmit
aud tberefore tbe uueleus of iutergeueratioual eoutiuuity.
!bepatriliueal deseeut group, outbeotberbaud, isliukediu
Valbiri tbougbt witb wbat l will eall trausgeueratioual
eoutiuuity, tbatis, temporal eoutiuuityiutbeexteudedseuse,
from tbe aueestors to tbe preseut. !bus, meu speak of fol-
lowiug tbeir fatbers' fatbers, for itis tbrougb tbe patriliueal
2 8 Valbiti ieouogtap|y
lodges tbat, as we sball see latet, aueestots ate eoutiu

ously
embodied iu eetemouy aud tbe fettility of bumau bemgs as
well as otbet uoubumau speeies is symbolieally maiutaiued.
!btougb tbe teeiptoeal iutettelatiousbip of tbe deseeut
gtoups, tbe Valbiti eosmos as a wbole is maiutaiued ovet
ume.
!bis patallelism of fauetious ou diffeteut soeioeultutal
plaues is poiuted up by Valbiti uotious about tbe soutees of
totemie-aueesttal assoeiatious fot tbe iudividual. Outbe oue
baud, au iudividual's aueesttal ideutaeatiou is denued iu
tetms ofpattiliueal deseeut, aud fot a boy by iuitiatiou iuto
bisfatbet'spattiliueallodge.!btougbiuitiatiouiutolodge ae-
tivities,aboyis ableto take auaetivepattiuideuti[iugwitb
audmaiutaiuiugtbisgtoup-liukedaueesttalideutity,butfota
gitl tbis ideutity is guatded ot takeu ea

ofbyte m

uof
tbepattiliueage.Outbeotbetbaud,Valbualsobeheve

ua

aueesttalideutineatiou detived ftomtbe plaeewbeteaumdr-

vidualistbougbttobavebeeueoueeived. !!beselattetideu-
tineatiousdouotueeessatilyeoiueidewitbauiudividual'spa-
ttiliuealeulttotemsaudtbeyateuot giveumajot exptessiou
iutbesymbolieaetiouoftitual.
!bebtidgiuguotioubetweeutbesetwosouteesofaueesttal
ideutityis ouetbatwillbe ofeousidetableimpottaueeiutbis
study. it is tbe eoueept ofguruwari, tbe basie Valbiti t

tm
fotaueesttal desigus. lsball, tbetefote, pause bete toeousrdet
tbisuotiouiualittlemotedetail, buttbeteadetwillnudtbat
a nllet seuse is beiug wotked out tbtougb tbe study as a
wbole. ludeed, tbe ptoblem of aualyziug wbat guruwari is
iu aud to tbeValbitiimagiuatiouis oue oftbe eeuttaltbemes
oftbisbook.
!be tetm guruwari bastwo basie, liuked deuotatious. Ou
tbeouebaud,itistbeuamefotgtapbie desigus tepteseutiug
" On conception totemism, see Elkin ( 1 964: I 70-r 7 1 ) .
Lt|uogtap|ie 8ackgtouu1 2 9
tbe aueestots ,ptimatily desigus owuedby meu) aud maybe
exteudedmotegeuetallytoauyvisualsiguotvisibleembodi-
meut of aueestots sueb as footptiuts, topogtapbieal featutes
tesultiug ftom tbeit imptiuts ot metamotpboses, eetemouial
jatapbetualia, ot desigu-matkedsaeted boatdsaudstouesleft
by tbem iutbe gtouud. Ou tbeotbetbaud,tbe

etmtef

ts t
'
aueesttal fettility powet, tbe powet of geuetatrou, wbreb IS
au esseutially absttaet otiuvisible poteueylenby tbe auees-
tots iu tbe soil as tbey ttaveled tbtougb tbe eouutty. Guru
wari ate botb tbe esseutial visible fotms aud tbe esseutial iu-
visiblepoteueyoftbeaueestots. +
Asiuvisiblepoteuey, tbey atetbougbtofas beiugloealized
iuside tbe gtouud ot iuside tbe bodies ofbumau beiugs aud
otbet liviug eteatutes. !bus, wbeu a womau beeomes pteg-
uaut, Valbiti say tbatsbe bas beeueutetedbytbeguruwari
of a pattieulat aueestot. ! !be staudatd explauatiou is tbat a
small ebildlike eteatute (guruwalba) wbo livesiu tbe ttees at
aueesttal sites bas tbtowu a missile ,fot example, a boomet-
aug) attbewomau, audsolodgediubettbeguruwari

be
aueestot assoeiatedwitb tbe site. !bisgurwari isalso msrde
tbeebildwbeuitis botu.!beguruwari ofakaugatoo auees-
tot, fot example, is eoutaiued iu tbe loealities to wbieb be
ttaveled, iu liviug kaugatoos, aud iu bumau beiugs wbose
motbetswete impteguated by tbeguruwari oftbis aueestot.
!beaueesttal guruwari tbat auiudividual ,maleotfemale)
aequitesiutbiswayis mediatedbybodilytiestotb

motb

t,
siueeitisduetobisbaviugbeeueoueeived atapattreulatsrte
tbat be bas tbeguruwari ofa pattieulat aueestotiuside bim.
|utbeeoutextofpattiliuealeult,bowevet,guruwari asvis-
16 Walbiri are not ignorant of a relation between conception and
sexual intercourse; some of my female informants pointed out that
the penis makes the child. Moreover, much of the sy

boli

image
_
ry
connected with fertility in the cosmology and myth rs qmte explic
itly sexual.
j o W albiti leouogtap|y
ible fotms tepteseutiug tbe aueestots ateeeuttal. lu tbis eou-
text, tbe bodily ideutineatiou of a mau witb tbe aueestots
takes plaee tbtougb seusoty eoutaet witb aueesttal gurwari
,desigusaudsaeta)'ltesetvefattbetdiseussiou oftbispoiut
fot a latet ebaptet, but oue aspeetmay beuoted iu passiug.
meu sometimes likeued aueesttal geuetative poteuey to tbe
dufftbatissbakeuoutotbegtouudftomtbeguruwari deeota-
tious of daueets iu banba ,fettility ot life-maiuteuauee
eetemouies) , IS tbe implieatiou is tbat tbe daueet is weatiug
tbe geuetative poteuey oftbe aueestot as tbevisible emblem
ofbisaueesttalideutity.
lu tbe steteotypie uotious about eoueeptiou, tbe tbtowiug
ofa missilewould seemto be aligbtlyveiledsexualimageof
eteetiou, ej aeulatiou, aud iusemiuatiou ,altbougb myiufotm-
autsdiduotmaketbisexplieit) . ludeed,iueettaiutespeetstbe
aueestot'sguruwari as a symbol offettility appeats to be tbe
quiutesseueeofmaleptoeteativepowet, altbougb,aswesball
see latet, tbe mattet is mote eomplex, fot tbe guruwari de-
1 7 Walbiri also lay emphasis upon touch. Not only is a man deco
rated with the designs of his patrilineal ancestors in ceremonies, but
the novice may be pressed against the design-covered bodies of oth
ers so as to receive the ''strength" from the designs; pressing the
hands on ceremonial obj ects such as string crosses may also be part
of the instruction process.
18 When the dancer quivers in the ceremonial performance, fluf
from the body decorations shakes off onto the ground. Two of my
informants described this ritual quivering as "throwing of" (gidji-ni)
guruwari (see Meggitt 1 962 : 65 and 1 966: 4I ). Spencer and Gillen
( I 904: 3 oi ) also remark with reference to Warramunga intichiuma cer
emonies: "This shaking of the body . . . is done in imitation of the
old ancestor . . . . The spirit individuals used to emanate from him
[when he performed] just as white down fies off the bodies of the
performers at the present day when they shake themselves." Roheim
(I 945 :91 ,97) indicates a direct association between ritual quivering
and notions of impregnation.
Lt|uogtap|ic 8ackgtouuc ji
sigus meu make iuelude a femiuiue symbolism ,see Cbaptet
;) .
!be uotiou of guruwari spaus tbe two diffeteut soeial
plaues oftbe petsoual ot familistie ou tbe oue baud aud tbe
soeiopolitieal ot pattiliueal ou tbe otbet. Petsoual aueesttal
ideutity is mediated tbtougb tbe iudividual's biologieal tela-
tiousbiptobismotbet,siueeiutbiseoutextgurwari ateseeu
as eutetiug iuto awomautovivi[tbe fetus. !bismatetually
mediated aueesttal boud afntmstbe positiouof au iudividual
witbiu a familial mattix tatbet tbau witbiu a deseeut gtoup.
Aueesttalideutitybasedoudeseeut-gtoupmembetsbipisme-
diated tbtougbtbemen oftbepattiliueallodges,audiulodge
fettilityeetemouiestbesymbolieptoeteativeptoeessiuvolves
meuiuseusotyeoutaetwitbguruwari emblems.
Ftom oue poiut ofview, we eausaytbattbe betetosexual
ptoeteatiou oftbe familyis ttausfotmediuto uuisexual, sym-
bolieptoeteatiou outbe soeiopolitieal plaue ofmale eultaud
eosmos maiuteuauee. !be patallelism of tbe two plaues is,
moteovet, btougbt iuto foeus by tbe aetivatiou oftbe patti-
moiety otgauizatiou iu male eult. As l bave poiuted out, tbe
moiety telatiousbip tepteseuts tbe type of matetual-afnual
liuks, audtbustbemoietyiutetdepeudeueeexptessediulodge
titual ptovides, as will beeome eleat latet, a model ot sttue-
tutal equivaleut ou a diffeteut plaue fottbe iutetdepeudeuee
ofafnues audtbe familyuuitwitbtespeetto ptoeteatiouaud
tbeeiteulatiouofwomeu.
CHAPTER _
Categori es of Ancestral
Desi gns and Thei r Functi ons
!btougbout eeuttal Austtalia totemie aueestots ate tepte-
seutedbygtapbiedesigustbatateofeousidetableimpottauee
iu tbe visual symbol system foeused ou aueesttal belief.
Amoug tbe Valbiti, tbese desigusateexteusivelyelabotated,
aud it is oue of my aims to demousttate tbat tbey fotm patt
ofawidetgtapbiesystemwitbsomeoftbesttuetutalebatae-
tetisties of a lauguage. ' lu talkiug about tbis lauguage,' l
sball tesetve tbe tetm design for gtapbie fotms tbat Valbiti
tegatd as baviug a speeial impottauee detived ftom tbeit iu-
ttiusie tieswitbaueestots. !bi

impottaueeisexptessediutbe
asetiptiou ofstteugtb ot efheaey to tbedesigusaud iu tbe
' vatyiugdegteesofseeteeyattaebedtotbem.
Eaeb aueestot is assoeiated witboue ot mote desigus tbat
ate tegatded as suttogates fotbim. A ebataetetistie featute is
tbat tbegtapbs always baveexplieitsemautie tefeteuee. tbey
ate uot metely deeotative fotms.!betefote, iuattemptiugto
iutetptet tbeit eultutal siguineauee aud fuuetiou, we sball
latetbavetoeousidettbe eouteutoftbeeommuuieatiousaud
tbe modes oftelatiousbip betweeusiguvebieles audeouteut.
lu tbis ebaptet, bowevet, l am eoueetued speeiheally witb
denuiug tbe eategoties of desigus aud tbeiusttumeutal fuue-
tious of eaeb eategoty-tbe kiuds of efneaey atttibuted to
tbemaspattsoftitualeomplexes.
!be iuttiusie ties betveeu a desigu aud au aueestot ate
Categories of Ancestral Designs jj
basediuValbiti tbougbt upou tbe otigiu ofdesigusiuauees-
ttal dteams or, foteettaiukiuds ofdesigus, iu tbe dteamsof
eoutempotatyValbitiiuwbiebaueestotsgive

bemdesigus. '
!be label djugurba ,dteam, aueesttal times) exptesses tbis
eouueetioubetweeu aueestots aud dteams. !be dteam otigiu
ofdesigusis also tbeultimategtouuds fottbeitemeaeysiuee
tbeaueestots atetbeotigiualsoutees ofpoteueyiutbe Val-
biti wotld. !be desigus ate fotms extetual to iudividual sub-

j eetivitytbat atetbougbt ofas baviug otigiuallybeeupatt of

subjeetiveexpetieuee, tbatis,oftbeiutetiotvisiou,dteam)of
aueestots.
`
Valbiti desetibe all desigus as wiri, a tetm meauiug
-

sttoug, powetful,aud alsoimpottaut. 'lufaet, tbete ate

distiuet elasses ofdesigus tbat diffet iu telative impottauee
audpowet,buttbegeuetalseuseofemeaeious'appliestoall
oftbem. !betetmguruwari maybeusediuabtoadseuseto
eovetallelassesofdesigusiueludiugtboseusedby womeu. it
eouveys tbe uotiou ofdesigus as a geuetal eategoty. lu sttiet
usage, bowevet, it is applied to desigus ovet wbieb iuitiated
meubavetigbts,witbtbeexeeptiouof tboseaimedatatttaet-
iug a lovet. Desigus oftbe lattet type ate tefetted to as il
bindji. A sepatate elass of desigus eouttolled by womeu is
ealledyawalyu, aud bas some fuuetious patallel to meu's il
bindji.2
1 Not all personal dreams are thought to be ancestral revelations
(see, for example, note 3, this chapter) . One general theory of dreams
.s that in them the matrilineal bilirbc ("spirit") leaves the body and
JOUrneys around. In the sexual dreams commented on below (note 3),
however, some informants felt that the whole person goes to the de
sired partner's camp, not just the bilirba. The distinctive stereotypes
associated with design-yielding dreams are discussed later (Chapters
4,
:
+
2 I do not consider here men's designs representing malicious bush
spirits such as the djanba, who are not regarded as the totemic ances-
I
'
34
W albiti leouogtap|y
Eaeb desigu elass is eouueeted witb a speeine sott of efn-
eaey,buteauoulyaidiuattaiuiugtbeeudsdesitedwbeuete-
ated iutbetigbt eoutexts aud aeeompauiedby tbe siugiug of
assoeiated sougs. !be siugiug is a eeuttal featute, fotsiugiug
aud paiutiug ,ot mote geuetally, tbe eousttuetiou ofdesigu-
matked saeta) eoustitute tbe esseutial eote of titual aetiou
eouueeted witb tbe aueestots, itis, iu pattieulat, tbesiugiug
tbat eusutes tbe efneaey of tbe desigus. Some tites may, iu
faet, eousist ofuo mote tbautbesetwo eoueutteut aetivities,
wbile otbets iuelude dtamatizatious, daueiug, audlatge-seale
eetemouial eyeles sueb as tbe leugtby iuitiatiou eetemouies.
Yawalyu
Altbougbyawalyu ate desigus ovetwbiebwomeuexeteise
tigbts, aud wbieb ate used iu womeu'syawalyu eetemouies,
tbey tefet to tbe same aueestots as do meu's desigus. !bete
ate uo distiuetiveyawalyu ttaeks. Little seeteey is attaebed
totbe desigus tbemselves, tbey maybeseeubymattied meu
audbyyouugebildteuofbothsexes . Valbitimeutegatdya
walyu as little (wida), otuuimpottaut, iueompatisouwitb
tbeitowudesigus.
Yawalyu eau be paiuted ou ebildteu ,Plate : ) aud youug
gitls as well as ou mattied womeu. No petsou sbould eete-
tors of patrilineal groups and for whom no banba fertility ceremonies
are performed. No special name seems to be applied to these designs
H a class, but their lethal fnctions make them peripheral to the basic
ancestral complex that centers on life maintenance and the ties be
tween the Walbiri people and their country. The over-all structure of
these designs, however, is the same as that of other guruwari designs.
On djanba, see Meggitt ( 1 955).
3 See Berndt ( 1 950), whose northwestern desert women stressed dis
tinctive yawalyu tracks associated with yawalyu women. I found that
the yawalyu of northern Bidjandj ara women at Areyonga also re
ferred to specifc ancestral women.
Categoties otAueesttal Lesigus 3 5
Plate 2 . A chi l d bei ng pai nted wi th yawalyu desi gns. The pai nti ng i s be
l i eved to aid in growth.
mouially paiut ot ' 'siug yawalyu aloue, some womeu said
tbat sueb a petsou would be winggi, a wtougdoet. !bis
sttessupoutbebasiesoeiality ofdesigupaiutiug is ebataetet-
3
6 Valbiri leouograp|y
istie ofValbiri attitudes aud isoueiudexoftbe faettbatide-
allytbe produetiou ofdesigu forms ispartofa proeessrelat-
iug iudividuals to eaeb otber witbiu tbe wider soeial order.
Yawalyu desigus arepaiuted outbe bodywitb red oeber,
ebareoal,audawbitepastemadefromafriablestoue.Asmall
stiek bouud witb striug at oue eud may be used to apply
some oftbepaiuts,buttbenugersarealsoemployed. Deeora-
tiousare appliedto tbe breasts aud aeross tbe sboulders, aud
to tbe upper arms, stomaeb, aud tbigbs. !be wbole of tbe
baekis uotpaiuted, buta few desigus exteudovertbesboul-
ders aud aeross tbe top oftbe baek. lt is siguineaut tbat tbe
body is tbe ouly medium for desiguproduetiou iuyawalyu
ritual, siuee Valbiri meu employ a variety ofmediai utbeir
rites aud ereate various symbolie obj eets tbat are detaebed
fromtbebodybutalsoserveasdesigumedia.
Rigbtsoveryawalyu areuoteeuterediueorporategroups,
butiu iudividual womeu wboelaim to bave dreamed tbede-
sigus aud regard tbemas tbeir owu property. A dreamer iu
turuexteudseoowuersbiptober owusistersaudeowives, aud
to ber sisters-iu-law ,busbaud's sisters aud brotbers' wives) .
!bese womeu regard tbemselves as owuers of tbe yawalyu,

biletbeir daugbters bavesubsidiaryrigbts.Auumberofmy

mformauts stated tbat at ayawalyu eeremouy sisters-iu-law
(mandiri-langu, womeurelatedtoeaebotberasbrotber'swife
-busbaud's sister) sbould ideally paiut eaeb otber, aud tbe
same reeiproeal relatiousbip sbould obtaiu betweeu eross-
eousius (djuga-langu) . lupraetiee, tbisuormisuotrigorously
applied aud l bave observed sueb kiu as asister, ora fatber's
sister, as well as a sister-iu-law or eross-eousiu paiutiug a
womau. lu geueral, womeu's eeremouial paiutiug is a soeial
proeessiuwbiebwomeurelatetoeaebotberiuadyadiefasb-
Categories otAueestral Lesigus
3
;
iou, ouewomaupaiutiugauotber, wbileuokiusbipruleisrig-
orouslyapplied,tbeuormreferstoafnualrelatiousbip.
Vomeusometimeselaimedtbatdesigussbouldbeiuberited
from oue's motber, but iu faet tbe maj ority of desigus iu
eommou use at Yueudumu were believed to bave beeu
dreamedbyliviugpersousaudtobe,iuValbiri eyes) uew
(djalangu-wa1U) desigus. Older womeusometimes remarked
t|at tbey bad forgotteu desigus belougiug to tbeir motbers.
Vbileawomauusuallydreamsyawalyu referabletoberowu
patrimoietyaueestors,tbisisuotalwaystbeease,oeeasioually
a womau lays elaim to a desigu for au opposite patrimoiety
aueestorwitbiuberowuloealeouutry.
Vomeu empbasize tbat tbe busbaud of tbe dreamer is au
importautowueroftbeyawalyu, buttbismustbeuuderstood
iutbeseuseof bouorary owuer. Af:eradream, awomauis
expeetedto reveal ber uew desigusto berbusbaud aswellas
to ber eowives. Ve may uote bere tbat tbe foeal uotiou of
yawalyu owuersbip aud rigbtseeutersiutbeideaoftbe fam-
ilyeamp. Peoplewbosbareoueeamp aretbougbtof,iua
metapborieal seuse) as sbariug ouesleep aud ouedream,
a womau may ratioualize tbe eoowuersbip of yawalyu bya
busbaud outbe view tbatsiuee be sbares ber eamp, besbares
iuberdream.!beexteusiouofrigbtstosisters,eo wives, aud
sisters-iu-law ,aud also to daugbters) is eousisteut witb tbis
eore uotiou. !bew|oIematterofsbariug oue eamp aud oue
dream eau sometimes be tbougbt ofas a literal sbariug of a
4 There are explicit connections in W albiri thought between
dreams and s

xuality. It is believed that by dreaming about a person

of the oppos1te sex a man or woman may attract this individual in
sleep, or may go to this person's camp in sleep and have intercourse
with her (or him). One informant also referred to his wife as his dju
gurbanu. See also the discussion of ilbindji in this chapter.
Valbiti ieouogtap|y
dteam. tbus, wbeu telliug me tbeityawalyu dteams womeu
eommouly begau by listiug tbe iudividuals wbo ,tbey said)
wete sleepiug iu eamp witb tbem at tbe time, tbese petsous
atetbougbttobaveappeatediutbedteamaud ate,tbetefote,
iu tbeoty, eoowuets ,tbey ate eommouly kiu of tbe types
uoted) .
!be telatiou betweeuyawalyu aud tbe matital telatiousbip
is teitetated iutbe view tbat a maumay dteamyawalyu de-
sigus tbat be tbeu teaebes tobis wives. Fot example, a set of
opossum desigus iu use dutiug mystay at Yueudumu bad
beeu dteamed by a Djubutula mau amougwbose pattilodge
aueestots tbe opposumhgutedptomiueutly. His seuiot wife
was iuebatge oftbe desigus. Botb mau aud wi fe empbasized
tbat tbeseyawalyu tefetted to tbe sameopossum aueestotas
tbeouefotwbiebbislodgepetfotmedeetemouies.
Voteovet, a mauis said to teaeb biswives eettaiu desigus
alteady available iubis pattilodge witbwbieb topaiut tbem-
selves at iuitiatiou eetemouies, ot fot tbe deeotatiou oftbeit
ebildteu. Sueb desigus sbould uot be used iu yawalyu eete-
mouies to atttaet auotbet mau. !bese desigus ate also ealled
yawalyu. Desigus ate tbus ebauueled ftom meu to womeu,
via tbe matital telatiousbip, bu: tbete ate uo desigus tbat
womeu teaeb to meu fot tbelattet to use iu tbeit tituals, au
asymmettieal featutetbatisuudoubtedlyduetotbetelatively
lowtitualstatusaudpowetofwomeu.
No paymeuts ueed be madeiutetutufotyawalyu gifts of
tbis kiud, as oue iufotmaut suggested, sueb tetutus ate al-
teady built iuto tbe food exebauges of tbe matital telatiou-
sbip, tbe desigus bave alteady beeu paid fot. !bus, tbe tela-
tiousbip betweeu a mau aud bis wife eau be tefetted to as
yawalyu-ngariyu awalyu-paid fot, tbat is, two people iu
tbis telatiousbip) . Ftom tbis petspeetive, yawalyu appeat as
Categories otAueesttal Lesigus 39
att of tbe teeiptoeal telatiousbip betweeu meu aud womeu
ceutetediutbematitaluuit.lsball tetututotbispoiutiudis-
eussiugtbeiusttumeutalfuuetiousof yawalyu.
Sevetal desigus telatiug tooueaueestot ate eommouly as-
etibed to a siugle dteam. !bey may iuelude mote tbau oue
desigu fot eaeb patt oftbe body iu additiou to desigus fot
di ffeteut body patts. !be wbole set is liuked witb tbe seg-
meutof tbe eommuuityeouuttytbtougbwbiebtbeaueesttal
ttaektuus otwbetetbesiteis loeated. lt is tbisgeuetal loeal
tefeteuee tbat womeu usually empbasize, tatbet tbau tbe
mote speeihe, uamed plaees witbiu tbe eouutty tbat ate a
pattof tbettaek.
Fot example, a set oftaiu desigus bad beeu dteamed by a
NaugalawomauofVt. Doteeu Ngalia eouuttywbosebtotb-
ets wete membets oftbe Vt. Doteeu taiu lodge. !beseya
walyu wete liuked witb tbis tegiou of Ngalia eouutty aud
wete beiug empbasizedbyagtoup of Naugala-NuugataiVt.
Doteeuwomeuattbetimeofmyheldwotk.
Vote t|au oue womau may elaimyawalyu belougiug to
tbe same aueestots, ot aueesttal speeies.Fotexample, atleast
fout sets ofyawagi betty desigus wete available at Yueu-
dumu. !wo oftbese bad beeu dteamt by Nabatulawomeu,
ouebadbeeutaugbtto aNabauauggawomaubybetDj ubu-
tula busbaud. !bese tbtee sets of desigus all bad tbe same
loealeommuuitytefeteuee ,tbeVt. Doteeutegiou),buteaeb
womau beld tbem as bet owu iudividual ptopetty. !be
fouttb bad beeu btougbt to tbe Valbiti by a Yaumadj ati
womau aud belouged to a yawagi betty iu tbis womau's
eouutty.
Five speeies of aueestots wete empbasized iu yawalyu at
Yueudumu taiu, yawagi berty, managidji ,a blaek betty),
|oueyaut, opossum, aud ebateoal ,hte) . Vbile desigus fot a
W albiri leouograp|y
uumber of otber pbeuomeua were available, womeu did uot
feel tbat all speeies ueed baveyawalyu represeutatiou. Some
womeuwere oftbe opiuiou tbateertaiuspeeieswere little
too daugerous tobave assoeiatedyawalyu, aud eould be rep-
reseuted ouly iu meu's desigus. lu geueral, tbe ediblespeeies
stressed by womeu iu yawalyu were assoeiated witb tbeir
owu food-gatberiugaetivities.Raiu, alsostressedbywomeu,
bas stroug femiuiue assoeiatious iuValbiritboug|t, aud tbe
ebareoal aueestors depieted iu y awalyu are female. Vbile
womeu's desigus teud to exelude speeieswitb stroug maseu-
liueassoeiatious,meu'sdesigusiueluderefereueestoallspeeies
irrespeetive of tbeir sex-role liukages. For meu eoutrol tbe
masterkeys,sotospeak,totbetotaleosmieorder.
lu faet, tbe aetual uumber of readily available yawalyu
appears to be far more limited tbau tbe uumber ofreadily
available meu's desigus. !bis is iu aeeord uot ouly witb tbe
limited uumber of speeies represeuted, but also witb otber
features sueb as tbe paueity ofmedia, tbelaek ofpermaueut
media, audtbe faettbatyawalyu areuotiutbeebargeofeor-

" It is notable that the one animal of importance is the opossum, a

small game animal, and that in fact the design-yielding dream in this
instance was attributed to a '
(
llan. The opossum also appears to have
some special connections with ilbindji (possibly because of the
phallic implications of its long tail) . Another design for a small an
imal, a wallaby, was not of major importance at the time of my visit,
but was known by some women. This design, it was claimed, had
been taught to women by a man. Although one woman produced a
design for a snake, no snake designs were used in ceremonials I ob
served and some women regarded this species as "too cheeky" to be
represented in yawalyu designs.
6 I collected 74 yawalyu designs representing 1 8 different species
as compared with 1 44 guruwari designs representing so different spe
cies.
Categories oAueestral Lesigus
porate deseeut groups. Voreover, womeu's eeremouies are
uotregularlyperformed.
lt is possible to distiuguisb two geueral types ofyawalyu
eeremouies. ouetypei sperformedi ueoujuuetiouwitbmeu's
eeremouies, espeeially cireumeisiou rites, audiuvolves paiut-
iug iu preparatiou for later dauees ou tbe maiu eeremouial
grouud, tbe otber is performed iudepeudeutly-primarily
toattraetmeuaslovers, butbaviugotberaimsaswell.luad-
ditiou, tbepaiutiug ofdesigusmaygo ouiu relatively iufor-
mal eoutexts, aud tbere are also eertaiu situatious iu wbieb
meu may paiut yawalyu ou womeu. l diseuss tbe various
fuuetious ofdesigusiumoredetail below, audiuCbapterq l
reeouut ayawalyu performediu eoujuuetiouwitb eireumei-
siourites.
!be lustrumeutal Fuuetious of Yawalyu
!be fauetious ofyawalyu eluster arouud persoual sexual
aud proereative aims aud iuterests, persoual bealtb ,euriug)
audtbegrowtbof ebildreu, espeeiallygirls. Yawalyu paiutiug
is alsosometimestbougbttopromotetbe growtbof wildveg-
7 This second type of yawalyu is performed out in the bush, and in
theory at least, children are not permitted to be present. These cere
monies were not a regular feature of women's life at Yuendumu dur
ing my stay, and none was, to my knowledge, performed. Thus my
comments on these yawalyu are drawn from women's descriptions.
Repeated attempts later in my work to get women to perform these
ceremonies were not successful : women felt it was too hot (I did not
have any transport to offer and it was by then summer), and occa
sionally commented that men might accuse them of trying to attract
lovers. It seems unlikely to me that women were trying to keep in
formation from me; my impression is that they were relatively unin
terested and that both lethargy and genuine uncertainty about men's
attitudes were factors. During the same period men were performing
ceremonies regularly, but yawalyu performances were restricted to
those performed in conj unction with men's ceremonies.
W a|biri leouograp|y
etables aud other foods assoeiated witb womeu's aetivities,
butwbeuwomeuarediseussiugtbeaimsoftbepaiutiug,tbey
givelittleempbasistotbisaspeetaudreferprimarilytosexual
aud proereative purposes. !bus tbe paiutiug of desigus tbat
represeut in large part foods aud related pbeuomeua asso-
eiatedwitb tbefemiuiue eeouomieroleisiuteudedtoaebieve
femiuiue sexual, proereative, aud otber aims eouueeted witb
tbebody.
Referriug to eeremouies of tbe sort performed iudepeu-
deutly of meu, womeu may say tbat tbeyawalyu paiutiug
,aud daueiug) is fortbe purpose ofattraetiuga mau, a fuue-
tiou tbey explieitly assoeiate witb proereatiou. As oue
womaupoiutedout. ltis for amau,itmakestbebellylarge,
itmakestbebreastslarge.!behgbtiugstiektbatissetupiu
tbe grouud for tbese eeremouies represeuts tbe peuis, aud
some womeu also equated it witb tbe oval baby earrier aud

sbiel d.
Altbougbtbeuotioutbattbewomeuaredaueiugtoattraet
meu may referto au iudividual's speeme iuterests iu attraet-
iug a lover otber tbau ber busbaud, it is also more geueral,
simplyredeetiug tbe over-all foeus of
,
e eeremouies ou fe-
male sexuality, aud tbesexualrelatiousbips betweeu meu aud

omeu.!bepaiutiugoftbe body witbvisual desigusisauiu-

strumeut iu aebieviug tbe desired bodily satisfaetious ofsex-
ualityaudfertility.
Oue womau asserted tbat a womau may sleep witb ber
busbaud wbile paiuted witb yawalyu desigus, tbepaiutiug is
iuteuded to eueourage impreguatiou. Aeeordiug to otbers, a
8 Although I did not observe the fghting stick in use at women's
ceremonies among the Walbiri (see above, note 7), I did see Bidjand
j ara yawalyu in which the fghting stick was set up on the dancing
ground.
Categories oAueestra| Lesigus 43
girl sbould bave yawalyu paiuted ou ber breasts wbeu nrst
'aviug iutereourse witb ber busbaud. Some meu aud womeu
suggested tbat tbe busbaud would paiut tbe girl witb tbese
yawalyu. lutbemiudsofsomewomeu,tbispaiutiugwasalso
+ssoeiated witb food-gatberiug aetivities . wbeu tbe uew bus-
oaudaudwifewokeupiutbemoruiug,tbeysbouldgobuut-
|ug, tbeyawalyu wouldtbeueateb food' for tbe mau'suew
aotber-iu-law. l ueverobservedyawalyu woruduriug buut-
|ug aetivities, but oue oftbeyawalyu mytbs eoutaius au ae-
eouutofabusbaudaudwife ,maleaud femaleopossums)wbo
paiuteaebotberwitbdesigusastbeysiugopossumsougs,aud
tbeu go outbuutiugtogetber. Altbougbit seems uulikely to
ae tbat tbis paiutiug oeeurs iu aetual preseut-day relatiou-
sbips, tbemytb aeeouut agaiustressestbeview tbatyawalyu
are elemeutsi utbe reeiproeal relatiousbip betweeu tbe sexes
iu marriage aud tbat tbey express tbe biudiug of tbis
relatiousbip iu sexual aud eeouomie aetivities, aud iu
foodexebaugesbetweeuamauaudbisalnues.
!be proereative effeetiveuess of yawalyu is also empba-
sized iu tbe paiutiug oftbebreastsofa youuggirlto eusure
tbeir growtb. As oue male iuformaut explaiued, a youug
aarried womau, or a girl just before sbe bas sexual relatious
witb ber busbaud, migbt be paiuted ou tbe breasts at a ya
walyu eeremouy to make ber breasts large' aud to make
tbe milk eome ,i. e. , to eueourage preguauey) . !bus, be
poiutedout,wbeuawomauis giveutoberbusbaud, tbetwo
togetbereaumakeaebild'(guru bala balga-ma-ni, ehildtbe
twoembody) ,orasbeputitiuFuglisbtwofellowsnndkid.`
!bepaiutiug ofyawalyu toaidtbegrowtb ofgirls' breasts
|s part oftbe geueral proeedure ofpaiutiuggirlsoeeasioually
|rom ebildboodtbrougbpubertyiuordertogrowtbemup'
(wiri-ma-ni). lbaveobservedteeu-agegirlsaudyouugeroues
4
W albiri leooograp|y
beiug paiuted easually at womeu's yawalyu performed iu
eoujuuetiou witb meu's eeremouies ,see Plate 5 ) , aud some
womeu said tbat tbey bad beeu paiuted witb yawalyu as
youuggirls.
Small boys may also be paiuted witbyawalyu, for tbe ea-
sual paiutiug of small ebildreu is part oftbe role played by
womeu iu eariug for tbem aud uourisbiug tbem witb tbeir
milk to make tbem stroug. !be same expressiou, wiri-ma-ni
,makesbig ormakesstroug), is used toreferto tbeeffeetsof
botb aetivities-tbat of paiutiug a ebild aud uourisbiug
bim-eveu tbougb at tbe preseut time at least womeu do
uot appareutly attaeb eritieal importauee to tbe paiutiug.
' Similarly, wbeu womeu paiut tbemselves as part of tbe eir-
eumeisiou eeremouies, tbis paiutiug is regarded as part of
tbeir role iu maiutaiuiug tbe uoviee's life aud streugtb, belp-
iug,tberefore,iutbeproeessofgrowiugbimup.
-
!be streugth ofyawalyu desigus may also be effeetive iu
euriugaudbealiug, aud a fewwomeusaidtbattbeyorotbers
wbom t|ey kuew bad beeu paiuted for tbis purpose iu tbe
past. Aeeordiugtosomewomeu,tbeyawalyu desigusrefer-
riug to tbe fatber's aueestors would beaiuted ou tbe siek
womau. Yawalyu migbtbeperformedspeeineallyfortbiseu-
rative purpose, butitalsoseemsprobabletbattbesame fuue-
tiouseouldbefulnlledatauyyawalyu eeremouy.
Vomeu stated tbat yawalyu eould be performed aner a
ngbt to belp beal tbe iujured aud to make people bappy'
agaiu af:er soeial disturbauee. Valbiri tbiuk o f all aueestral
eeremouial as eoutributiug to feeliugs ofbappiuess audwell-
beiug,audsomemeueomparedtbesefuuetiousofyawalyu to
" I have observed curing procedures practiced during yawalyu per
formances by northern Bidj andj ara women at Areyonga settlement
southwest of Alice Springs.
Categories o Aoeestral Lesigos 45
tbose oftbe mueb more importaut banba fertilityeeremouies
eoutrolledbymeu. !belatter,tbeysaid, eouldbeperformed
after a ngbt or a period of mouruiug beeause people are
sorrytoomueb , tbe banba would eouuteraet tbese feeliugs
witbtboseof pleasureaudgoodbealtb.
l!bindji aud Related Desigus
llbindji are desigus tbat meu ereate for tbe purpose ofat-
traetiug a womau as a lover. !bey may be paiuted ou tbe
body or iueised ou oval boards as are meu's guruwari. !be
desigus sometius refer to speeial ilbindji aueestors. For ex-
ample, Valbiri reeoguize au Fmu ilbindji traekwbieb ruus
uortb of Yueudumu, tbis traek is distiuguisbed from tbat of
tbe importaut emus wbo traveled to Rugari eave west of
Yueudumu. Sometypes ofpbeuomeuaare favored as ilbindji
aueestors. emus, nre, aud various kiuds ofbirds appearto fall
iuto tbis eategory,t o but auy speeies may bave assoeiated il
bindji, aud tbe desigus eau also refer to regular aueestral
traeks. For iustauee, tbere is a bouey aut ilbindji eouueeted
witbasiteealledYulumu, aswellasregularboueyautguru
wari eouueetedwitbtbisimportautplaee.
!be paiutiug of ilbindji desigus ,witb tbe aeeompauyiug
siugiug) is tbougbt to literally draw a womau toward ber
bopeful lover. A mau ueed uot paiut witb tbe ilbindji of
aueestors belougiugto bis owu patrilodge, but migbt use de-
sigus represeutiug otber aueestors witb loeal assoeiatious iu
bisseetor oftbe eommuuityeouutry. Veuelaim tbat tbe de-
10
In the case of birds, the reason for the special association may
well be the sharp beaks with their phallic signifi cance; the specia as
sociation with fre appears to relate to the view that the smoke of
fires may be used to attract a woman in ilbindji ritual. See also Peter
son's ( 1 969: 3 3 ; 1 971 ) discussion of Walbiri fre ceremonies for the reso
lution of confict.
W albiri leouograp|y
sigus sbould be paiuted to attraet ou|y womeu of tbe rigbt
subseetious ,aud kiurelatiousbips) for marriage, but oue mau
produeed a desigutbat, be poiuted out, bad tbe power to at-
traet a womau of tbe wroug soeial eategories. As witb ya
walyu, tbe attraetiou ofaloveris assoeiated iu meu'smiuds
witb proereatiou.
Oue mau told me tbat be bad paiuted witb bouey aut il
bindji iu orderto attraet tbe womauwbowas uow bis wife.
Aeeordiugtobisaeeouut,besaugforberforoueday,audal-
mostimmediatelypulledberup. ' Awomaumigbtalsobear
a mau'slovesougsaudseebisdesigusiubersleep, siekwitb
desire' (miyalu ga madju ma-ni, it makes tbe stomaeb siek)
sbe will tbeu get up aud follow' tbe sougs aud paiutiug to
reaeb bim. !berefore, Valbirisay, a maumay losebiswife
iusleep. '
Vbile ilbindji eeremouies iuvolviug a uumber ofmeu are
performedseeretlyiutbebusb, iuformalpaiutiugforpleasure
aud to make tbeiudividual sexually attraetiveeaualso oeeur
fairly elose to tbe eamps. ' !wo meu wbo were paiutiug
eaebotberwitb bouey aut desigus oue afteruooujustoutside
of oue oftbeeampselaimedtbattbeirpaiutiugwas aimed at
makiug tbemselvesattraetivetotbeirowuwives,uottootber
vomeu desired as lovers. ' A wife of oue of tbe meu was
staudiug at a sbort distauee from tbe seeue, au oeeasioual
vomauaudebildpassiugbyweremildlytoldtogo awaybut
uotbarried.!bedesiguswereworubaektoeamp.
' ~ Veu also distiuguisb two eategories ofdesigus elosely re-
' Some ilbindji ceremonies are simply song fests held in the men's
and boy's camps at night. I was able to attend these, but for obvious
reasons could not attend the "bush" ilbindji. Men did, however, show
me ilbindji designs, and discussed ilbindji with me.
12
The two men were magndawa1U (members of the opposite ma
trimoieties) to each other.
Categories oAueestral Lesigus ;
lated to ilbindji tbat fauetiou primarilyiu tbe eoutext oftbe
marital relatiousbip, altbougbtbeymayalsobeusedtoattraet
a lover. Uulike ilbindji, tbese desigus, wbieb are ealled man
guru aud yangaridji, may be paiuted ou womeu, tbey may
also, bowever, bepaiuted oumeuto attraetawomau, aud iu
tbelattereoutextfuuetioulikeilbindji. All tbreeeategoriesof
desigu may beealled ngama-gulu ,female-baviug) beeause of
tbeeompulsioutbeyaresupposedtoexertoverwomeu.
!be desigus of auy aueestor tbat a mau may paiut ou a
womauiuordertokeep berfaitbfaltobimeaubeealledyan
garidji. Yangaridji used iutbiswayeaualsobe elassedasya
walyu. Sbne
___
xplaiued tbe term yangaridji by demou-
stratiug amaudrawiug awomaualougbytbebaudasamau
is said to take a uew ,aud reluetaut) wife iu marriage, or to
pullup'alover.
Oue iuformaut reeouuted au iueideut eouueeted witb a
yangaridji aueestral womau. !biswomauwasmarriedtooue
mau, but auotber attraeted ber away from ber busbaud. As
puuisbmeut for ber adulterous bebavior, ber brotber kuifed
berauduowsbesits foreverbuuebedoversoasuottoseeau-
otbermau.
!be mytbsuggests aeoutrastbetweeu tbe mobility oftbe
womaueausedbytbepropelliugpowerof tbeotbermau,aud
tbe immobility witb wbieb sbe is nually afdieted iu puuisb-
meut. Similarly, auotbermaustatedtbatpaiutiugawifewitb
yangaridji sbould make ber sit dowu forever' (dangna-dju
gu nyina-mi-ga) witb ber owu busbaud, uot moviug, but
wautiug ouly ouemau.!beeompulsiouoftbe desiguseaube
usedtomoveawomauawayfromberbusbaud ,drawberup)
or to keep awomaustabilized'witbiuberbusbaud'seamp.
Abusbaudmaypaiutawifewitbyangaridji (awalyu) re-
|erriugto aueestors ofbisowupatrilodge,ormoregeuerally,
s W albiri leouograp|y
of bis owu loeality. Aswe bave seeu, desigus may be paiuted
ou a uew wife beforeiutereourse, or at otber times wbeu a
busbaudisworried about awife'sndelity , forexample, wbeu
meuleavewomeuiutbeeampsduriugiuitiatioueeremouies) .
Mangur, wbile similartoyangaridji, areusedmorespeei f-
ieally for tbe purineatiou audstreugtbeuiug ofwomeu. Veu
saytbataf:erawomaubasbadaebildaudreturustoberbus-
baud' seamp,abusbaud migbtpaiutberstomaebwitbaman
guru desiguto make berstroug agaiu. !besedesigus aresup-
posedto eleause awomau audmayalsobeused, aeeordiug
toiuformauts, ifsbebasbadalover,iuadditiou,tbeymayaid
iukeepiugawomaufrombeiugattraetedbyotbermeu.
Man gur bavespeeial assoeiatiouswitbtbeuotiou ofpubie
bair. CevJain aueestral womeu to wbom tbe desigus refer
burued tbeirpubiebairoutbenre audtbeugrewit agaiu. A
womau's pubie bair eould be burued by ber busbaud ,iu
order to eleause ber) if sbe bas bad a lover. !be desigus are
tbougbt to fuuetiou to eleau away tbe bair aud to reuew it,
tbetotalproeessbeiugtbougbtofaspuri[iug.
lu sum, desigus of tbese eategories are imbued witb a
streugtb tbat is supposed to iuerease meu's eoutrol over
womeu. Ibindji foeusouextramaritalaffairs,wbileyangaridji
aud manguru are eoueerued witb marital stability. !be de-
sigusareexpeetedto fuuetiouiutbesatisfaetiouofiudividual
ueedsauddesires,tbeydouotrefertomaritalstabilityorsex-
ual-proereativepoteueyiugeueral,tbatis, witbrespeetto tbe
soeietyasawbole.
'' Mangur seem to consist of special designs of only one or two
kinds (see Fig. 4B, no. 3). I have not observed them in use, and not all
women were familiar with them; some who were, however, showed
me a design rather similar to that obtained from male informants. Pe
terson ( 1 97 1 :zos) records the singeing of (men's) pubic hair. in fre
ceremonies that may relate to conficts over women.
Categories o Aueestral Lesigns ,
!beeompulsioutbese desigus are supposed to exert is im-
agediupbysiealterms. tbedesigusaresaidtopullawomau
toward a mau or to make tbe stomaeb siek witb desire.
Veu's iuterests aud desires are visually obj eetined as eom-
maudstbrougbtbepaiutiugoftbesedesigus. '
Gurwari
As l bave poiuted out, it is Guruwari desigus tbat eousti-
tute tbe widereategoryof meu's desigus. For tbe mostpart,
womeu are uotallowedtoseetbesedesigus,butiusomeeases
tbey eau observe tbem from a distauee, aud less importaut
body paiutiugs may oeeasioually be seeu at elose quarters.
luritualeoutexts,guruwari may beereatedouavarietyof
di ffereutmedia.
- The body. Desigusmaybeformed direetlyoutbebody
tbrcugpaitting bymeausof redaudyellowoebers, apaste
from awbitestoue, aud ebareoal, tbese materials are applied
over a grease base. Desigus are paiuted ou a mau's baek or
ebest, butuotovertbefaee. !bemostimportautbodydeeo- --
ratious for banba iuerease eeremouies are usually ereated iu

:ed oebred aud wbite bird or vegetable ,portulaeea) nuffat-

taebed witb blood drawu from the arm. !bis ereates a kiud
ofmaskiug, for ,uulike paiutiug) it obseures tbe faee as well
astbetorsoiuaeoveriugofgurwari desigus.
`
1 4 In the present study, ilbindji are exemplifed in Figure 4B, and I
comment on them briefy in the text. I do not, however, deal with
them separately as I do with yawalyu and gurwari. In terms of un
derlying graphic structure ilbindji do not diverge from the rest of the
system. Moreover, although there are some designs that are charac
teristic of this category, there are others that cannot on the surface
be distinguished from typical guruwari. The semantic content of il
bindji is overtly sexual (designs depict intercourse and male and fe
male genitals), but sexuality is also a theme that, in a more complex,
less overt fashion is also important in guruwari designs.
\
\
I
_

o Valbiri leouograpby
r""

: . Ceremonial regalia worn or carried by dancers. Daueers

deeorated witb duffalmost always wear beaddresses. ! !be
beaddresses areusually made out ofmulgabrauebeswrapped
witbbairstriug, redaudwbitenuffdesigusaretbeuattaebed
overtbemwitb arm-blood adbesive, asoutbe body. Daueers
may earry varioussorts of deeorated oval obj eets orpolesof
mulga ,see Plate i:, orpaiuted sbields. Striug erosses are
eoustrueted iu some eeremouies aud may be earried iu tbe
moutb or ou tbe be.d. Noue of tbese objeets are preserved
beyoudtbeeeremouyforwbiebtbeyareereated.
!bese varied obj eets exteud tbe symbolie regalia of tbe
daueer beyoud tbe counues oftbe body, tbus tbey iuerease
tbedeusity ofguruwari symbolism, for wbeuused aloug witb
tbeeoveriug ofduff1eeoratious, tbeybelp to overlaytbeor-
diuary persou of tbe daueer well beyoud tbe simple body
paiutiug, ereatiug aa impersouatiou of tbe aueestor witbiu
L
wbiebtbedaueerbimselfisbiddeu. Adiseussiouoftbesiguif-
ieaueeoftbissymbolie eoveriugistakeuupiuCbapterj. For
tbepreseut, wemaysimplyuotetbatitisouly iu maseuliue
eult aetivitiestbattb|sdegree ofsymbolie trausformatiou oe-
eurs aud tbat it is iu tbese eoutexts-speemeally iu tbe
banba fertility rites-tbat we move iuto tbe eosmie, traus
geueratioualmaiuteu.ueeoftbesoeialorderasawbole.
` , The ground. Some banba eeremouies iuvolve grouud
paiutiugs of guruwari iu red aud wbite nuff. !be daueers
tread ou tbese iu tle performauee aud so obliterate tbem
\.. ,Plates: A, : B).
r
q. Boards and stones. Valbiri distiuguisb a variety of
boards oftbe ebur.uga` type upou wbieb desigus may be
15 The one exception I observed was the ceremony for the night
ancestor (Plate 1 2 ; Fig. 1 8, no. 3). In this case, however, poles held at
the back extended above the dancers' heads.
Categories otAueestral Lesigus 5 I
paiuted iu oebres oriueised aud tbeu rubbedwitb red oebre.

!bese boards are made iu differeut leugtbs aud sbapes raug-

|ug fromauesseutiallyrouuded ovalto a moreelougate, uar-
row form ,Plate ). Altbougb tbe boards are variously
uamed, tbeyareiusomeeasesdineultto distiuguisb. luad-
ditiou, Valbiri deeorate bullroarers aud oval stoues witb iu-
eisedguruwari desigus.
!be iueised boards aud stoues eoustitute tbe ouly perma-'
ueut media. !bey are kept at aueestral sites, orbiddeuiutbe
busb. A mau wbo bas attaiued fall adultstatus ,tbatis, wbo is
aarried aud bas a ebild) may bave bis owueaebe of boards.
Boards may be used iu eeremouial performauees iu a vari-
ety ofways. lusome iustauees l observed, tbey were plaeed
|uto beaddresses, audtbeiriueised desigus eoveredwitb duff
deeoratious tbatdid uotreferto tbesameaueestorastbeuu-
derlyiug iueised forms. lu some eeremouies tbat meu de-
seribedtomebuttbatlmysel fdiduotobserve,tbeyareused
+spartoftbeeounguratiou ofgrouudpaiutiugs,audcoutem-
plated. Boardsmaybeusedasgifts orsymbolieexpressiousof
|rieudsbip betweeu two groups ,see below, Cbapter , aud
Veggitt : ,e: . : , off) aud also iu marital exebauges ,Peter-
sou : ,e,. , i ) .
I
' In addition to the list given by Meggitt ( I g6z : 2 2 8f), Walbiri at
Yuendumu stressed the yulguruguru, an oval concave board (on
which designs may be painted) having special associations with wom
en's functions. An undecorated yulguruguru is used by women to rub
the boy at initiation ceremonies to ensure health and growth. Men
tion of "Yuguruguru" women associated with women's yawalyu
among the northern Waneiga Walbiri is made by C. Berndt
( 950: 44). Some women at Yuendumu explained that ancestral yulgu
mgur women had close ties with the fre-charcoal women who are
represented in yawalyu designs at Yuendumu. Women draw a few
other general links between yulguruguru women and yawalyu de
signs but have little knowledge of an associated mythology.
1
I
\
z W abiri leouogtap|y
5. Weapons. Valbiti eommouly paiut sbields witb guru
wari desigus, butoulyfoteetemouial petfotmauees.!beeit-
eumeisiou eetemouy iueludes a setiesof banba petfotmauees
tbat ate aeeompauied by tbe deeoratiou of sbields. lu eete-
mouies l obsetved, some of tbese wete tbeu eattied by pet-
formets iu tbe assoeiated petfotmauees. Boometaugs ate less
eommouly deeotated, but l bave obsetved uouseetet eete-
mouies tbat meu petfotm fot publie eutettaiumeut ,see
bel ow) io wbieb boometaugs wete deeotated witb desigus
teptesemg tbe aueestot wbose ttavels wete beiug pot-
ttaye..
lu all tbe eetemouies ptepated audpetfotmed by meu, tbe
spatial telatiousbip of womeu to tbe eetemouial gtouud is
bigbly eouttolled. !bis eouttol tauges ftom total exelusiou
,as iutbe ease ofmost lodge eetemouies) to limited obsetva-
tion at vatyiug degtees of distauee. !be followiug geuetal
types ofeetemouiesemployiugguruwari desigus ate all pet-
formed aud daueed by meu, altbougb iu some eases womeu
maybepteseutattbepetfotmauees.
i . Camp eetemouies (bulaba). Bulaba atesougs aud dauees
perfotmed fot publie eutettaiumeut. !bey ate atteuded by
womeu aud ebildteu, but ptepated aud petfotmed by meu.
Dutiug tbe ptepatatiou of bulaba, meu wotk eutitely apatt
ftom womeu, tbe lattet ate uot allowed to be pteseut at tbe
ptepatatious. Attbepetfotmauee,womeuaudgitlssitbebiud
tbemeuaudboyssotbattbeyatefattbet ftom tbepetfotm-
ets . !
Juliketbedesigusfotlodgeeetemouies,bulaba desigusate
uot ptepatedby meuoftbeoppositepattimoietyto tbeowu-
1
7 I have at different times sat in both positions, and the difference
in the intensity and detail conveyed to the observer is noticeable.
Categoties otAueesttal Lesigus 5 3
ets o f tbe eetemouies. Ratbet, meu o f all subseetious may
belp iu tbe ptepatatiou. Bulaba desigus ate believed to bave
beeudteamed byiudividual, liviugmeutatbettbaubylodge
aueestots, aud ultimate owuetsbip isvestediutbeseiudividu-
als aud tbeit pattiliueal lodges, eveu tbougb tbey may beof
diffeteut subseetiou eouples ftom the mastets ofa pattieulat
aueestot.
Bulaba douotbaveauyspeeineaimsbeyoudgeuetaleutet-
taiumeutaudtbedtamatizatiouof djgurba eveuts. Howevet,
like all Valbiti eetemouiesiuvolviug paiutiug, siugiug, aud
daueiug, tbey ate supposed to yield feeliugs ofgeuetal well-
beiug.
z . Auumbetof diffeteutdtamatizatiousof aueesttaleveuts,
uamed aeeotdiug to tbe pattieulat eetemouy. Vomeu ate
oneu petmitted limited obsetvatiou of tbese petformauees.
Someoftbeseeetemouiesateotgauizediutetmsof pattiliueal
lodges, otbets ateuot. ! Some have fauetiouseouueetedwitb
life maiuteuauee-otbets seem to be ptimatily dtamatie iu
iuteut.
j . Citeumeisiou eetemouies (guridji) . Elabotate aud
leugtby iuitiatiou eetemouies ate petfotmed fot boys iu
wbieb tbete ate vatious speeial soug eyeles aud dtamatiza-
tious of aueesttal eveuts. !be tite sepatates tbe boy nom
womeu audiuttoduees bim to tbe seetet eultobj eets ofmale
eetemouialeouueetedwitbtbeaueestots,tbatis,togurwari
1
8 There are also "Big Sunday" ceremonies from which women are
totally excluded; these ceremonies are the Walbiri version of the
northern gunabibi (see R. Berndt 1 95 1) and are connected with two
ancestral heroes called mamandabari. Distinctive mamandabari de
signs are available at Yuendumu; the ceremonies were not, however,
as important at Yuendumu during my stay as among the more north
erly Waneiga Walbiri at Hooker's Creek. See Meggitt ( 1 966) for a
detailed study of these ceremonies.

54 Va|biri leouograpby
iu tbe geueral seuseoftbe term) , it eulmiuates iu bis eireum-
eisiou. ! As a result of tbis passage ritual, tbe boy'sstatus is
ebauged from ebildbood to adultbood, aud from ebild iu bis
family of orieutatiou to poteutial busbaud aud fatber iu bis
family ofproereatiou , fortbrougb tbis ritual bepubliely ae-
quires apoteutial fatber-iu-law). Attbesame time, beisiuiti-
atediuto apatriliueallodge.!berites tbussyutbesize a uum-
berof soeialtrausitious.
.
q. Fertility eeremouies (banba) . !be major eeremouies
perfotmed by tbe lodges are tbe banba fertility eeremouies.
Ceremouies referriug to a giveu aueestor may be performed
separately, but a uumber ofbanba may be daueed aspart of
tbeeireumeisioueeremouies.
!be banba eeremouies are most importaut iu tbe preseut
study siuee tbey express tbe eeutral aspeet of tbe gruwari
fauetiou. tbemaiuteuaueeof tbediffereuttotemiespeeiesaud
ofli fe sourees as a wbole. l bavealreadyreferred to tbepro-
ereative fauetious of gurwari, aud l reserve a fuller diseus-
siou oftberelatiou betweeuguruwari eoustruetiou, aueestral
embodimeut iu eeremouies, aud tbe fertilizatiou aud maiute-
uauee of speeies for tbe ebapter ou banba eeremouies ,see
below, Cbapter ;) wbere some oftbe dauees tbemselves are
alsodeseribed.
!bere are also someless eommou uses ofguruwari tbatdo
uot appearto bepartofgroup eeremouial. lu oueiustauee l
observed a mau wbo bad paiuted bimself witb guruwari iu
order ,as be explaiued) to proteet bimself from beiug
wouudediuamaj orngbttbeuiuprogressat Yueudumu. Gu-
19 I was able to observe parts of the circumcision ceremonies ordi
narily closed to women, but not the circumcision itself, nor a number
of the more secret sections that took place outbush. Meggitt ( 1 962)
describes the ceremonies in detail.
Categories ot Aueestra| Lesigus 5 5
ruwari may tbus oeeasioually be used for iudividual protee-
.| ou. Oue iuformaut diseussed gurwari desigus used for
'uutiug, to aid iu tbe eatebiug of game. l bave uever ob-
served desigus paiuted for tbis purpose, butuevertbeless tbe 1
geueral Valbiri teudeuey is to elaborate tbe use of aueestral
desigus iu a variety of eoutexts wbere some speeine eoutrol
overagiveusituatiouisdesired. |
.
|iseussiou. !be lustrumeutal Fuuetious of Desigus
!be Valbiri attitude toward desigus as valuable iustru-
aeuts for aebieviug eertaiu eudsis summarized iutbeuotiou
tbatsuebdesigusarewiri, effeetive audstroug.!bisstreugtb
+udvitalityiseloselybouudupiuValbiritbougbtwitbpro-
ereative sexuality, for tbe term guruwari refers uot ouly to
tbevisible form, ordesigu, butalsototbegeuerativepoteuey
of au aueestor. Voreover, iu tbe Valbiri view, all desigus
'ave tbeir ultimate origiu iu dreams, aud dreamiug, as we
'ave seeu, bas stroug sexual eouuotatious. Desigus are
ebarged witb dream value, perbaps we may view tbem as a
kiud ofgrapbie eoudeusatiou oftbe vital qualities of dreams.
!bis effeetive vitality of desigus may briug about tbe
+ebievemeut of speeine, obj eetive euds sueb as uourisbiug
ebildreu, attraetiugalover, maiutaiuiug tbe fertility audsup-
plies ofspeeies, audso ou. Desigus fuuetiou as

mediate forms
wbieb tbrougb tbeir streugtb` may aid iu tbe movemeut
|rom tbeiuterestsorueeds ofasubjeet ,orsubjeets) outward
t adesiredobjeet.
!be eausal-effeetive eompoueut is direeted toward some
|odily or biologieally related eud embedded iu soeial rela-
.|ousbips. !be differeut eapaeities ofdesigus eluster arouud
t'e elosely related desires for bodily bealtb, food, aud satis-
|+etorysexual-proereative relatiousbips. !bedesigusallrelate
56 Valbiri leouograp|y
to tbese euds, but at differeut plaues ofsoeioeultural order,
aud witb respeet to differeut eompoueuts witbiu eaeb plaue.
Veu'sgrwari eauoperateoutbesoeietalplaue ofuuiverse
maiutaiuauee, utiliziug tbe esseuee of sexual-proereative po-
teuey iu eouueetiou witb soeietal aims, ilbindji ,au

d related
desigus) audyawalyu refer primarily to persoual ueeds aud
desiresat tbe level offamilial audiuterpersoual relatiousbips.
l would suggest tbat tbe Valbiri eoueept of desigus as
stroug' aud aspartsofsymbolieproeessesdireetiugpsyebo-
biologieal or bodily ueedstowardsatisfaetory euds expresses
tbeir experieuee of desigus as emotioually ebarged forms.
Emotiou, some tbeorists bave suggested, is wbat makes im-
ageryeffeetive`, Hillmaui960: ; ; ).Siueeitisexperieueedas
a dyuamie foree or motive power ratber tbau simply as a
state` ofbeiug, it eau be regarded as tbe dyuamie eouuee-
tive betweeu subjeet aud objeet, it is a now of relatiou`

( i96o: i49, 1 , , )betweeutbetwo.

Fromtbis perspeetive, desigus may be said to mediate tbe
nowofrelatiou`betweeusubj eetaudobj eetiveeud,embed-
diug or eoutaiuiug tbis now` witbiu a soeial or eolleetive
form. Beeausetbeyareeolleetive,desigusarealreadygiveu`
+uiudividualValbiriexperieueeassourees,oreaebemeuts,of
a motivepower`tbati uitsoutwarddyuamietbrust` relat-
iug subjeet to obj eetive eud is iuterpreted as beiug eausally
effeetive.
lu tbis respeet, itis importaut tbat desigus are seuse forms
tbat iu oue way or auotber are iu eoutaet witb tbe body.
tbeir poteuey beeomespartofauimmediateseuse experieuee
puttiug iudividual persous iuto direet seusual relatiousbip
witb soeial meaus of attaiuiug eertaiu bodily euds. Coutaet
may oeeur tbrougb produetiou itself, or tbrougb touebiug
formstbatbavealreadybeeuprodueedaswellastbrougbtbe
aetualweariugoftbedesigusoutbebody.
Categories oAueestral Lesigus ,;
Desigus are soeial forms exterual to tbe iudividual tbat yet
are iu eoutaetwitb tbe body. lu eoutrast, tbe dream images
from wbieb desigus are felt to origiuate are private experi-
eueesloekediusidetbe body, iuside iudividual eouseiousuess.
Desigus eoutaiutbe dream poteueyiu a soeial form tbateau
also ebauuel it baek iuto iudividual eouseiousuess via direet
seusoryeoutaet.
Voreover, tbe produetiou of desigus is typieally a soeial
proeess usually iuvolviug people iu direet faee-to-faee iuter-
aetiou. altbougb au iudividual may oeeasioually deeorate
bimself, ordiuarily oue ormore persous deeorate auotber, or
twoormorepeopleworktodeeorateapartieularobj eet,aud
soou. Perbapswemaytaketbedyadierelatiousbip ofoueiu-
dividual deeoratiug auotber, or two iudividuals deeoratiug
eaeb otber, as tbe prototypie eore oftbe soeial iuteraetiou
ebaraeteriziug tbe desigu-produetiou proeess. !bis iuterae-
tiou eau also appear as tbereeiproeal aetivity ofgroups ,pa-
trilodgesaudpatrimoieties) . ltis uotable tbatyawalyu paiut-
iug aud at least some ilbindji ,as well as all mangr aud
yangaridji) paiutiugteud to be orgauized iutermsof dyadie,
iudividual paiutiug relatiousbips ,for example, oue womau
paiuts auotber, a busbaud paiuts a wife), wbereas grwari
produetiou iu banba aud some otber eeremouiesis orgauized
iuterms ofgrouprelatiousbipsaudteudstoiuvolveauumber
ofworkers foeusiugouaset ofobj eetsaud aidiugiutbedee-
oratiouofoueormoredaueers.
lu eitber ease, desigus eau be seeu as soeial forms moviug
betweeupersous ,iudividuals orgroups) eaebofwbiebisiu a
eouverse relatiousbip to tbe desigu forms ,tbe oue beiug tbe
deeorator, tbe otber tbe objeet of deeoratiou) . Desigus
viewed iu tbis way are elemeuts tbat traverse tbe bouuuaries
oftbeiudividual body ,are detaebed fromit) audyetareeou-
stautlybeiugbouudbaekiutobodilyexperieuee.
CHAPTER _
The Sand Story
Our problem uow beeomes. wbat is tbe form oriuterual
strueture of tbe desigus Here we diseover tbat tbe desigus
are uot isolates, ratber, tbey bave to be examiuediu relatiou
toawidergrapbieartof uarratiou.
!be areas of bare saud ebaraeteristie of eeutral Australia
provide a uatural drawiug board permaueutly at baud. Siuee
auy eoutiuuous eouversatiou is geuerally earried ou by per-
soussittiugoutbegrouud, markiugtbesaud readilybeeomes
asupplemeuttoverbalexpressiou.
Valbiriofteu eoutrasttbeirowu mode oflife witb tbatof
tbewbiteAustraliau'sbyremarkiugwitbpride, VeValbiri
live on tbe grouud'' (walya-ngga ga-liba nyina, grouud-ou
we sit) . !bey regard saud drawiug as part of tbis valued
modeof life,aud asaebaraeteristieaspeetoftbeirstyle ofex-
pressiou aud eommuuieatiou. !o aeeompauy oue's speeeb
witb explauatory saud markiugs is to talk` iu tbe Valbiri
_ mauuer.
!begrapbieelemeutstbatareusediutbiswayareeultur-
ally staudardized aud, as tbis study attempts to demoustrate,
beloug to tbe same basie system of forms utilized iu tbe de-
sigus.Iudeed,aswesballsee,desigusordistiuetivefeaturesof
partieulardesigus mayalso emergei ustorytelliugoreouver-
satiou. Vitb some few exeeptious, all staudardized grapbie
eounguratiousiutbeValbirirepertoryexbibittbesameebar-
58
The 8aud 8to; 59
+eteristie buildiug bloek` strueture.! tbey eousistof oueor
aore diserete, irredueible elemeuts sueb as a eirele, liue, or
+re. !bese ultimate eoustitueuts` are eombiued iuto stau-
1ardized arraugemeuts of varyiug eomplexity tbat l eall
ngures.` Eaebeoustitueutissemautie, tbatis,itrefersiuauy
giveuusagetosomepartieularitemofmeauiug.
lutbeseeoutextsgrapbie formsaremediaofsoeial iuterae-
\
tiou iua differeut seuse tbau tbey are iuritualeoutexts. tbey
form part oftbe diseourse tbrougb wbiebiuformatiouis ex-
ebaugedorexperieueesaudeveutseommuuieated. !beforms
tbemselves are uot wiri-they are uot eoudeusatiou sym-
bols` like tbe aueestral desigus, or iftbey bappeu to be de-
sigus, tbey are fauetiouiug esseutially as sigu vebieles iu
uarrativeeommuuieatiou.
lu tbis aud tbe followiug ebapter, l examiue tbe relatiou
betweeu tbe grapbs womeu use iu storytelliug aud tbeiry a
walyu desigus iu order to denue more elosely tbe iuterloek-
iug oftbese differeut grapbie geures aud its siguineauee for
tbewidergrapbiesystem.
!be Saud Story
Botbmeuaudwomeudrawsimilargrapbieelemeutsoutbe
grouud duriug storytelliug or geueral diseourse, but womeu
formalizetbisuarrativeusageiuadistiuetivegeuretbatlsball
ealla sand story. A spaee ofaboutoueto two feetiudiame-
teris smootbediutbesaud, tbestubbleisremoved audsmall
stoues plueked out. !be proeess ofuarratiou eousists oftbe
rbytbmie iuterplay ofa eoutiuuousruuuiuggrapbie uotatiou
witb gesture sigus aud a siugsoug verbal patter ,see Plate , ) .
!be voeal aeeompauimeut may sometimes drop t o a miui-
] I have illustrated a few of these exceptions in an earlier paper on
graphic representation (Munn 1 966, Fig. 1a).
6o W albiri lcouograp|y
Plate 3. Woman marki ng the sand duri ng storytel l i ng. The fi ngers may be
hel d i n various stylized posi ti ons.
mum, tbebasiemeauiugistbeuearriedbytbeeombiuatiouof
gesturalaudgrapbiesigus. !begesturesigusare iutrieateaud
1|e 8au1 8tory 6!
speeine aud eau substitute ouoeeasiou for a fullerverbaliza-
t| ou.
Valbiri eall stories told by womeu iu tbis fasbiou by tbe
term forauytraditioualstoryaboutaueestraltimes,djugurba.
!bey poiut out tbat ouly womeu tell stories iu tbis mauuer,
altbougballValbiriarefamiliarwitbtbemetbod.Vbiletbe
teebuique is elaborated most systematieally iu uarratious of
eveuts aseribed to aueestral times, womeu also use it iu a
aore fragmeutary way to eouvey persoual experieuees or
eurreut gossip. As a mode ofeommuuieatiou iteaube aeti-
vatediuuarratiougeuerally, irrespeetive ofwbetbertbe eou-
teut is supposedto refer to aueestral times or tbepreseut. A
proper' djugurba, bowever, is tbougbt to referto aneestral
eveuts.
!besoeialeoutextofstorytelliugistbeeasual,iuformallife
of tbe eamp, uubedged by seereey or ritual sauetius ,see
Plate ) . !bewomeu'seampsareaeommouloeatiou. Auav-
2 The term yira-ni (to "put," put down, or mark) is used to refer to
the process of sand marking. The term for story (djugrba, see
below) also refers to the sand pictures in this context, although the
Walbiri do have a general term for mark, yiri. The latter is more
commonly employed, however, in connection with ancestral symbols
like designs and songs (see Chapter 5). Gesture signs are called raga
raga <raga, hand); Walbiri women make a more elaborate use of these
signs than do men (see Meggitt 1 954). The verbal patter is referred to
as "speaking" (wangga), not singing (yunba-ni or yiri-ma-ni). When I
first heard women telling these stories, they seemed to me to be sing
ing; but Walbiri songs have a distinctive structure, and it is these
forms that are "sung."
' Mervyn Meggitt has suggested to me in conversation that Walbiri
women at the northwestern Hooker's Creek settlement did not tell
stories in this manner. According to my own observations, women of
the Aranda arid other central Australian women in the Alice Springs
area tell stories similar in method and content to W albiri tales, and it
seems likely that this storytelling is a central desert feature. T. G.
62 W albiri leouograp|y
Plate 4. Woman tel l i ng a sand story to chi l dren.
eragegroupatoue oftbeeampsmigbteousist oftbreetoteu
womeu witbtbeir small ebildreu aud uumerous eamp dogs.
Strehlow in a personal communication ( I 958) remarks with reference
to the Aranda that "there were a number of stories, probably tradi
tional, during whose telling girls drew fgures in smoothed sand to il
lustrate the action of the tale." Strehlow has also recently described
this storytelling in more detail ( I 964: 46ff) and commented on its re
lation to the wider graphic system. Basedow ( I 92 5 : 43ff) describes
sand storytelling by men in which marks are drawn with a stick.
There are certain other storytelling styles in the central and west
ern desert regions that are practiced by girls and women Bidj andj ara
women and girls at Areyonga settlement (southwest of Alice Springs)
tell stories by combining sand markings with the beating of a wire or
stick; the wire is used to beat an accompanying rhythm, or occasion
ally to carry meanings, such as striking an actor in the tale (Munn
I 965 : 2 I ) . A storytelling method involving the use of leaves to repre
sent actors is also known by Areyonga women, but seems to have
been adopted from the nearby Aranda at Hermannsberg settlement
(see the description in C. Strehlow I 9 I 3 :6ff).
1|e 8aud 8to
Eveu iu tbe bottest weatber tbe womeuteud to sit elose to-
getber, witbout ebaugiug ber positiou or makiugauyspeeial
auuouueemeut, a womaumaybegiutotellastory. Oeeasiou-
allyau olderwomaueaube seeuwordlesslyiutouiug astory
to berselfas sbegesturesaud markstbesaud,butordiuarilya
fewiudividuals iutbe group willelusterarouud tb

uarrator,
leaviugwbeuevertbeywisbregardless ofwbetbertbestoryis
nuisbed oruot. At auy time tbeuarrator berselfmay break
offtbe story aud go to perform some ebore, or eveu go to
sleepiutbeproeessofuarratiou.
Altbougb my peseuee

uudoubtedly iuereased te_-
guuc,1su; lling,tlcreVcc Icw mrr

eu at
Yueudumu wbo did uot bave at tbeir eommaud a uumberof
sueb stories aud wbo eould uot reeouut tbem witb Hueuey,
expressiveuess, aud a skilled use of tbe saud grapbs aud ges-
ture sigus. Eaeb womau bad a fuud of stories tbat sbe may
bave learued from auy female kiu or from ber busbaud.
Vbeuasked,womeusometimessuggestedtbattalessbouldbe
trausmitted from motberto daugbter,butiu faettbereareuo
speeinerigbtsovertbesestories,aswomeusaid, everybody
teaebestbemtbesetales. ,
Valbiri ebildreu do uot tell saud stories as a pastime, but
attbe ageof aboutnve orsix tbey eau make audideuti[tbe

basie grapbie forms used iuuarratiou. lfasked,tbey eaudem-

oustrate t!is uarrative metbod, but witbout employiug ges-
turesigus. A small ebild or baby may sit ouits motber's lap
wbile sbe tells a saud story, tbeobservatiou ofsaud drawiug
is tbus part of early pereeptual experieuee. Saud drawiug is
This contrasts with the situation on other desert settlements men
tioned in note 3, where storytelling of this sort or similar to it is a fa
vorite pastime of small girls and teenagers.

Wabiri lcouograp|y
uot systematieallytaugbt, aud learuiugislargelybyobserva-
tiou.
Attbeageofabouteigbtoruiue, aebildeauquitereadily
tell uarratives ofbis or ber owu iuveutiou. As a girl grows
older,sbebeeomesiuereasiuglydueutiustorytelliugaudmay
use tbe saud story teebuique ,largely witbout gesture sigus
aeeordiug to my observatiou) to eommuuieate uarratives
about persoual experieuees or tbat sbe bas berselfiuveuted.
Sbemay oeeasiouallytellsuebtalesto otbergirIs oryouuger
ebildreu. Olderboysaremorereluetaut to use tbeteebuique
siueeitisideutinedwitbfemiuiuerolebebavior.
Voeabulary
Figure i setsouttbegrapbieelemeutsusediutbestorytell-
iug, aud tbe meauiug rauges of eaeb. As it sbows, tbere are
about twelve or tbirteeu elemeuts regularly used, altbougb
eoiuage sbovld uot be tbougbt ofas eutirelyelosed, iu addi-
tiou, some elemeuts sueb as a meauder liue widely used iu
otber dialeets oftbe grapbie system oceur oeeasioually iu
saudstoryusage.
Eaeb elemeuteovers araugeofpossible meauiugitems ,tbe
seeoud eolumuof tbeebart) , tbebreadtb oftbese raugesvar-
ies for tbe differeut grapbs, but tbe over-all teudeuey is to-
ward a relativelybigbdegreeofeategorygeuerality. Foriu-
stauee, tbe saud story provides a term for elougate items
,aetors orelougate obj eets) iu aproue positiou. !be partieu-
lar elass of items meaut-sueb as a spear, a kaugaroo, or a
maulyiug dowu-depeudsupouuarrativeeoutext,audspeei-
neatioutakesplaeewitbiutbestorytelliugproeess.
Variouseuesbesidestbe verbal may aidiu piupoiutiug tbe
5 I obser
v
ed only one instance of conscious teaching. In this case I
noticed a mother casually teaching her small son gesture signs and
sand graphs. I doubt if this was a regular procedure.
Figure 1 . Sand story vocabul ary
Element
1 .
2. I
I
7
4. I
I
7
5.

6.
)`
0
0
0
I
Range of meanings
Spear
Fi ghti ng stick, when not
upright in ground
Di ggi ng stick
Human actor l yi ng down
Ani mal , e.g. , dog or
kangaroo l yi ng
stretched out
Fi res when flanking each
side of shade
Actor in motion-wal ki ng,
runni ng, danci ng
Spearing
Actor(s) danci ng
Actor wal ki ng
Actor danci ng (one
i nstance onl y)
Actor l yi ng down on si de,
as i n sl eep
Boomerangs
Bough shade or shelter
Line or grove of trees (see
also 8)
1|e 8aud 8tory
Category description
El ongate, nonmobi l e
objects, or actors i n prone
posi ti on (ngunami, l yi ng
down)
Straight ( nonwi ndi ng' or
zigzag) movement of
actors, or trajectory of
object (spear)
A hi gh-steppi ng (binyi,
men' s danci ng) or
shuffl i ng (windi, women' s
danci ng) movement of
actors in danci ng
The separate footprints of
the actor as he or she
moves along
Prone actor, body sl i ghtl y
cured, rather than
straight as i n 1
Cured i mplements
(boomerangs). Occurs i n
pl ural form onl y
Curved pl ace markers
partly surroundi ng or
defi ni ng area wi thi n or
near which actors can
sit or l i e
1 -2. In the wi der system the action l i ne (2) and a l i ne for el ongate
i tems tend to bl end together. See Fi g. 1 3, nos. 2, 3.
2-4. Arrows i ndi cate moti on. Footpri nts (4) are made by "wal ki ng" the
fi ngertips al ong the sand. I have no record of thi s use of dot series to
depi ct footprints i n Wal bi ri ancestral designs, but they do appear i n de
signs in other parts of central Austral ia. See Spencer and Gi l l en
1 938: 1 49; Roheim 1 945 :242-243.
66 Walbiri Iconography
Figure (conti nued)
Element Range of meanings
8. Grove of trees

9. _Hut
1 0.

Actor sitting
Actor sitting
1 1 .
/ //l/
Creek bed
Bl anket or "bed"
z _ Food or water scoop
Baby carrier
Shi el d
Spear thrower
Oval "bed" (ngura), hol l ow
i n ground for sleepi ng
Category description
Pl ace marker used for trees
onl y, usual l y for depicti ng
shade i n whi ch a
kangaroo is l yi ng
Enclosure for l ivi ng
Actor in static position,
i.e., in contrast to 2, 3,
4, but not prone (in
contrast with 1)
A striated or somewhat
crumpl ed space
whi ch actor may rest
Oval, hollow contai ners,
and related forms
5, I,9. Arcs vary considerably in deepness, but the tendency is for 9
to be a deep arc, and for I to be comparatively shal l ow, although there
are i nstances i n which I is fairly deep -and overlaps vi sual l y with 9. I n
the wi der system i t i s more di ffi cul t t o make a distinction between these
two "pl ace" markers, and unfort unately I do not have expl i cit contrasts
by informants to resolve thi s probl em.
1 0. The preferred form of the U shape i s a deep arc with a sl ightly
pointed end (see Pl ate 5), but the shape may vary away from
_
thi
_
ex
pressed preference i n the flow of narrati on. When a number of i ndi VIdu
als sitti ng i n a l i ne are shown, sl urri ng often takes pl ace, and the U ele
ments are joined together yi el di ng a shape rather l i ke that of no. 3. The
more usual meani ng for this el ement i s "si tti ng, " but it is also used to
depi ct standing persons. In both cases t he ends of the U shape are the
l egs. Occasi onal l y, a shi ft from sitti ng to standi ng posi ti on i s expessed
by a sort of U mark in whi ch the hand si mul ates the act of getting up
from the sand.
1 1 . The element is drawn wi th the fi ngers spread out, and either paral
l el or zigzag type marks may emerge, al though the l atter is more sual
for the "blanket." The stri ng fi gure that women regard as representmg a
bed also shows a zigzag type of confi gurati on.
Figure 1 (conti nued)
Element
1 3.

Range of meanings
Nest
Hol e
Water hol e
Fruits and yams
Tree
Hi l l
Prepared food
Fire
Upright fi ghti ng stick
Pai nti ng material
Bi l ly can
Egg
Dog, when curled up i n
camp
Circl i ng (as, e.g. , dancing
around) , or any enci rcl i ng
object
The Sand Story
Category description
Closed, roundish items,
or enci rcl i ng,
nondi rectional
movement
1 2, 1 3. An oval form is also used to represent a large water hol e or
rock hol e, and as an alternate for a nest or hi l l , when these are sup
posed to be large and el ongate. A "nest" can take a sl ightly rectangul ar
form; a "hut" can also vary i n thi s way-curved to angul ar-without any
semanti c change. I t seems l i kel y that there i s no si gnificant contrast be
tween angl e and curve in the system, although the curved form is the
more usual : the angul ar shape appears as an occasional variant of the
ci rcle, or oval.
1 3. The ci rcl e is usual l y pl ai n-i . e. , not spi ral or concentric-but spi
ral forms occur occasi onal l y, especially, according to my observati ons,
for trees or fi re. When concentric circles occur i n the sand story they
constitute a construction of ci rcles nesti ng i nsi de each other, each with
a separate meani ng: for exampl e, a l i ne of women dancing around an
upright fi ghti ng stick.
Yams. An alternate form for a yam i s a ci rcle with wavy stri ngs at
tached to it-the yam "stri ngs. " Thi s l ittle fi gure specifies a yam and
does not have a wide appl i cati on as does the ci rcl e alone.
Fire. A common alternate for the ci rcl e in representing fire is a smal l
mound of sand brushed i nto pl ace by the middl e and i ndex fi ngers. An
earth oven may also be si mul ated by di ggi ng a hol e; a gesture t hen i ndi
cates the pl acement of meat i n the hol e; fi nal iy, sand i s pl aced over thi s
and a small mound i s created.
| .

68 W abiri leouogtapby
speeme meauiug iu auy giveu usage. Fot example, two ot
mote sttaigbt liues pattly euelosed iu au ate tepteseutiug a
boughsbade,asiuFig. 2 , uo. I) atealways aetotslyiugdowu
iu eamp aud uot objeets. Nattative eoutext otvetbal eom-
meutaty may ptovide tbe iufotmatiou as to tbe ideutity of
tbeseaetots. l f oueliueiseousidetablysmallettbautbeotbet,
it is a ebild aud tbe liue beside it a womau. Ou tbe otbet
baud, if a uumbet of elemeuts of a U sbape ate sbowu
gtoupedatouudaliue ,asiuFig. , A, uo. I ), tbisnguteiuit-
selfdoesuottelluswbetbettbeliueisauaetototoue oftbe

elougateobj eetsfotwbiebtbeelemeutisalsoused.
!beeiteleisoue oftbemostwidelyusedaudmostgeuetal
iu tbe saud stoty voeabulaty, it mayserve fotauy item tbat
eaubeiueludediuaeategotyoftouudisbotelosed, uouelou-
gatefotms. Suebitemsate,fotexample,tbeboleofauauimal,
a watet bole, a bill, a pattieulatvatiety ofwild ftuit, aud so
ou.Oulyouesuebitemistelevautiuauygiveuusage.
!besameelassofobjeetseausometimesbetepteseutedby
diffeteutgtapbieelemeuts.Fotiustauee, angbtiugstiekwbeu
plaeed uptigbt iu tbe gtouud is depieted by a eitele, but
wbeulaiddowu,asaliue.Auotbetsottofvatiatiouisdueto
tbe availability ofmotespeeinealtetuate tetms fot apattieu-
latitem aswell asamoteiuelusivegeutalgtapb. !busaeit-
ele may be used to speei[ a yam, but oeeasioually womeu
dtaw a eitele plus wavy liues ,tepteseutiug tbe sttiugs ot
toots)todepiettbisitem.
Gtapbieelemeutswitbamotespeeaemeauiugtaugetbau
tbe mote typieal eategoties oftbe saudstoty do oeeut. Ele-
meutuo. iuFigute I, fotiustauee, tefetsoulyto asbadeot
gtove oftteesaudiu faetbasalimiteddisttibutiou,itusually
appeats iu a seeue showiug a kaugatoo lyiug dowu iu tbe
sbadewbileabuutetisstalkiugbim.
1be 8au1 8toty
lu sum, tbe telatively bigb degtee ofeategoty geuetaliza-
tiou typieal of most of tbe stoty voeabulaty iueteases tbe
uumbetofdiffeteutelasses oftbiugs tbateau beeouveyed iu
gtapbie fotm wbile maiutaiuiug a telatively small tepettoty
ofelemeuts, italso leadstogteatetdepeudeueeupoutbesto-
tytelliug ptoeess fot tbe speeineatiou of meauiug iu eaeb
usage. Nevettbeless, itis appateuttbateettaiukiudsof iufot-
matiou eauuot be eattied by tbe gtapbs. Some basie, teeut-
teutaetivitieslikeeatiug,eookiug, audtalkiugbaveuoditeet
gtapbietepteseutatiou.
!bisftagmeutaty,depeudeutebataetetof tbegtapbiesigus
bigbligbtstbefaettbattbeyateiutetloekedwitbmoteattieu-
late mediums ofeommuuieatiou. lutbetelliugof astoty, tbe
gtapbieebauuel ofeommuuieatiouestablisbesakiud ofvisual
puuetuatiouof tbetotaluattativemeauiug.
!be Flow of Gtapbie Seeues iu Stotytelliug
Aslbavepoiuted out, asaudstotybegiuswitbtbeeleatiug
of a spaee. !bis aetiou ptepates tbe seteeu` ou wbieb tbe
gtapbie hgutes will appeat aud also setves as a kiud ofeut-
taiu taiset`, ebildteu sometimes tespoud to tbis ptepatatiou
by exelaimiug, "djugurba!" -tbatis to say, Look, a stoty' `
As tbe stoty isteeouuted, sueeessive gtapbie elemeuts ap- )
peatoutbesaud,tbeitsequeueebouudditeetlytotbenowof

uattative aetiou. But wbile tbe sequeuee ofelemeuts tedeets

tbe tempotal otder oftbe uattative, tbe attaugemeut ofele-
meuts ou tbesaud tedeetstbe spatial positious ofaetots aud
obj eets ,Fig. 2 ) . !bespatial assemblageeoustitutes a gtapbie
seeue, divisiou betweeu seeues is matked by erasure, aud a
gtapbie stoty develops tbtougb tbe eoutiuuous eyeliug of
seeuesi utbemauuetofamovie.
Eaeb seeue is a uuaed pbysieal settiug witbiu wbieb ae-
`

;o W albiri Iconography
Figure 2. Sand story scenes-types of scenes and sampl e
graphi c setti ngs
1 . Camp

'
,
_

a b
e

C
@
l
c
a. Man, woman, and chi l d sleepi ng in front of a bough
.
shade. The
woman is always besi de the chi l d (smal l l i ne). O=fi re. b. A hut with two
persons sleepi ng in it. The rectangul ar form
_
i s i li ustrated. c .
.
A
_
man and
two women (one on each si de of hi m) sleepmg 1 n camp. Th1 s 1s a stan
dard way of represent i ng a man and two wi ves. d. A man and woman
sitting i n camp are often shown facing i n
_
different di rectios. (The arc
.
=
bough shade.) A baby (small U shape) s1ts on the woman s lap. 0 = f1re
or food. e. Three people sitt i ng i n camp. f. Two peopl e-e.g., man and
wi fe-sitti ng in front of fi re, eati ng. g. Large number of persons sitting
in men's or women's camps.
1 A. Ceremonial camp

@
g
I
^ c n. Y "

-


a D c
.
0
a. Women danci ng with a l i ne or grove of trees behmd them. b.
Women danci ng around a fighti ng stick wi th a grove of trees i n the back
ground. c. Same as b; l i ne of trees i s shown by
_
smal
_
l ci rcles. d. Bulab
ceremoni al scene. The men are shown dancmg 1n the foreground,
si ngers-men and women-sit facing them.
2. Juncture, and movement to and from scenes with sett i ngs
- -
a
~ |1

D
|b!

_i

_
c+:
c

r'l'

c
1|e 8au1 8to ; i
Figure 2 (conti nued)
Juncture, that is, a scene shift, may be marked by erasure of the pre
vious scene; path l i nes need not be entered next, but the narrator may
go di rectly into the camp or food-gatheri ng scene. Otherise path l i nes
(a) are shown-a man's path ahead of a woman' s. b, c. Movement to
and from scenes with setti ngs. b. I ndivi dual sitting in camp (1) ; another
person comes in [2) and sits down (3). c. When a man and woman are
el opi ng and hu rrying on from one pl ace to the next, or a man is fol l owi ng
a game ani mal , scenes of this ki nd may occur. ( 1 ) Li ne of trees; [2)
water hol e. An i ndi vi dual comes in (3) , sits down by the water hol e (4),
and hurries away through the l i ne of trees (5) .
3. Foragi ng
L
g U
a
L
L
C
.
D
a. A characteristic way of showing a number of women diggi ng for
honey ants i n the roots of trees. b. Z=the creek bed; O=water hole i n
the creek; OO=trees. UO=woman with water scoop, for exampl e, be
side her, dri nki ng from the water hole, or diggi ng it. c. Standard depi c
ti on of a man spearing a kangaroo. U =man; /= spear bei ng thrown;
= kangaroo l yi ng i n the shade.
4. Fi nal e. Goi ng i nto the ground
D
Fi nal e scenes need not always occur, but when they do, they always
represent actors coming together and goi ng i nto the ground. a. 0= hol e.
/=paths of actors convergi ng on the hol e. b. If more than one ci rcle is
shown, each ci rcle has a meani ng: for exampl e, the i nner ci rcl e might be
a water hol e, the outer one a ci rcl e of trees. c. U = dead man in the
ground. Peopl e converge on burial pl ace. d. Dead man i n a hol e, wi th
peopl e convergi ng on buri al pl ace.
tious take plaee. As Figure 2 suggests, it is usual to set tbe
seeue by drawiug iu au obj eet or obj eets sigui[iug tbe set-
tiug, sueb as a bougb sbade, water bole, or grove of trees.
!beuarratorofteustatestbeuameoftbis objeet assbedraws
W abiri ieouograp|y
it,tbewordbas adeietie nuetiou, asi fsbewerepoiutiugto
tbe objeet sayiug, for iustauee, Here is a bougb sbade.
!rausitious betweeu seeues ,juuetures) may be marked by
tbe movemeut ofaetors aner tbe seeue bas beeu erased, but
tbe grapbs used iu tbese j uuetures do uot iuelude a seeue
settiug.
Vitbiu a seeue, erasure does uot usually oeeur. !bus it
sometimes bappeus tbat grapbie elemeuts may overlay eaeb
otber.!bisismosteommouiumyexperieueeiueampseeues
wbere aetorsmaynrstbesbowu sittiug aud eatiug, aud tbeu
lyiug dowu to sleep ,or tbe reverse sequeuee, eatiug aner
sleepiug). lutbeseeasesouelayerofelemeutsmaybe drawu
overtbeotber,buterasuredoesuotordiuarilyiuterveue.
Geuerally speakiug, tbe seeue ,or sometimes tbe episode
witbiuoueseeue) nuetiousas aeoungurativeuuitdisplayiug
tbe spatial relatiousofaetorsaudobj eets,but wbeu tbeseeue
sbifts tbis set of relatious is obliterated. Siuee by tbe use of
erasureauiudenuiteuumberofseeueseaubeeouveyedwitb-
outexpaudiugtbepietorialspaee ,tbesaudsereeu),tbeme-
dium itself does uot impose limits ou tbe uumber ofseeues
tbat eau be depieted for auy siugle story. Aeeordiugly, tbe
uumber of uarrative-grapbie seeues iu a story may vary iu-
denuitely aecordiug to tbe storyteller's wbim. As we sball
see, tbe strueture of a uarrative is sueb tbat a womau may
spiu tbe tale out l eugtbily, or preseut ouly tbe eore ofiuei-
deuts,assbewisbes.
Siueetbesaudgrapbsdisappearastbeseeueisebauged,tbe
visual, extrasomatieebauuelisuomoretimebiudiugtbautbe
verbal aud gestural oues, all are ebaraeterized by rapid fad-
' My impression is that women verbalized more of the story when
I was taking notes on it than they would have ordinajly, or than
they did when I was just listening and not trying to record the ac
count in full.
1|e 8au1 8tory 73
iug. A partieular story eauuever be looked atasa uuitary
wbole, aud uo retelliug is likely to reproduee tbe exaet ar-
raugemeuts audseeue eyeles agaiu. No doubt, tbis feature iu
itselfreiuforeestbebiudiugoftbeaetofgrapbieeoustruetiou
or pieture-makiug to tbe aet of uarratiou, for tbe grapbie
stories produeed at oue time eauuot be used muemouieally
'
latertoevoketbelargeruarrativeeouteut.
\
!ypes ofSeeues
!beseeuesregularlyreeurriugiuasaud storyeaubeelas-
sined iuto a few basie types . eamp seeues ,meu's, womeu's,

aud family eamps) marked usually by a bougb sbade or but,

eeremouial eamps or eleariugs sometimes iueludiug a eere-
mouial prop, sueb as au ereet ngbtiug stiek iu tbe ease of
womeu's eeremouies, seeues outsidetbe eampiuvolviug food
foragiug audbuutiugordiggiugforwater, audoneumarked
by agroveof treesorawaterbole, seeuejuueture ,sbowiug
movemeutfromplaeetoplaeeaudlaekiugasettiug) , aud a
nuale, wbieb l eall a goiug-iu seeue, always marked by a
bole iu tbe grouud or tbe depietiouofa dead mau iuside tbe
gr
[
ouu
f
d.
b
Figure ilustrat
b
e

tbes
un
eseeue

typesaudgivesexam-

peso e araetensttegrap IC eo gurattous.

!bere is uo iutroduetory formula for a saud story. auy
type of seeue may be used, but eamp seeues are eommou.
!be formulaie eudiug,bowever, altbougb uotarequiredpart
oftbeuarratiou,is ofpartieulariuterest . botbtbemotifitiu-
trodueesaudtbeassoeiated ieouograpby bave ramineatiousiu
Valbirieosmology. At tbe eud ofa tale all tbe people of
tbe story eome togetber audgoiuto tbegrouud. A eirele is
drawu aud tbe patb liues of tbe aetors eouverge witbiu it.
Ofteu a deatb iu tbe story preeedes tbis eveut. lftbis is so,
tbeua Usbapemaybedrawuaudtbepatbliuesoftbeaetors
direeted iuto its opeu eud. Sometimes a partieular item rele-
74
W albiri Iconography
vaut to tbe story-a tree, bill, or ngbtiug stiek-may be tbe
objeetiutowbiebtbeaetorseuter. luoueiustaueeeoueeutrie
eireles depieted a womau's breast aud tbe aetors weut iuto
tbe uipple. !be staudard verbal expressiou assoeiated witb
tbis nuale seeue is tbey beeame uotbiug tbeu (lawa-djari
dja-lg) . !bis meaus tbey died, tbe tale bas eometo au eud.
Seeue Cyeliug aud Narrative Couteut
A regularlyoeeurriugtype ofseeue sequeuee eousists ofa
eamp seeue, departure from eamp ,juueture) , foragiug, buut-
iug, audrelatedseeues, audreturutoeamp.!biseyelerepre-
seuts tbe time period of a day, aud revolutious oftbe eyele
suggesttbepassage oftime. lufaet, somestorieseousistoflit-
tlemoretbaurevolutiousoftbisbasieeyelewitbmiuorvaria-
tious iu eouteut. lu otbers tbis eyele may fuuetiou as a kiud
offrameworktospiuouttbemorespeeineplots.!befollow-
iugexample,a fraetiou ofalougeraeeouut,suggeststbesorts
ofeveuts tbat migbt be eoutaiued iu tbe basie eyele aud tbe
wayiuwbiebtbeeyeleeaurevolve.
Here is a fre burning in a hut. A Dj ungarai man, two Nangala
women and a child are sleeping. They get up. They eat meat.
They go hunting. The women dig for yams. Putting meat and
yams in the containers, they go to camp. The fre is burning.
They cook the yams. Having cooked them, they eat them. They
7 Cf. the sexual signifcance of the concentric circle in men's de
signs, Chapter 7 See also Munn ( 1 967), on the use of concentric cir
cles.
8 Occasionally a storyteller provides the particular plot elements
without the use of the cyclical frr.me, and such stories are likely to be
brief accounts. The cycle facilitates not only the stretching out of a
single plot, but also a kind of additive process in which it is possible
to add more specific plots together into a single tale. The two stories
in the text are free translations of W albiri accounts that I have con-
densed slightly.
1
The Sand Stor
75
put the meat in the hut. They go for water. They drink the
water. They give meat to their mother. [ After sleeping in their
camp and waking up] they go to their mother. They go hunt
ing. Here are yams. The mother digs for yams. [ All are
shown digging for yams.] They go off to camp. The fre is
burning. They sleep. They wake up. The man hurries off
hunting. Here stands a tree. The kangaroo is lying down. He
spears it. He cuts it open and takes out its intestines. He takes
it to the shade. Here is the tree. He digs a hole. He throws
twigs into the hole and lights a fre. He cuts off the tail; he
cuts the two legs. The meat is cooking [ in the earth oven.]
He takes the meat of the fre and puts it down. He cuts the
two thighs-the two good parts. He takes it to camp. He
walks along. Here stands the camp. The fre is burning. Nan
gala is sitting. Dj ungarai comes walking and puts down the
meat. He cuts it up. They eat . . . [this continues in a similar
vein with particular emphasis upon the cutting up of the dif
ferent parts of the kangaroo] .
lumost stories more partieularized plots are built iuto tbis
geueral framework. af:er tbe eyele bas beeu repeated for a
uumber ofturus, tbese iueideuts iuterveue audsbin tbe eyele
orgiveita moreuuique, speeineeast. !beplotbaviugruu
its eourse, a storyteller may tbeu returu to tbis basie eyele.
Sometimes sberepeats it for a time aud tbeu agaiu embarks
ou a series of speeine eveuts. lu tbe followiug tale ofau emu
buut, tbeeutraueeoftbe emuiuto tbe grouudmarks tbe eud
of tbis iueideut, usually sueb au eveut would eud tbe story,
butiutbis ease tbe storyteller eousidered eveutsfollowiugit
to beapart oftbesametale. !bis serialtreatmeutis faeili-
tatedbytbeeyeliealframework.
Here are yams. A woman walks up and puts down her food
container. She digs for yams. She puts the food in the container
and walks to the shade. She returns with another woman [ her

I I
l

W albiri Iconography
co-wife] to camp. Here is the hut. The woman sits down. She
puts down the container with food. A man [the women's hus
band] comes in. He sits down. He lies down to sleep. The man
sleeps. The two women sleep. The man sleeps by his spears.
[ After they wake up] the man goes off hunting. The women go
off hunting. An emu comes along. The man spears it. Here are
many trees with the emu's nest. The man takes the emu eggs. He
puts them down. He takes up the emu and the eggs and he car
ries them off. The man goes to the hut. The two women now
sleep. [ The next day] the man and women go hunting. The
women go for vegetable food. An emu sits on its nest. The man
comes and throws a spear at it. The emu fees. The man sings to
catch the emu. After pursuing the emu, the man grows tired and
lies down to sleep. He [wakes and] follows the same emu.
Through a creek bed the emu flees. The man pursues. [ This is re
peated for a few times to indicate the length of the pursuit] .
Here is a big pool of water. The emu goes into it forever. The
man goes into it forever.
One of the man's wives follows behind him. She comes upon
the same place where the man slept. Here is the water to which
the emu fed. The woman goes along crying and beating herself
in grief for her husband. Some other women come hunting. They
ask her why she is crying. [She answers] : "I have lost my hus
band. " Now she is single. She goes along to the [ women's]
camps where there are many people. She sits down weeping.
Many other women come weeping. They mae "sorry cuts" on
their heads with digging sticks. [Afterward] she marries another
man. They sit in camp. The man sleeps, the woman sleeps. Here
is the fre. They wake up. The man hurries off hunting. The
woman goes hunting with many of her "sisters-in-law." They dig
for yams. They dig and dig. Tey go to a shade. They go back
to camp. The man comes. He sits down. He gives meat to the
woman. The woman sleeps. The man sleeps . . . [ incomplete] .
r-
!be aetots of tbe typieal saud stoty ate fot tbemostpatt
The Sand Story 77
+uouymouspetsoustefettedtobysubseetioulabels,asfotex-
+mple, Dj augala ot Naugala ot simpl
'
as mau' aud
womau.` Oeeasioually tbey ate ealled by some typi[iug
aame ebataetetiziug tbeit tole iu tbe stoty, sueb as tbeim-
aotal oue.` !bese iudividuals ate simply aueesttal people-
tbe people wbo lived iu tbose times tatbet tbau ideutihable
+ueestots. Stoties ate uot assoeiated witb auy pattieulat to-
temie speeies ot aueestots, audtbey ateuot loealized iugeo-
gtapbieal spaee. As tbe uattatotof tbe emustotysaid, wbeu
+sked wbete tbe eveuts ofbet tale took plaee, No plaee-
djugurba. "
Vbile most oftbe aetots ate bumaubeiugs, somebaveex-
ttabumau ehataetetisties. !tee womeu, fotexample, emetge
ftom a motbet ttee aud ate somewbat mote powetnl tbau
otdiuaty womeu. Ginggi is au evilsptiteiu bumau guise, a
eauuibal aud sometbiug ofa ttiekstet. !bete is uo siugle
ginggi ottteewomauwboseaetiousate elabotatediuauum-
|etofdiffeteuttales,tatbet,uumetoustepteseutatives ofeaeb
+ppeat iu diffeteut tales. Vueb less commonly aetots appeat
wbo ate petsouiheatious ofuoubumau auimal speeies. !bese
usuallybavespeeialpowets butiutetaetwitbotdiuatybumau
|eiugs. -.
Oeeasioualtalesiueludebebaviotofau exttaotdiuatykiud,
suebastbe ttausfotmatiouofamauiutoasuake,wbiebVal-
|iti do uot believe bappeus today, butsueb oeeutteuees ate
" Ginggi and tree people appear to be related to characters appear
ing in the tales of other desert peoples south and southeast of the
W albiri. Esoteric narratives about tree people told by old women at
Ooldea (South Australia) are described by R. and C. Berndt
( I 945 : 245ff). Ginggi also appear in the accounts of W albiri men,
where they may be said to inhabit various sites. Women often drolly
imitate their lisping speech, which is sometimes said to be Aranda or
Bindubi. Their actions are similar to those of the kinkin WU.WM de
scribed by the Berndts ( 1 945 : r soff).
W a|biri lcouograp|y
exeeptioual. Al argepart of story bebavioreousists simplyof
tbe aetiou patterus ofdaily life. food aequisitiou, mouruiug
rites, eeremouies ofvariouskiuds. Otbersareof tbeiudividual
easetype,tbesubstaueeofgossip.loveaffairs, ngbts,persoual
quarrels, aud immoral bebavior ,partieularly iueest) aud its
puuisbmeut. Empbasisisplaeedouaetivitiesiuwbiebwomeu
playaeeutralrole. Voreover, foodexebaugesbetweeuamau
audbiswife ,audtoalesserexteut, bermotber)arereiterated
iu tbesaud story aspartof tbe daily rouud ofbuutiug, gatb-
eriug,audfoodeousumptiou.
Vbile all tbese stories are regarded as traditioual aeeouuts
ofaueestralaetivities,itisobvious tbatwebaveberauarra-
tive proj eetiou of tbe eyelieal day-after-day experieuee of
daily routiue aud a reeouutiug oftbe sorts ofiueideuts aud
bebavior also possible fortbe mostpart iutbe ougoiug pres-
eut of Valbiri daily life. lt is, iu effeet, tbis repetitive daily
existeuee tbat is goiug uuder tbe label djugurba, aueestral
wayoflife.
Figure !ypes aud Story Coutexts
Ve eauturu uow to eousideriug iu more detail some fea-
tures of tbe saud story ieouograpby of speeial relevauee to
tbe l arger grapbie system. For tbis purpose l abstraet from
tbe story eounguratious eertaiu importaut types o ngures
,tbat is, types of elemeut eombiuatious) tbat reeur witb bigb
frequeuey iu tbe grapbie uarratiou. !bese types are fouud
alsoiuotbergeuresoftbegrapbieart,wberetbeymay eom-
muuieatemoreeomplex,eosmologiealuotious.Beforetbesig-
uineaueeoftbesemoreeomplexmessageseau beuuderstood,
webavetoexamiuetbeuseoftbese nguresto eouveyeveuts
aud eoutexts of ordiuary, dailyexperieuee, for it is iu sueb
easual usages tbat tbe semauties of tbe former are
grouuded.
!|e 8au1 8tory
79
Figure 3. Actor-item and enclosure fi gure types i n the sand story
A. Actor-item fi gures
|
/
/ |
U \
C L C O C L
\ /
2 3 4 5
/
| O
`7
L
C

C @

C C ~
| `
f @ ~
6 7 8
/
jo | l
/ O
O /
^|
O
O C C
U
9 1 0 1 1 1 2 1 3 1 4 1 5 1 6
\1
/

L
L
V
1 7 1 8 1 9 20 21
1. A man or woman sitting at a water hol e; a woman sitti ng diggi ng
for yams, etc. 2, 3. A man and woman sitting at fi res; two women diggi ng
for yams, etc. 4, 5. Actors sitting with backs to the " item. "
6. A number of actors-for example, women danci ng around a fi ghti ng
stick or people sitti ng at a fi re. 7. Actors sitting around l arge rock hol e
(el l i ptical form of the ci rcl e). 8. Women pl ucking fruit-circl es i n a
group are not l i kely to be water holes.
9. A woman si tting with water carrier at her si de and water hol e i n
front of her, diggi ng for water; a man with hi s shi el d, etc. 1 0. A set of
weapons at the si de i ndi cates the actor is mal e. 1 1 . A shi el d or recepta
cl e in front of the actor. 1 2. A shi el d or receptacle at back. 1 3-1 6. A
stick or spear shown in different posi tions relative to the actor.
1 7. An acti on l i ne: for exampl e, a man throwing a spear.
1 8-21 . Different arrangements of actors around or besi de another actor
l ying down, or, less commonl y, around some elongate object (e.g., a
large fi ghti ng stick). 1 8. A common way of depi cti ng dancers and si ngers
grouped around an actor (the sleeper) in a dream. 20. Sl urring of U el e
ment is common when a l i ne of persons i s shown.
8o W albiri Iconography
Figure 3 (conti nued)
2 3 4 5 6
1 . Sl eeper l yi ng in an oval depression such as characterizes tradi
ti onal sleepi ng arrangements, sometimes cal l ed "bed" i n Engl ish. The
encl osi ng l i ne may also be a bl anket.
2. Water runni ng around a hi l l : i nner O= hi l l ; outer O=water. The en
cl osi ng ci rcl e may also be a motion l i ne, for exampl e, paths of actors
danci ng around a pol e.
3. Bi rds si tti ng i n a nest, or peopl e si tti ng on a hi l l , etc.
4. Eggs in a nest.
5. Characteristic way of depi cti ng a dead person l ai d in a tree (tree
buri al ) , but may also have other meani ngs.
6. An encl osure of the type occurri ng in fi nal e scenes. See above Fi g.
2, no. 4d. A dead man in a hol e with actors convergi ng on the hole, and
"goi ng i n. " The hol e-path figure that results has anal ogues i n other parts
of the graphi c system.
Figure , provides examples of eertaiu elemeut eombiua-
tiousregularlyappeariugiusaudstories,wbieb lbaveelassed
as iustauees oftwo differeuttypesof ngures, orwbat l sball
refertoasnguretypes. !be mostpervasiveof tbeseiswbat
lbaveeall ;

j e

e ,Fig., A) . !be Usbapeiu

tbese eoustruetious siguines some iudividual-au aetor
-iu eitber a sittiug or staudiug positiou ,sittiug is tbe more
usual meauiug) . ,See Plate . ) Auotber elemeut orieuted iu
frout ofor bebiud tbe aetor audsometimes betweeubis legs
,tbe euds oftbe U sbape) refers eitberto some obj eet iu tbe
aetor's immediatevieiuitywitb wbieb be is eoueerued at tbe
time, or less eommouly to au aetiou iuwbieb be is eugaged.
!be geueral meauiug oftbe nrstsort ofnguremay be sum-
marized as aetor iu relatiou to obj eet aud oftbe seeoud as
'
aetor-aetiou.
lunguresoftbe lattersort the aetioumay also iuvolve au
obj eet. for iustauee, a liue drawu swinly out from betweeu
1be 8aud 8tory
Plate 5. A graphi c element drawn duri ng storytel l i ng: a U shape repre
senting an actor si tting down.
. |elegs oftbe aetor eauserve to represeut a maustaudiug,
. |rowiug aspear ,Fig. , A, uo. 1 ;) . !beliueisbotbtbespear
ang tbe aet oftbrowiugit. !bus tbere is uo eleardistiuetiou
|etweeuaetor-aetiouaud aetor-objeeteoustruetious, auditis
couveuieut to liuk tbem botb iu oueoverarebiugngure type
w| tb a geueral meauiug tbat eau bestated as aetor ,iu rela-
. . outo)-item ,aetor-item) .
Vbile tbe keruel oftbis ngure type is a U sbape aud au-
o||er elemeut ,most eommouly a eirele or a liue, but also
o||er elemeuts wbere relevaut) , tbe ngure eau be plu-
|a| lcg, ro two or more aetors may tbeu appear iu various
|
Any element may be pluralized, since number is a feature of the
waphs. In sand stories, arrangements consisting simply of several U
rl cments are common (e.g., loose arrangements of these elements rep
nsenting a number of women sitting mourning). A number of actors
sl eeping in camp appear as parallel lines that may look like the lists
\Valbiri use in tallying items (see below, Chaprer 6). Dual forms of "ac
t ll elements are common, for example, two actors sitting back to back
l sleeping in camp. When one U shape faces the other, there is usually a
shared obj ect such as food or a water hole between them.

'
l
'
82 W abii leouogtap|y
attaugemeuts ,see Fig. , ) . ,!be item' eau also be iu plutal
fotm, as wbeua uumbet ofemueggsatetbe foeus oftbeae-
tot'siutetest,buttbisistatet.)
Auaetot-itemnguteis sometimes eombiued witb au addi-
tioual atttibutive elemeut ot subsidiaty ngute tepteseutiug
oue ot mote of tbe aetot'simplemeuts suebas a woodeu disb
otdiggiugstiek, otweapouslaidbesidebim ,Fig. , A, uos.,
: o, r e). !bese items eau also imply tbe sex of tbe aetot. Fot
iustauee, au oval tepteseutiug a baby eattiet plaeedbeside a
U sbapeiudieates tbat tbe aetotis a womau, wbile liues aud
ates depietiug speats audboometaugs, tespeetively, plaeed iu
tbe same positiou would iudieate tbat tbe aetot is a mau. lu
additiou, ngutes iu wbieb au aetiouis depieted ofteuiuelude
au objeet. Fot example, a kaugatoosbowu lyiug dowu may
betbe objeet oftbespeat beiugtbtowu byau aetot ,Fig. Z
uo. , e) .
!be aetot-item ngute eommauds a wide tauge ofspeeine
situatioualeoutexts, fotiuoueot auotbet ofitsvatiautfotms
it is used to eouvey mueb oftbe aetiou oftbe saud stoty. lu
auy giveu iustauee, it deuotes a speeine meauiug televaut to
tbestotybeiugtold. !besottsofspeeinemeauiugs auduat-
tative situatioustbattbesengutesmigbt attieulateiupattieu-
latinstaueesof use ate exemplined below, aud still otbets ate
suggested by tbe eommeutaties aeeompauyiug Figutes Z
aud .
Actor(s)
Two women
sitt i ng
Wife, husband
Woman
Many women
danci ng
Item Narrative situation
Honey ant hol e Two women diggi ng for honey
ants.
Food A man and wife eating in camp.
Fi re (food on fire) A woman cooking food at
mi dday, whi l e out foragi ng.
Fighti ng Some women danci ng at a
stick yawalyu ceremony to attract
lovers.
Actor(s)
Man si tting
Three wives
Man standi ng
Man sitting
Item
Water hol e,
shi el d, spears
Husband l yi ng
down
Spear (bei ng
thrown)
Peni s
1|e 8au1 8tory
Narrative situation
A man wi th spears and shi el d
besi de hi m dri nki ng at a
water hol e whi l e out hunti ng.
A man's wives sitting around
hi m whi l e he is sl eepi ng i n
camp.
A man throws a spear duri ng
a fight.
A man sends his penis under
ground to have i ntercourse
with a number of di stant women.
( I ncident in one narrative.)
Ve bave bete tbeu a telatively bomogeueous aud simple
|eouogtapbie fotmulatiou fot a wide vatiety ofdaily aetivi-
||es, esseutiallyaetivitieswitbiuasiugleplaeeotseeue.Aetiv-
|ties eouueeted witb food gatbetiug, buutiug aud eatiug, aud
sexual iuteteoutseeaubeeouveyedbytbisngutetype,wbieb
+lso oeeuts iu all tbe eategoties ofaueesttal desigus ,Fig. ) .
Figure 4. Actor-item fi gures in designs
A. Yawalyu. After penci l drawi ng (1 ) ; after body pai nti ngs (2, 3).
C
1 . Wal l aby 2. Opossum 3. Fi ghti ng stick
1 . Thi gh desi gn. 0= rock hole. UU =Wal l abies dri nki ng.
2. Thi gh design. UU =two opossums sitting. Accordi ng to the asso
ciated story, the el ements specify a mal e and female opossum. In the
story, the dreamer-a man-and hi s wife are i dentified wi th the opos
sums. 0= meat. The two opossums sit eat i ng meat. This is probabl y also
an al l usi on to sexual i ntercourse for whi ch "eat i ng" i s a standard meta
phor. No explanation was given for the surroundi ng ovals.
3. U=woman sitti ng at a yawalyu ceremony. /=fi ghti ng sti ck l yi ng
down behi nd her.
W abiri leouograpby
Figure 4 (conti nued)
B. 1/bindji and related designs. After desi gn i nci sed on sacred board (1 ) ;
after man's penci l drawi ngs (2-4) .
} I l1
2
C

L
4
`
J
J
1 . Top to bottom: Ill = boomerangs. , = spears. U = man sitting
wi th spear throwers at his si de. = man and woman sleepi ng to
gether. OO=woman' s breasts; dashes between are the man' s spear
throwers. Beneath this are l i nes showing the man and woman sleepi ng
together, and then a repeti ti on of the spears and boomerangs.
2. Outer U = man. I nner U =woman. OO= woman' s breasts; the l i nes
between are the man' s ci catrices. Long oval s= man' s arms "pul l i ng up"
the woman. The i nformant associ ated the design wi th a rai n ancestor,
but my i mpression i s that an ilbindji desi gn of thi s ki nc
f
coul d actual ly be
associ ated with di fferent ancestors dependi ng on a man' s own l odge af
fi l i ati ons.
3. A Manguru design. Only part of the design drawn by the i nformant
i s shown. U =woman. Long oval = man, i . e. , peni s. 0= navel of the man
and woman-"navel " is probably a euphemi sm for the geni tals. Cf. Roh
eim 1 945: 1 02. Cf.E an i nstance of a woman' s story notati on showing
a man havi ng i ntercourse with a number of women sl eepi ng i n a wom
en' s camp.
4. [ ] = shade or hut. UU =women sitti ng around a man who is l yi ng
down. I = the man. Cf. Figure 3, no. 1 8.
C. Guruwari. After penci l drawing (1 ) ; after sand drawi ng (2) . Additional
actor-item fi gures i n guruwari desi gns are shown in Fi gure 1 6.
| | ||
` ,
' .

1| '

1 . Two Wapngari men 2. Lizard

1 . UU= the two men sitting back to back (repeated top and bottom}.
0 =the water hol e they came out of, and al so thei r camp. = shi el d
II = spears.
2. 0= hi l l , and also the fruit the l i zards are eati ng. UU = l izards si t
eati ng frui t. After they eat, the hi l l emerges, and they go i nsi de it. (On
noti ons of metamorphosis and mul ti pl e meani ngs for desi gn el ements,
see bel ow, Chapter 6.} |J = boomerangs.
1be Sau1 Story
| aeaeb oftbedesigueategories, tbe nguretypeteudstotake
oa meauiugs ebaraeteristie oftbateategory. For example, iu
aeu's ilbindji desigus, aetor-item ngures always earry sexual
couuotatious aud may iuelude additioual elemeuts speei[iug
. . . ale aud/or female sexual ebaraeteristies. lu gurwari de-
s|gus, tbe ngure usually earries a refereuee to tbe aueestral
c+mpsite,seebelow,Cbaptere).
Aseeou1typeofgrapbienguretbateaubeobservediutbe
storytelliug,audtbatisofgeueralimportaueeiutbesystemas
a wbole, eousists of a eirele euelosiug auotber elemeut or
|igure. !bis eounguratiou earries tbe meauiug a elosed or
:ouudisb item euelosiug auotber item oritems ,Fig. , B) .
:efertoitasauenclosure
_
Au euelosuremayoeeuriudepeudeutlyormay nuetiouas
:be item iu eertaiu aetor-item ngures, tbat is, it bas tbe
s+me privileges of oeeurreuee as tbe eirele or otber elemeuts
staudiugfortbeitemiutbisnguretype.Aetor-itemngures,
ou tbe otber baud, eau also oeeur iuside eirele euelosures
wbeu tbe story seuse warrauts it. !be euelosure most eom-
. : ouly earries tbe meauiug iu or iuside but it may also
aeautbattbeeueloseditemsare ou` apartieularobj eet.For
| astauee, a Usbapeiusideaeireleeouldmeauauaetorsittiug
oaa bill, or au aetorsittiugiuside a bole. Vbere au oval eu-
c| oses a straigbt liue represeutiug au aetor lyiug dowu, tbis
o|teu speeines tbe aetor lyiug asleep iu a sballow oval saud
1epressiou sueb as is fouud iu frout of tbe wiudbreak iu tbe
.+aditioual Valbiri eamp. n eaeb iustauee tbe bill, tbe bole,
.be sballow depressiou eireumseribestbe aetor, audiudieates
a plaeeorloeuswitbiuwbiebbeissituated.
' I
Enclosures may have various spatial values: for example, the en
dosed item may be inside or underneath the surface depicted by an
enclosing circle, or it may be on top of this surface, and so on. Else
where I have discussed these spatial values in some detail, as well as
t he considerable symbolic significance of enclosures in W albiri cos
l l lology (see Munn 1 967).
86 W albiri ieouograp|y
lu tbe saud story nuale, tbis type of ngure is assoeiated
witb deatb. it may be used to represeut tbe dead persou sit-
tiug iuside tbe grouud. lu tbese eoutexts, tbe liues ,patbs of
tbe people`) goiug toward tbe eirele imply goiug iu`, al-
tbougb tbengureitselfueed uotalwaysiuvolve aueuelosure,
itimpliestbisuotiou,Fig.Z uo.qFig. ,B,uo.e) .
Atypeofeuelosureofspeeialiuteresti saeirele-witbiu-eir-
ele sebeme. Altbougb uot very eommou iu tbesaudstory, it
may oeeuriuvariouseoutexts, forexample, aeireleeuelosiug
a smaller eirele may serve to represeut womeu daueiug
arouud a eeremouial pole. Au example meutioued above iu
eouueetiou witb goiug-iu` seeues iuvolved a eirele-witbiu-
eirele sebeme used to represeut a womau's breast, witb tbe
iuuereireleas tbeuipple, aud surrouudiug outereirelesrep-
reseutiug tbebreast. !be eirele does uot always earry statie
meauiugs, but sometimes may eouvey tbe uotiou of eireliug
movemeut ,iu eoutrast to exteuded, direetioual movemeut
eouveyedbytbeliue) .
Certaiu reeurreut eounguratious are bigbly idiomatie. Au
exampleistbe kaugaroo buutiugseeueillustratediuFigure Z
uo. ,e. !bisngure,ouetbatisespeeially familiarto ebildreu)
bas a nxedspeeine meauiug. it always represeuts a kaugaroo
lyiugdowuiutbesbadewitbabuutertbrowiugbisspear. !o
my kuowledge it does uot reeur, bowever, iu tbe desigu
geures, butis promiueutoulyiutbesaudstory. Outbe otber
baud, auotber idiom-two sballow ares plaeed symmetri-
eally ou eitber side of a straigbt liue, represeutiug two
womeu sleepiug ou eitber side of a mau ,Fig. 2 , uo. t c)
reeurs as a desigu i u womeu's yawalyu ,Fig. eB, uo. Z ) -
!busitserves as oue example oftbe struetural eoutiuuitybe-
tweeu tbe saud story grapbs audyawalyu desigus tbat we
sballexamiueiutbefollowiugebapter.
1|e 8aud 8tory
|:| seussiou
|u saud storytelliug, tbe speaker does uot euaet tbe eveuts
1 o wbiebataleistbougbttorefer,butereateseetiuggrapbie
| aages of it ou tbe saud as part of tbe uarrative proeess.
t :apbsemergeasattributes` oftbesaudiueloserelatiouto,
|ut detaebed from, tbe body oftbespeaker, aud typieally as
art ofa soeialproeess iu wbiebiuformatiousaidto referto
|'e aueestral world is eommuuieated. Uulike speeeb or ges-
|ure sigus, tbe grapbs are obj eetivated outside tbe speakers
+ud listeuers iu a eouerete spatial neld tbat forms tbe visible
|oeusoftbeiriuteraetiou.
!be proeess of formiug tbe grapbs is almost wbolly ab-
sorbedby tbetemporalproeesses ofuarratiou.!bisabsorp-
tiou' uudoubtedlyaeeouutsiu part for tbe simplieity of tbe
clemeuts aud tbe produetivity` of tbe grapbie strueture.
witb a relatively few, staudardized elemeuts au iudenuite
.augeofmeauiugsaudsituatioualeoutextseaubegrapbieally
expressed. !be simplieity also eubauces speed aud ease of
produetiou.
Nevertbeless, tbegrapbsarearrauged aspietures` ,tbatis,
tbey are orgauized uot simply iu a liuear way followiug
speeebsequeuee asis ebaraeteristie ofaseript,butalso asim-
agesiupietorialarraugemeuts. Voreover, tbeelemeutstbem-
selvesare ieouie` iutbeseusetbattbeypiekoutsimpleper-
eeptual qualities of tbe forms of obj eets aud aets tbat tbey
deuote,aud trauslate` tbeseiutoagrapbiemedia. lufaet, tbe
grapbie art as a wbole eau be deseribed as a system ofrela-
tivelysimpleieouie elemeutswitbtbeeapaeity forproduetiv-
ity iu eommuuieatiou, iu differeut ways it is always elosely
liukedwitbverbalexpressiou.
lutbesaudstory, tbegrapbsserveiutbeeommuuieatiouof
88 W albiri leouograpby
a reality tbat, wbilelabeled as aueestral, aetually bleudswitb
tbeougoiugpatteruofdailylife. Notablebereistbeauouym-
ity of tbe typieal aetors. tbey are uot speeihe iudividuals
arouud wbieb varied tales are built, but simply represeut
elasses of persous wboseem to now tbrougbtbe stereotyped
babitual aetivities of daily life ebaraeteriziug tbe saud story
eveuts, tbey are esseutially depersoualized types. ` Sueb sto-
ries are primarily tales about tbe way aueestorslived ,wbieb
is esseutially tbe way traditioual V albiri lived), ratber tbau
beiug aboutparticular ancestors. !be eosmie siguiheauee of
tbese stories is limited. reality teuds to be preseuted outbe
same level as tbereality ofeveryday li fe, aud tbe stereotypie
frameworkitsel fexpressestbemierotemporaleyeliug ofdaily
life.
!busiutbesaudstoryweseetbegrapbiesystembouudto
meauiugs eouuotative ofeveryday experieuee. Siuee tbisuse
of tbe grapbs is opeu to ebildreu, exposure to tbese assoeia-
tious oeeurs iu a easual atmospbere from ebildbood. lf oue
eousiders tberepetitiveuess oftypiealhguresaudseeues, oue
eauseebowgrapbs maybeeomeredoleutoftbeeouteutaud
rbytbms oftbedailylife experieueestbattbey deuote,audso
eaueometoobjeetivatetbemiutbeimagiuatiou.
CHAPTER _
Yawa/yu: Women's Desi gns
Some oftbe stories womeu tell are aeeouuts of dreams iu
wbieb yawalyu desigus aud tbeir aeeompauyiug sougs are
bougbt to bave beeu revealed. ! Vomeu believe tbat tbe
+geuts of tbis relevatiou are tbe ebildlike ereatures tbat meu
e+llguruwalba ,seeabove, Cbapter ) audwomeueallyina
wuru, wbo aet as proxies for tbe aueestors. !bey regard
eveutsiutbedreamsas aueestralbappeuiugs attbesametime
battbeyaretbepersoualexperieneesoftbedreamer.
Vomeustresstbata dream oftbiskiudsbouldbe revealed
to otbers immediately ou wakeuiug aud tbat ideally a ya
walyu eeremouysbouldtbeubeperformed. lutbeeeremouial
beuewlyrevealeddesiguswould bepaiutedwbilethesougs
+reiutoued. !bisproeedure, aswebaveseeu,eusurestbeefh-
eaey of tbe desigu aud makes it stroug.` Siuee iu Valbiri
tbeoryyawalyu desigus aud sougs are revealed togetber iu a
dream to auiudividual, tbey must tbeu be revealed to otbers
by uarratiou aud/or publie eeremouy. lu tbe latter, tbe eo-
bereueeoftbesougsaud tbedesigusisexpressedbytbeireo-
ordiuateproduetiouaspartoftbemakiugproeess.
Narratives tbat refer to yawalyu dreams are uot distiu-
' As I pointed out earlier, not all dreams are thought to be the
sources of designs, and the narrative stereotype described below re
fers only to the Walbiri concept of yawalyu dreams. Women also
sometimes ascribe stories not associated with yawalyu to a personal
dream, although more ofen they say that such stories were learned
from another individual.
Va|biri leouograp|y
guisbed by uame from otber uarratives womeu tell, but au
aura ofgreater importauee aud value is attaebed to tbem. lu
eouteut, tbey do uot di ffer greatly from otber saud stories,
aud tbe plots are ofteu built iuto tbe same daily aetivity'
framework. Uulike tbe ordiuary tale, bowever, tbeyawalyu
story bas explieit associatious witb a partieular totemie spe-
eies sueb asraiu, eougaberry, orebareoal, tbe aeeompauyiug
desigus refer to tbese aueestors.2 Altbougb womeu told me
yawalyu stories iu tbe womeu's eamps witbout makiug auy
speeial efforts at seereey, tbe stories were uot uarrated quite
asfreelyastbeordiuarytale.
As l bave previously iudieated, tbe yawalyu dreamer is
usually a womau, but may also be a married mau wbo tbeu
gives tbeyawalyu to biswivesto paiut. Ordiuarilyouly tbe
dreamer ,ifa womau) ortbewife to wbom tbedesigusbave
beeu giveuis tbougbt to kuow tbe full details of tbe story,
but tbere is uo explieit sauetiou agaiust otbers reeouutiug it
,or wbatever tbey may kuow ofit) witbout ber permissiou.
!be deuotativemeauiugs oftbe desigusseem tobegeuerally
kuowuto mostoftbewomeuoftbe dreamer'sloealeommu-
uity wbo aetively partieipate iu tbe ritual paiutiug, but
womeudo uotsbowasmuebiuterestiugiviug desigumeau-
iugs as domeu, aud tbeyprovidedmewitbeousiderablyless
iutbeway ofspoutaueouselaboratiouormetapborie assoeia-
tiousiuiuterpretiugdesigns.
2 Although the accounts p

rport to refer to a personal dream, the

content is quite obviously traditional and may draw on generally
well-known incidents associated with a particular totemic species. For
example, the yawagi berry dreams of three different women con
tained allusions to sores that came out on the lips of ancestral women
who ate the berries. The same incident is featured in an account of
yawagi berry ancestors given by two male informants.
' In looking over my data again, it seems to me that there may
have been more metaphor available in wo
y
nen's thinking about ya-
Yawalyu: Vomeu's Lesigus
1be Yawalyu Dream
Vomeu's aeeouuts ofyawalyu dreams ofteu begiu witb a
||st of persous supposed to bave beeu sleepiug iu eamp witb
:'e dreamer at tbe time oftbe dream. !be opeuiug seeues
aayalsoiueludeangureoftbeaetor-itemtypedepietiugtbe
yinawur ebildreu staudiug arouud tbe dreamer siugiug aud
daueiug ,seeFig. ,A, uo. ) . Sometimestbesebeiugsaresaid
.o pieree (bandi-ni) tbe womau aud give beryawalyu.
|ortbeValbiri tbedreamdoesuotsigni[tbebegiuniug of
+uaetual preguauey as dreams do for some Australiau peo-
ples, butpiereiug` uevertbelessbasproereative-sexual over-
.oues, aud a eertaiuparallel betweeubeeomiug pregnaut aud
:eeeiviugyawalyu desigusisimplied.
!brougbouttberest oftbedream aeeouut, tbeyinawuru,
:bedreamet, aud aueestralpeople areuotdistiuguisbed. lftbe
aarrator is tbe womau iu cbarge of tbe desigus ,aud some-
.|mesalsoifotbers wboeloselyassoeiate tbemselves witbtbe
1reamertelltbestory)sbemayreuderberaeeouutiutbenrst
persou, or sbe may refer to bersel f aud otber people iu tbe
1ream by subseetiou labels oneu iuteuded to speei[ partieu-
|arliviug persous wbose iudividual ideutities eau besupplied
ourequest.
Altbougb womeu geuerally loeate tbe eveuts ofyawalyu
aarratives iusome regiouwitbiu tbe dreamer'ssubdivisiou of
.'eeommuuityeouutry, siteuamesdouotplayauimportaut
part iu most aeeouuts. Siuee tbe aueestors tbemselves are as-
soeiated witb a geograpbieal area ,womeu eau usually give
walyu than that for which I have explicit expression. Nevertheless,
the difference in women's and men's responses is marked-men
often spontaneously elaborated more than one meaning, while women
rarely did.
Cf. Roheim 1 93 3 : z 41 ff; Elkin 1 964: 1 85.

92 Valbiri leouograp|y
tbe uameofakeysite),uarratives bave aeorrespoudiugloeal
assoeiatiou, a feature distiuguisbiug tbem from tbe ordiuary
tale. But loealizatiouis uot stressed iu uarratiou, audiu uoue
oftbesedreamsdo womeu follow au aueestor's traek, seeiug
eveuts atspeeinesitesalougtbeway. Aswesballseelater, au
empbasis upou traveliug to aud from differeutsites aud upou
tbe geograpbieal loealizatiou ofaueestral eveutsebaraeterizes
maseuliuemodesoforderiugexperieuee.
!be eveuts of a dream may be various, but two types of
aetivities are usually stressed. foodgatberiug audtbe perfor-
maueeofayawalyu eeremouywberetbedesigus oftberele-
vaut speeies are paiuted aud tbe sougs suug. Attbe eud ofa
dream tbe aetorsgoiutotbegrouud, altbougb ,asiutbeordi-
uary saud story) tbe storyteller may uot iuelude tbe goiug
iuseeueiueveryiustauee.
Vost oftbe speeies promiueutiuyawalyu desigus are edi-
ble ,ebareoal is tbe maiu exeeptiou). !be assoeiatiou of tbe
aetorswitbtbespeeiesis eommouly expressed by foodgatb-
eriug aud eousumptiou. For example, tbe bouey aut uarra-
tive refers to tbe diggiug aud eatiug ofbouey auts, yawagi
berry dreams tell oftbe pluekiugaud eatiug oftberipe fruit.
!beaetorsiutbeseeasesaresimplybumaubeiugs, butiutbe
opossum tale tbe aetors are opossums . tbe opossum meu go
out buutiug for kaugaroo aud otber meats ,iueludiug opos-
sum), wbilefemaleopossumsaresbowudiggiug for yams. lu
tbis ease, ties witb tbespeeesare expressed byauideutinea-
tiou of aetorswitb tbe speeies iuvolved. lu tbe ebareoalya
walyu diseussed iu more detail below, food eousumptiou is
uot empbasized, but tbe ebareoalusedto paiutdesigus ou tbe
youugerwomeu iu tbe tale eousists oftbe burued bodies of
eertaiu old womeu. Here trausformatiou ,oftbewomeuiuto
ebareoal) audpaiutiugwitbtbeaetualsubstaueeoftbeauees-
Yawalyu: Vomeu's Lesigus 93
tors are tbevebieles ofideutineatiou. Beiug paiuted witb de-
sigusis,bowever, astaudard meaus ofideutineatiouwitbtbe
aueestors, aud tbe speeialized eveuts of tbe ebareoal mytb
merelymaketbeuotioupartieularlyexplieit.
As l bave previouslysuggested ,Cbapter Z ) yawalyu teud
to exelude tbose foodsourees aud otber uouedible itemstbat
bave speeinemaseuliue assoeiatious. lu tbese dreamsideutin-
eatiou is made, tberefore, eitber witb pbeuomeua embedded
iuwomeu's aetivitiesorwitbtbose, likeraiu, assoeiated witb
femiuiueuutritive nuetious. !bedreampreseuts tbese aetivi-
ties witbiu a frame of refereuee-a level of reality-
wbere its siguineaueeismore tbau ordiuary eveutbougb tbe
eveuts tbemselves maysimply bereplieas ofdailylife. Vbile
empbasisupoufoodgatberiugaudeousumptiouisafeatureof
seeular uarrative as well as ofyawalyu, tbe dream eoutext
:aisestbevalueattaebedtotbeexperieueeto adiffereutlevel
ofimportauee.
lu effeet, tbe iudividual's routiue aetivities are experieueed
+spart ofa traditiou offemiuiue aetivity tbrougb wbieblife
|s maiutaiued. lureferriug to abouey autyawalyu aboutau-
cestral womeu wbo dug up large uumbers ofauts aud re-
:arued to eamp to eat tbem, oue womau remarked, !be
+aeestors ate food tbeu loug ago. Ve people eat today as a
:esult. !be womau wbo beeomes tbe aueestors iu tbe
1reamisiutbiswayideuti[iugberselfaudberordiuarydaily
+etivitieswitbtbesourees oflife maiuteuauee, a nuetiou also
sabserved by desigu paiutiug aud its aeeompauyiug siugiug
| neeremouialoutsidetbedream.
" One of my male informants remarked that the eating of the to
l cmic species by ancestral women led to their increase, that is, to the
ncation of more women. Thus he linked notions of food consump
ri on with reproductive continuity.
, Valbiri leouograp|y
At tbe same time tbat tbe yawalyu desigu is tbougbt to
bave beeuseeu origiually iu a dream, it also is regarded as a
representation ofitems aud eveuts occurring in the dream.
Bebiud all Valbiri tbiukiugis tbeassumptioutbat tbe auees-
torsmakevisualforms audsougstbatreferto tbemselvesaud
to tbe world about tbem, tbe tbiugs tbey do aud tbeir owu
sbapesaudfeatures. Closureistbus effeeted, fortbeeireular-
ity of tbisideaeusures botb a poiut ofrefereuee iutbepast
beyoud wbieb oue ueed uot go ,Cobeu : ,e,. , , o), aud tbe
projeetability oftbe pastiuto tbepreseut tbrougb trausmissi-
blesigus.
luwomeu'sdesigus aud dreams tbe same eireularuotiouis
exptessed. tbe eommuuieative forms ,desigus aud sougs) are
tbemselves revealedwitbiutbemilieuaudtbeeveutstowbieb
tbey refer. !bey are at ouee a way oftalkiug about tbe
milieuaudapartofit.!besubj eetiveexperieueeoftbemilieu
isiutbiswayobj eetivated.
Moreover, tbe dream milieu is itselfoue iu wbieb, iu tbe
ease oft|e persoual dream, tbe aetorsiu mueb oftbe dream
are a kiud of bleud oftbe liviug aud tbe aueestors. lu some
iustauees,tbiswas madequiteexplieitto mebytbemeauiugs
iuformauts gave for desigu elemeuts . tbey ideutined tbe U
sbaperepreseutiug a sittiug aetor iu eertaiuyawalyu desigus
asbeiugtbedreamerorsome otberliviugpersousupposed to
beiutbedream ,see, forexample,Fig.eB,uo. , ) . !berefore,
iurepreseutiugtbedreamuilieuaudtbeaueestralspeeies,tbe
desigusalsoearriedimplieitrefereueetotbeliviug, audtotbe
'selfoftbedreamer.
Narrative, Soug, aud Desigu iu Storytelliug
A womau telliug a yawalyu story usually marks tbe
grouudiutbeebaraeteristiesaudstorystyle.Assbe reeouuts
Yawalyu: Vomeu's Lesigus ,
:
.'e dream sbe is ofteuremiuded ofassoeiatedsougs. Vomeu
w'o told me uarratives would siug tbem as tbey eame to
. a|ud,orassomerefereueeiutbeuarrativej oggedtbeirmem-
o:ies. !bereareuorulesofsequeueeiutermsofwbiebsougs
c+u be ordered, au ideal, sequeutial orderiug of sougs asso-
c| +ted witb au aueestor ebaraeterizes tbe maseuliue but uot
.'efemiuiuesubeulture.
!be demoustratiou ofassoeiatedyawalyu desigus, wbetber
oatbebody,oriusauddrawiug,isalsolikelytoevokesougs,
.'esiugiug of tbesougs, outbe otberbaud, eommoulyleads
. oau aeeompauyiug explauatorydiagramorasaudstoryseg-
. i . eut as part oftbesoug explauatiou. Some oftbeseexplaua-
. ory diagramsmayiu faetbetbeyawalyu desigus,audtbisis
+| sotrueofsome oftbegrapbiengurestbatoeeuriutbepro-
cessoftelliugay awalyu saudstory.
Womeu tbemselves are geuerally eouseious of tbis usage.
|or example, iu oue iustauee, a saud drawiug oftbe aetor-
| .catypewasmadeforexplauatorypurposesduriugtbegeu-
e:+laeeouut ofayawagi berrydream.!bengurerepreseuted
a aumberof womeusittiugarouud aeeutraleirele ,tbeberry
.+ee) , tbey were pluekiug aud eatiug tbe berry. !be story-
. eller aud otber womeu preseutafterward empbasized to me
. '+ttbisngurewasa yawalyu desiguforyawagi berry.
|t is appareut from tbis bebavior tbat desigus may be
.+eated like ordiuary grapbs-as explauatory deviees refer-
:| ag to tbe eouteut of tbe story-aud tbat tbere is uo eul-
. a :al rule iubibitiugtbeireouseioususe iugeueralexplaua-
. o:y eoutexts. !bus tbe ebauuels are opeu for desigus to be
'e1 baek iuto tbe wider eommuuieative system, aud eou-
e:sely for saudstorygrapbs to be fed iutotbe repertory of
yawalyu desigus.
|u tbe eommuuieatiou ofyawalyu uarratives, my iuform-

j

'
W albiri Iconography
ants o
f
ten move
d b
etween prose, song, an
d
graph
i
c represen
tat
i
on (
i
nc
l
u
di
ng graph
i
c
d
es
i
gns) ; each
f
orm
i
s a potent
i
a
l
st
i
mu
l
us
f
or one o
f
the other commun
i
cat
i
ve mo
d
es. To g
i
ve
a more spec
if
c account o
f
t he
i
nterp
l
ay
i
n women
'
s
i
mag
i
na
t
i
ons
b
etween graph
i
c
f
orms, prose, an
d
songs, shal
l b
r
i
e
f
y
outl
i
ne
i
ts operat
i
on
i
n the case o
f d
ata o
b
ta
i
ne
d
on the
c
h
arcoa
l
(burgangga) `yawalyu comp
l
ex.
I frst saw a charcoal design drawn in the sand in the form shown
in Figure sA, no. i . The elongate oval represented the charcoal
with which women were painting themselves. My informant then
sang two songs, one referring to the preparation of the small stick
used to paint yawalyu designs on the body, the other to a cen
tipede that had certain associations with the charcoal ancestors
(see note 6 below) . On another occasion women drew illustrative
sand graphs during the process of explaining to me some charcoal
songs; these are illustrated in Figure sA, no. 2, along with the
songs. They drew two women painting themselves with charcoal;
then a number of women painting themselves; and fnally the
track they made as they traveled. One informant explained that
the track was part of a yawalyu design to be painted across the
chest. At a l ater date, one woman recounted a version of the asso
ciated dream narrative, using a typical sand story technique. As
she reached a point in the narrative where younger women pain_t
` The term burgangga is not the usual Walbiri term for charcoal in
use at Yuendumu; the more usua term is birilyi. It is possible that the
term is not Walbiri. The Bidj andj ara term for charcoal is burgu, and
the owner of this yawalyu was a Walmalla woman who was said to
have associations with the Bidjandj ara to the south. Some of my
Walmalla informants referred to the charcoal yawalyu as gungga
wara, a Bidj andjara term for young woman. In addition, this yawalyu
had some connections with the centipede (yirindji) which some of
my male informants referred to as burgalu or burga. A centipede
story known to both male and female informants in slightly different
versions involved the burning of a woman's breasts which then
turned into hills called by one (male) narrator "burgangga _hills."
Yawalyu: Women's Designs
97
themselves with cha
r
coal that is the burned bodies of certain old
women in the dream she said, "They paint yawalyu designs, " and
then drew the graph shown in Figure sA, no. j, and identifed it
HO a yawalyu design. Each U shape was identifed as one of the
women in the
,
dream (i.e., other Walbiri who were supposed to
Figure 5. Charcoal yawa/yu desi gns and story notat ions
A. I l l ustrations drawn in the sand
1 . Demonstration of a charcoal yawalyu
U =women sitting pai nti ng themselves wi th charcoal.
Long oval = charcoal . This desi gn was demonstrated in the sand; i t
then evoked songs from the charcoal yawa/yu. See text, Chapter 4.
2. Graphi c i l l ustrati ons of songs
Song
"Yawalyu charcoal si ster
i n-l aw people"
[two women rel ated as si s
ters- i n-l aw pai nt each
other].
"Pai nti ng stick pai nt i ng
stick"
[the women prepare the
smal l st i ck used i n
pai nti ng] .
"Goes along track"
Graph
f

L
`
[women travel al ong the
track pai nted with yawalyu .
designs] .
Storytel l er's comment
The two paint up.
Fi re [charcoal] yawalyu.
They pai nt up.
They went then. Al ong the
track they go. They put fat
[ i . e. they rub themselves
with grease and ochers
and pai nt designs] . The
storytel l er expl ai ned that
her i l l ustrati on of the song
was also part of a yawa/yu
design and was painted
across the chest.
I
l l
i
W albiri Iconography
Figure 5 (conti nued)
3. Design i nserted i n story
. '
\ /\
UU =women sitting pai nting to attract a lover. Each U shape was i den
t ifi ed as one of the women i n the dream-i . e. , Wal bi ri women who were
sai d to have been sleepi ng i n the camp with the dreamer and who were
therefore supposed to have been i n the dream.
= the design, the charcoal. Thi s fi gure was i nserted i nto the sto
rytel l i ng of the associated yawalyu narrative and was i denti fi ed as a ya
wa/yu design. See text Chapter 4.
4. Design i nserted i n story
l
oo =breasts of the women, the charcoal.
UU=women si tt i ng.
B. Charcoal yawalyu designs pai nted by women duri ng i ni tiation cere-.
monies
2
1 . UU =women sitt i ng. Painted on shoulders and across breasts (cen
tral U).
2. == headbands of the women. UU =the charcoal women si tti ng
with headbands i n front of them, as d i d the ol d women duri ng the actual
pai nti ng. See text, Chapter 4. Design i s pai nted across the shoul ders and
on the breasts.
3. - Fyawalyu design bei ng pai nted by the women. It may be that
this also means travel i ng along the track. See A, no. 2, above. The two
l ong ovals are charcoal wi th whi ch the women are pai nt i ng. UU=the
women. Pai nted across the shoul ders and on the breasts; U pai nted on
thi ghs.
Yawalyu: Women's Designs
99
have been sleeping in the same camp as the dreamer; the charcoal
|s rhc"item" between them. After drawing the design the inform
i l l l t explained that the fire (i.e., the charcoal yawalyu) attracts a
l over. She then drew two sets of designs otthe type paiated on
1 hc thighs, showing women sitting; in one design, charcoal (de
pi cted assmall circles on each end of the U shape) was painted on
1 he woman's breasts (Fig. 5 A, no. ).
In sum, verbal forms of:eu elieit grapbie oues, wbile
g:+pbie forms iu turuelieitverbal eommuuieatiou ,sougs or
:ose) . ludeed, Valbiri uotious tbat botb sougs aud desigus
+:etrausmittediutbeoueyawalyu dream, audtbattbepaiut-
|ag of desigus iu ritual eoutexts sbould be aeeompauied by
|'esiugiug ofrelevautsougs,symbolieallyexpresstbeseelose
|esbetweeuverbalaudgrapbieeommuuieatiou.
A Yawalyu Dream Narrative aud Ceremouial Paiutiug
|uriug my stay at Yueudumu, tbe ebareoal yawalyu re-
|erred to above was used by womeu of tbe Valmalla eamp
groupto paiuttbemselvesaspart ofaeireumeisioueeremouy
|or eertaiu Dj abaugari aud Dj agamara boys of tbis eom-
. . . uuity. ,See Plate e. ) !be ebareoalyawalyu uarrative bad
oeeutold to mepreviously bya womauwbowas abrotber's
1augbter of tbe dreamer aud wbo tbougbt of bersel f
+s baviug beeu iu tbe dream. l give tbe substauee ofber ae-
couutbere, alougwitb adeseriptiou oftbesiugiugaudpaiut-
. agoftbesedesigusiutbeyawalyu eeremouy.
7 This ceremonial painting was similar to others I observed, but it
w somewhat more formalized and included certain novel features
-primarily the use of sacred obj ects in addition to the body paint
ing. Some women told me that the bonelike obj ects among the sacra
mentioned below were brought to Yuendumu by the Walmalla
owner of the charcoal from the Bidj andj ara; the Bidjandjara (and also
Bindubi) connections of this woman are probably factors in this vari
ation (see also note 6).
Plate 6. Two old women pai nted with designs at a yawalyu ceremony.
The designs represent the charcoal women si tti ng at a yawalyu (see
Fi gure 58). The woman on the l eft has j ust taken the headbands from the
stone where they were pl aced with other sacra duri ng t he ceremony; she
i s prepari ng to return them to thei r wrappings.
/
!
Yawalyu: Women's Designs i oi
Several old women (listed by name) are sitting i n the shade. They
include the chief dreamer (an old woman of the Walmalla com
l l mnity country), the informant's own father's sister. A fre is
burning and two fghting sticks stand erect in the ground. The
chief dreamer and another woman (or possibly all the old
women, the account is not clear) go to the fre and burn on it. As
they burn, they sing, going away forever. Two younger women
(one of them my informant, the other her sister) come and paint
yawalyu with the charcoal, the remains of the old women.
Women of the W almalla camp group gathered in mid-afternoon
at a small bough shade just west of the camp cluster where par
ents of the two novices were camped. About ffteen women sat
around informally; several of the women, who were actual and
close ngadi ("mothers") of the novices, were being painted, while
others were merely watching, conversing and j oining in the sing
ing. The painting was on behalf of the novices-to aid in
"growing them up. " Three women who were in the relation of
cross-cousin, sister-in-law, and mother's mother (or daughter's
daughter) to the "mothers" did most of the painting, moving
from one to the other.
In addition to the charcoal designs, one design representing
"hair-string head bands" was painted on a young woman who
was pregnant with her frst child. The old Nambidjimba woman
who owned the charcoal designs and was regarded as the dreamer
was not painted (possibly because she was not a "mother" to ei
ther of the novices, who belonged to the Dj agamara and Dj aba
ngari subsections) . This woman, and two other old Nabarula
women who were decorated with charcoal designs, sat in the mid
dle of the cluster of women (Plate 6). In front of these women
l ay a number of hair-string headbands, freshly greased and
rubbed with red ochre, three small yellow bonelike objects tied
together with a bit of string, and some sticks of charcoal. The
hair-string bands were said to make the circumcision novice
"strong" and to help "grow him up"-which was also part of
the general purpose of the yawalyu painting. The "bones" repre-
,
j
|
i
1 02 W albiri Iconography
sented ancestral women, and the charcoal represented the women
who had been burned or the fre. The designs themselves were
painted on the body with charcoal.
During the painting there was casual singing of about three or
four songs belonging to the charcoal and headband yawalyu, but
not all the songs were sung. Each was repeated until the singers
wearied of it and took up another song. There was no apparent
order in the choice of songs, but the woman who was the dreamer
generally initiated each song, since she apparently had the
best memory for the song cycle. The songs referred to events
supposed to have occurred in the dream. One song, for instance,
referred to the charcoal that the women burning on the fre en
join the younger women to take up and use to paint yawalyu.
After the painting, women sang as the sacred objects were re
turned to their wrappings. The ceremony was concluded with a
short dance, the decorated women and the undecorated dreamer
lining up and shufing briefy, stopping and "trilling" in a char
acteristic ritual call. Although other ceremonies of this kind that
I had witnessed did not include a dance, women appeared to feel
in this instance that it would be incorrect to conclude without it ..
The whole procedure, including the dance, lasted about an hour
and a half.
!be dream uarrative assoeiated witb tbis yawalyu was
uuique iu stressiug tbe iutergeueratioual trausmissiou ofy a
walyu from older to youuger womeu aud iu tbe uotiou tbat
tbe bodies of tbe older womeu beeome tbe media tbrougb
wbieb tbe yawalyu is paiuted by tbe youuger geueratiou.
Nevertbeless, we eau see bere au illustratiou of tbe basie
strueture of tbe situatiou. desigus seeu iu persoual dreams,
aud paiuted iu ayawalyu eeremouy iu tbe dream, are to be
paiuted iu wakiug reality (idjaru) outside tbe dream. !bis
preseutatioutbeu evokes, aud tbrougb tbesougs aud desigus,
represeutseveutsoftbedreamaudaueestraltimes.
Yawalyu: Women's Designs 1 03
!brougb tbe desigusaudsougstbeseuse ofvalueaudtradi-
1 | on bouud upwitbtbe uotiou ofdjugurba "sur
f
aces
"
orbe-
:oaespublicly visible, aud so isiutegrated iuto tbepereep-
. aal neld aud seuse experieuee oftbesoeialworld ofwakiug
:eality. Despitetbe faettbattbewbole affairis oueofeousid-
c:able easualuess aud tbe body deeoratiou is miuimal eom-
ared witb tbat of most male-eoutroled eeremouies, we are
still dealiug witb avisible modineatiou oftbe body tbat tem-
orarily ebaugessome overt qualities ofouter form tbtougb
wbieb awomaurelatesberselftotbeworldbeyoudberbody
+adtbrougbwbiebotbersrelatetotbisiudividual.
|eouograpby
Certaiu eoutiuuities betweeu yawalyu desigus aud story
grapbs bave already beeu suggested. Ve must uow examiue
'eieouograpbyoItbedesigusmoreelosely.
!bebasieuumberofelemeutsregularlyusediuyawalyu is
cousiderably smaller tbau tbat used for saud stories. About
|ive elemeuts bave wide distributiou iu tbe 74 desigusiumy
colleetiou, witb a few more uuusual elemeuts oeeurriug iu
speemedesigus. Altbougbtberearefewereommoulyused el-
eaeuts aud tbere are eertaiu formal ambiguities iu tbeya
walyu system ,uoted iu Fig. eA), tbe visual eategoriesare es-
seutially tbose used iu tbe saud story, witb tbe U sbape,
cirele, audelougateelemeutseouveyiugdistiuetiousliketbose
couveyedbytbesaud-storyelemeuts.
Some of the more obvious differeuees betweeu typieal
story grapbs aud yawalyu eau be attributed to adjustmeuts
| adueed by tbe sbape oftbe body. !bis is espeeially true of
desigus paiuted oubreasts aud sboulders wbere somestrokes
aay be elougated or otberwise altered to nt tbe breasts, or
stretebed from sboulder to sboulder. Adjustmeuts of tbis

W albiri Iconography
Figure 6. Yawa/yu el ements and desi gns
A. Basi c el ements
El ement
1 .
"
' ~
2a.
L

3.
4.

''
Range of meani ngs
Actor sitti ng
Rock hol e
Hol e (as honey ant hol e)
Other encl osures
Frui ts and vegetabl e foods
Stone
Breast
Fi ght i ng stick
Actor lyi ng down
Charcoal
Li ghtni ng, etc.
Rai n fal l i ng
Yawalyu designs
Headbands
Paths
Teeth, etc.
2, 2a, 3. Rock holes and holes somet imes appear elongated to the
poi nt where they resembl e the form of 3 (fi ght i ng stick, etc.). Vegetabl es
(2a) are represented by smal l er concentric or pl ai n ci rcles and do not, i n
my col l ection of yawa/yu, ever appear i n the el ongated shape of 2. Fruits
are often represented by a groupi ng of ci rcl es.
B. Exampl es of yawa/yu desi gns and design explanations. Meani ngs are
those given by i nformants at the ti me unl ess pl aced in square brack
ets; the latter are my i nterpolations. For additi onal yawalyu see Fig
ures 4 and 5.
Speci es
1 . Rai n
Meani ngs given
= l i ghtni ng
= [rock hol e?]
(encl osure) = rai n cl ouds
1 . After pai nti ng on torso and upper arms at yawa/yu. Rai n cl ouds
emerged from the l i ghtni ng. This desi gn and no. 2 were both pai nted at
the same yawa/yu, as part of i niti ati on ceremoni es.
Figure 68 (conti nued)
Species
2. Rai n
3. Yawagi
berry
4. Yawagi
berry
5. Yawagi
berry
6. Managidji
berry
Design
Yawalyu: Women's Designs
Meani ngs given
0 0 = rock hol es
|
= [rai n]
1 05
LQ
=women sitti ng. I nformant
gave names of women,
and sai d "I myself."
| l |
=teeth biti ng
:=food [probably also tree]
LL = food
\L=women pai nti ng
: = yawalyu
0 (nonconcentric) =food
_=tree, path
_ = managi dj i
Ill
= di ggi ng
2. After pai nti ng on torso, at yawalyu. Thi s design bel ongs to a Wa
neiga woman, whi l e no. 1 bel ongs to a Ngal i a woman from Mt. Doreen.
The design was said to have been taught by a man to his wife.
3. After pai nt i ng on torso, at yawalyu. The dreamer and her sister sit
eating the berry. The i nformant expl ai ned that she and another woman
were eati ng. The horizontal l i nes are probably al so the berry tree, whi ch
i s sometimes shown in thi s way.
4. After sand drawi ng. The women sit pai nti ng the berry yawa/yu de
signs (l i nes also =tree?). Note the ci rcl e and conjoi ni ng l i ne arrangement
more common in men's designs. Another yawagi design consists of cl us
ters of nonconcentric ci rcles representi ng the berries.
5. After sand drawi ng. As the yawagi journeyed along, the berry trees
emerged. The desi gn was taught to the i nformant by her husband. Each
of the three yawagi desi gns (nos. 3, 4, 5) bel ongs to di fferent women and
represents different dreams, even though the narrative accounts contain
a si mi l ar thematic content.
6. After body pai nti ng on torso and upper arms. The managidji women
dig for water in the creek bed. From thei r di ggi ng both the vegetabl e
food and the water hol e result. The ci rcles probably specify the water
holes as wel l as the berry. Cl usters of nonconcentri c ci rcles may al so be
used to represent managidji berry.

I 06 W albiri Iconography
Figure 68 (conti nued)
Species
7. Managidji
berry
8. Marsupi al
mouse
9. Opossum
1 0. Opossum
1 1 . Opossum
1 2. Man
1 3. Honey ant
Desi gn
,,,
H
Meani ngs given
0 = daughters
0 (encl osure) = mother
00 = camps
= [path?]
- = 2 opossum women sleep
i ng on either si de
of man
W\ =femal e opossums si tti ng
-= mal e opossum l yi ng down
\L =opossums sitting
[ =opossum si tt i ng. Encl osi ng
l i ne= cave.
0 =ochres on a stone
== creek
j =man
j =women. The three are
sleepi ng together.
} = ant
= burrow or hol e of ant
7. Thi gh desi gn. The managidji daughters i nsi de the mother. The de
sign bel ongs to the same set of yawa/yu as no. 6, and was pai nted on
the same person. a young gi rl .
8. After paper drawi ng. The Marsu pi al mouse women danced a ya
walyu ceremony at thei r camp, a hi l l south of Yuendumu.
9. After paper drawi ng. Thi s opossum i s d ifferent from those shown i n
nos. 1 0 and 1 1 .
1 0. After torso pai nt i ng. The opossums si t si ngi ng over a mal e opos-
sum who has hurt h i mself.
.
1 1 . After thi gh pai nt i ng. The design bel ongs to the same opossum
dream as no. 1 0 and as the variations shown in Figure 60.
1 2. After thi gh pai nti ng. Compare sand story Fi gure 2, no. 1 c.
1 3. After paper drawi ng of torso desi gns. Si mi l ar honey ant desi gns
were pai nted at i niti ati on ceremonies.
Figure 68 (conti nued)
Species Design
1 4. Honey ant

Yawalyu: Women's Designs

Meani ngs given
0 = burrow or hole of ant
-= ant
1 4. After same paper drawing as no. 1 3. Arm design.
C. Types of yawalyu design arrangements on torso
I 0
7

1 a 2
1 . Extends from the breasts to or over the shoul ders, with addit ional
decorati on between the breasts. See for example, 81 .
1 a. Si mi l ar to C1 . See for exampl e, 86.
2. Extends across chest, on shoul ders, and on each breast. See 82
and 84. The el ements on the breasts need not be attached to those on
t he chest as, f or exampl e, i n 81 0.
D. " I nvoluted" variation in yawalyu: varyi ng arrangements of t he same
el ements i n a set of opossum desi gns. For other designs bel ongi ng
to the one dream, see 681 0, 81 1 . Nos. 1 -3 are pai nted on the thigh;
no. 4 on the torso ( on breasts and over shoul ders).
'
2 3 4
U =opossum sitt i ng. I n no. 4 the U i s di storted because of its position
on the body.
Oval = rock hole.
kiudateevideutiutypiealdesigus fottbeboueyaut,Fig. eB,
uo. 1 , ) , tbe bole oftbeautpaiuted ou tbebteasts otaetoss
tbe sbouldets is elougated, aud iu tbe bteast desigu sligbtly
I 08 Valbiri leouograp|y
eurved, but tbatusediu tbe arm desigusis oftbe moreusual
eireularsbape. luauotberiustauee,Fig. eD, uo. ), a Usbape
represeutiug a sittiug opossum aueestorwas drawu over tbe
top of tbe sboulder aud dowu tbe breast, tbe U sbape was
eorrespoudiuglydistortedtonttbeformoftbebody.
lu additiou, eertaiu ebaraeteristie arraugemeuts-agaiu
most uotably of tbose desigus appeariug ou tbe torso-eau
also be traeed to tbe iudueuee of body sbape. !be arrauge-
meuts of elemeuts iu torso desigu are of two basie types, as
sbowuiuFigure eC. !be relativepositiousoftbe elemeutsdo
uottbemselvesearryauysiguineaueeregardiugtbespatialor-
gauizatiouoftbeitems.Forexample, Figure eB, uo. araiu
desigu, eousists oftwo ligbtuiug` liues ,eaeb surrouuded by
raiuelouds) aud aroekbolearraugedasiuFigureeC,uo. 2 . s
!bis eoustruetiou doesuot depiet auypartieular spatial rela-
tiousbip betweeu tbe roek bole aud ligbtuiug, it simply ag-
gregates tbe elemeuts iu a staudardized deeorative arrauge-
meut. Sueb deeorative` formatious may also provide
stereotypesiutowbiebstaudardnguretypesarepressed, tbus
distortiug tbe usual positious of elemeuts iuto more ab-
straet,relativelyuouieouiearraugemeuts.!beelemeutstbem-
selves, bowever, still retaiu refereutial meauiugs. Vbat may
be lost` orpartiallyfragmeutediusuebeasesistberepreseu-
tatiou ofspaee tbatebaraeterizestbe positiouiug of eleueuts
iutbeordiuarygrapbiengure.
Auotber feature ofyawalyu desigus is tbe eommou oe-
eurreuee ofoue or more liues surrouudiug tbe basie sbape.
Some oftbeseliuesbaveexplieitmeauiugs ,iuwbiebeasetbe
eoustruetiouisaueuelosure, as forexample,iutbeeaseoftbe
8 Cf. the similar arrangements of lines in men's body designs, Fig
ure 1 0, no. 1 4. This sort of arrangement appears to be characteristic
of body designs.
'
Yawal
y
u: Vomeu's Lesigus
'ouey aut bole, Figure eB, uo. ,) , but iu otber iustauees
tbeyappeartobesimplydeeorativeelaboratiouswitboutspe-
eine meauiugs. !bere is tbus a teudeuey toward deeorative
empbasisupoutbesbapesofdesigungures.
Oueetbesestylistievariatiousaudtbeeffeetoftbemedium
apou tbe formal arraugemeuts are aeeouuted for, it beeomes
appareut tbatyawalyu desigus make wide use ofeuelosure
+ud aetor-item ngure types wit| wbieb we bave already be-
eome familiar from tbe saud story. !be aetor-item type iu
partieulariswidelyusediuyawalyu desigus.Oulytwooftbe
aostimportautyawalyu iuuseatYueudumuduriugmystay,
"managidji berryaud raiu,' diduotiueludeatleastouede-
siguoftbistype,wbilesomedesigusforlesspromiueutauees-
.orsalsomadeuseofit.
As iu tbe saud story, tbe aetor-item ngure eau be used to
eouvey a variety ofeoutexts. Siuee tbe eouteut ofyawalyu
aarrativeseeutersoufoodeousumptiouaudeeremouialpaiut-
. ag, tbese are tbe predomiuaut types of uarrative situatious
1epietedbyt|edesigus. Voreover, tbenguretype,uotbeiug
eounued to auy siugle aueestor, euts aeross situatious refer-
:| ug to tbe differeutspeeies. Forexample, tbeopossumssit at
a roek bole, or arouud auotber opossum lyiug dowu, tbe
e'areoal womeu sit paiutiug ebareoal, tbe yawagi berry
womeu sit eatiug tbe berry aud paiutiug it, aud so fortb. lu
e+eb iustauee tbe item of tbe aetor-item` ngure upou
wbiebtbe aetors are foeused is tbe aueestral speeies orsome
. aportautfeaturesofit.
!benguretypetbuseomprebeudsdistiuetiveaueestralspe-
c. es aud uarrative situatious witbiu a eommou pattetu. Ve
s|all nud tbis sort ofiutegratiou systematieally developed iu
. . . eu's desigus, aud more will be said about it tbeu. Here we
. a+y merelyuotetbatit arises ratber direetly from tbepossi-
I I O Valbiri leouograp|y
bilities of tbe iuterual strueture of tbe grapbie system wbere
tbeuse ofrelativelygeueralvisualeategoriesaudnguretypes
eutails tbe depietiou ofwidely differiug speeine eoutexts iu
termsof aeommouvisualstrueture.
!he type ofngure l have ealled au euelosure also has a
fairlywide distributiouiuy awalyu desigus ,Fig. eB, uos. I , 7,
I 3 , I 4). l uadditiou, two otbertypesmaybemeutioued. !be
nrst is angureeousistiug ofaeirele eoujoiuedto aliue ,Fig.
eB, uos. Z e, ), wbieb oeeurs oeeasioually iuyawalyu de-
sigus. Altbougb a eirele-liue ngure earryiug tbe geueral
meauiug bole-patb` reeursiu tbe goiug iu` seeues ofsaud
stories, tbis ngure type is developed primarily iu maseuliue
ieouograpby,wbereiteouveystbegeueralmeauiugsite,eir-
ele)-patb ,liue) ,see below, Cbapter ,) . luyawalyu desigus
tbesite-patb uotiou is uot elaborated, audmyiuformautsdid
uot eouueet tbe relatively few oeeurreuees ofthe eirele-liue
form witbspeemesites. Vyimpressiouistbatwearedealiug
iu these iustauees witb forms assimilated fromtbe maseuliue
desigu system, ebauuels forsueb direet assimilatiou do, as l
bave previously poiuted out, exist iu tbe uorms surrouudiug
tbeeommuuieatiouaudtrausferof desigusbetweeutbesexes.
!he seeoud sort of eoustruetiou iuvolves plurals of tbe
sameelemeut, for example,somedesigusforyawagi ormana
gidji berry eousist of eirele elusters represeutiug mauy
fruits. Repetitious of elemeuts to iudieate pluralizatiou are,
as we bave seeu, eommou iu saud stories, aud we shall nud
tbem agaiuiu meu's desigus, wberetbeysometimestakeoua
more explieit symbolie value eouueeted witb tbe fertility of
speetes.
lu sum, tbe elemeuts aud ngure types promiueut iu ya
walyu reiterate for tbe most part tbose widely used iu tbe
saudstory. botb desigus audstory elemeuts aregrouuded,
Yawalyu: Vomeu's Lesigus I I I
.'e same grapbie system or langue. ludeed, tbe relatious be-
|weeuthedesigus audtbewidergrapbie usages ofeouversa-
|.ou audstorytelliugeaubeeomparedto tberelatioubetweeu
sougs or poems orotber nxed forms aud tbe wider iuformal
asages ofmore geueral, oral uarratiou. Ve eau tbiuk oftbe
desigusas a geure oftbewidersystemiuwbiebtbe formsare
:aised to a level ofiutriusie importauee aud bave as tbeir es-
seutial modeofmaterializatiou a ritual or formalized makiug
roeess.
1be leouograpby of Yawalyu Complexes
As l bavepoiuted out, asiugleyawalyu eomplexgeuerally
| aeludes a uumber ofgrapbie desigus. l fouud tbat a womau
aigbt demoustrate to me a few desigus for a partieular
+ueestor-tbose sbe remembered or tbat bappeued to eome
|o miud at tbe time-aud tbat sbe migbt eveu suggest tbat
|'erewere uo furtberdesigus fortbispartieularaueestor. But
sabsequeut questiouiug or observatiou ,at y awalyu eere-
. . : ouiesforexample)oneuyieldedadditioualdesigus.
Aside fromtbevagaries ofiudividualkuowledgeandmem-
ory, a faetor eoutributiug to tbisopeu-eudeduessis tbe pro-
daetivity iubereut iu tbe grapbie system. Au examiuatiou of
|'erauge of desigus aseribedtoasiugledreammakesi telear
.'at tbegeueratiouofdiffereut desigusoneutakesplaeesim-
|y tbrough differiug seleetious aud}or rearraugemeuts ofa
s| agleset ofelemeuts. !busiutbe opossumdesigusof Figure
|, tbeUshape, depietiugthesittiug oposum, aud the elou-
g+teoval depietiug tberoekbole ,amarklenby auopossum
w'eu belay dowu) arevariously arrauged toereateseparate
desigus.Figure,A,uos. j , q, audFigure,Billustrateasimilar
c+se of iuvoluted variatiou` for tbe ehareoal yawalyu dis-
cassedabove.
.

I I 2 Vabii leouograp|y
Desigus belougiug to a siugle yawalyu dream geuerally
eousist of variatious ou a tbeme. lu faet, iuformauts some-
timeseoueeptualizeddesigusiutermsoftbemiuimaltbematie
elemeuts. For example, oue womau, eorreetiug auotber's
ideutineatiou ofa desiguas araiuyawalyu, drew iutbesaud
au elougateoval ,represeutiug a roek bole) surrouudedby a
siugle euelosiug liue. Sbe explaiued tbat this fgure ,aud uot
tbe otber) was tbe raiu yawalyu. !ypieal raiu desigus ae-
tually eousist of various plural arraugemeuts of tbis grapbie
ngureiulargereounguratious.
Siueeyawalyu desigus fora giveuspeeieseousist ofassem-
blages of elemeuts tbat eau be arrauged aud rearrauged iu
separate desigus, oue sometimes nuds au elemeut from au-
otber relatedyawalyu assembled witbtbem a part oftbede-
sigu. Forexample, iuoueiustauee l observed, a eirele repre-
seutiug a small berry was paiuted ou tbe sboulders of a
womau beiug deeorated witb a ebareoal desigu. Vomeu ex-
plaiued tbat tbe berry was assoeiated witb tbe ebareoal, al-
tbougb l did uot obtaiu auy ratiouale for tbis liukage iu tbe
sougs orassoeiateduarrative. !be depietiouofelemeuts from
oue aueestor iu a desigu primarily assoeiated witb auotberis
au eveumore promiueut feature ofmeu' sdesigus. !bis pat-
teru oforgauizatiou is grouuded ou tbe oue baud iu beliefs
about tbe geograpbieal elusteriug aud speeine uarrative asso-
eiatiousof aueestors aud, outbe otber baud, iutbe strueture
oftbe grapbie system tbat makes it possible to treat uuits of
desigus as separate pieees tbat eau beassembled i udiffereut
ngures.
Diseussiou. Desigus, Dreams, aud Vodes
of Subjeetive luvolvemeut
Au aualysis of tbe relatiou betweeuyawalyu desigus aud
ordiuary storytelliug grapbs leads to tbe eouelusiou tbat tbe
Yawalyu: Vomeu's Lesigus I I 3
s..uetural differeuees betweeutbem areuoteritieal, audtbat
|otbareelaboratious of tbesamebasiegrapbie eode. ludeed,
. |e very same eounguratious tbat appear iu oue eoutext as
+rt oftbe storytelliug proeess eau appear iu auotber asya
walyu desigus. !beesseutial sbift diereutiatiug desigus aud
o.diuarygrapbiesigusiuvolvessometbiugotbertbaugrapbie
|orm audstrueture, uamely, aebaugeiutberelatiouof aetors
l tbe sigus, ratber tbau a ebauge iu tbe overt forms of tbe
s| gustbemselves.!bedreamistbeeatalysttbrougbwbiebtbe
tualityormodalityoftberelatiousbipisaltered.
Siuee tbe uotiou tbat desigus origiuate iu dream experi-
euees is, as we bave seeu, faudameutal to Valbiri tbougbt,
.|eyawalyu eomplexis, iu tbisrespeet, a mieroeosm of tbe
1esigu system as a wbole. !busit maybeusefal to eousider
|.ienybere tbe geueral problem oftbe qualitiesaeeruiug to
1esigus iu relatiou to tbe problem of dream experieuee, tbe
valbiristereotypes fortbisexperieuee, audtbeValbirieou-
ceptofdjugurba.
Ve bave seeutbatiuyawalyu dreams, daily experieuee is,
| n effeet, reruu uuder tbe guiseof aueestral experieuee. lts
. . eauiugfal quality bere eomes to tbe fore. life patterus are
+lidated by beiug preseuted to tbe dreamer as traditiou,
and yet are still eoustituted direetly witbiu ber experieuee.
Ludoubtedly tbeuature ofdream experieuee itselfeoutrib-
+estotbeformatiouoftbisstereotype.
lu a reeeut study, oue psyebologist ,Havelka e) bas
saggested tbat tbeiuteuse meauiugnluess ofdreamsbasa di-
:ectrelatioutotbeirseparatioufromtwo basietypes ofwak-
|ag experieuee. tbe experieuee ofdetaebed eomprebeusiou
o|eveuts,outbeouebaud,audtbatoftbekiudofdireetpar-
I |cipatiou iuvolved iu tbe aetual liviug of eveuts, ou tbe
o.|er. Altbougb tbe dreamer appears to be liviug iu tbe
1:eamiutbeseusetbatouelives`wakiugexperieuee, a dream
Walbiri Iconography
is uot expetieueed as aset ofeveuts but 'wituessed' by apatt
of tbe meutal appatatus wbieb seems to 'listeu' to auotbet
patt wbieb bas tbe tole of 'uattatot. ' Sueb au otgauizatiou
ptesumestbepteseueeofasymboliuitsgeuetalmeauiug` ,p.
I9
lu eettaiu tespeets tbe Valbiti steteotype fot yawalyu
dteams seems to tedeet au expetieuee oftbis geuetal fotm.
!be eoueept tbat tbe yinawuru ntst sbow desigus to tbe
dteametaudsiugfotbettbesougstbattefet totbe eveutsof
tbedteamsuggests tbattbedteametis iuoueseuse a wituess
totbedteam eveuts. !bemetgiugof ideutitywitb aueestots
exptessestbeduidityofideutitysoebataetetistieofdteamex-
petieuees aud au expetieuee ofpattieipatiouaudiuvolvemeut
witb tbe eveuts of tbe dteam tbat is yet of a diffeteut kiud
tbau tbat ebataetetiziug daily, wakiug expetieuee. lfwe fol-
low Havelka, tbeseambiguous limbolike`qualitiesiutbete-
latiousbip betweeu tbedteametaudbisdteamateesseutialto
tbeeuetgetietiebuessofdteamexpetieuee.
The symbolic intensifcation of a dream story seems to be charac
terized' by a bypassing of these two experiences [ detached con
templation and the actual "living" of events] in such a way that
in it the dreamer is lifted from the level of mere understanding on
the one hand, and freed from direct participation [ i.e., participa
tion as in the aking world] on the other hand. Beyond these
two states there is an inexhaustible universe of possibilities. Thus
the symbol does not essentially substitute for reality, . . . but
serves to intensify a particular experience of participation in a
9 This pattern also characterizes men's song- and design-yielding
dreams in which the guruwalba is said to be the initial agent of the
gift (see below, Chapter 5) . I gained the distinct impression from both
men's and women's accounts that the dreamer felt himself to be both
a kind of observer of the events of the dream and at the same time an
actor in the dream, identified with the ancestors.
Yawalyu: WomCs Designs
|imitless recurrence of events and things, making them perma-
lentlysignifcant instead of temporarily evident" [ p. 7 1 ] .

|teams uot ouly eouvey a speeae eouteut, but tbey also

eatail a speeine mode of subjeetive iuvolvemeut, siuee Val-
|iti desigus aud sougs ate tegatded as eompoueuts of dteam
eveuts, we may assume tbat tbey ate felt to pattake of tbe
aeauiugful qualities geuetated tbtougb tbis mode of subj ee-
:|vity. Aswebaveseeu, bowevet, tbese fotmsateuotmetely
eveutsiu tbe dteam, butalso representations ofsueb eveuts,
aoteovet, tbey ate detaebable ftomtbe elosed totality oftbe
dteam aud eau beused aslauguageeodes to tefet baekto it.
Put iu auotbet way, tbe eodes fot tbe dteam eveuts, baviug
beeu immetsed iu tbe dteam ,aueesttal) expetieuee, ate
tbougbttotakeoutbequalitiesofsubjeetivitytbatebataetet-
ize tbe expetieuee itselfaud eausetve to eouttol aud telease
tbesequalitiesiutbeiutetsubj eetivewotldoutsidetbedteam.
!bis poiut may be putsued fattbet by eousidetiug tbe
Valbititetmdjugurba as aeategotytefettiug toapattieulat
mode ofsubj eetive iuvolvemeut tbateouttastswitbtbemode
implied by yidjaru ,tbe tetm meauiug aetuality ot ttutb,
wakiug teality, aud tbe ougoiug pteseut) . As we bave seeu,
tbetbteeptimatytefeteuts fotdjugurba ate dteam, aueesttal
times,audstoty.Alltbteeatesituatiousoteveutsftomwbieb
tbe bumau subj eet ot aetot is iu eettaiu tespeets detaebed,
djugurba is aneldofeveutstbatissepatated ftomtbepteseu-
tatioual neld of tbe iudividual's wakiug expetieuee, aud
wbieb, dutiug wakiug expetieuee, be eau telate to ouly
tbtougb tbe mediatiou of sigus. !be aetot is, ou tbe otbet
baud,wbollyiuside`oteugagediu`tbeeveutsofotdiuaty
daily expetieuee, be lives iu` tbem, tatbettbausimply beats
ot tells about tbem. Ftom tbis petspeetive djugurba eousti-
1 1 6 Vabiri leouograp|y
tutesapartieularmodeofrelatiousbipbetweeutbe experieue-
iug subjeet aud eveuts-a mode of kuowiug, ratber tbau
justaspeeinekiudofeouteut.
!busiustorytelliugtbeiudividualsubj eetisuarratororlis-
teuerbutisuoteugagiugiuoraetiugwitbiutbesequeueeof
story eveuts. Story eveuts are uot lived,` tbey are ouly
learued about,` fortbesubj eetisdetaebed fromtbe neld of
sequeutial aetious tbat make uptbe story. Story eveuts are
experieueed` ouly iudireetly tbrougb sigus tbat euter iuto
tbe preseutatioual neld of tbe uarrators aud listeuers ,iu tbe
saud story tbese are uot ouly verbal, but also gestural aud
grapbie) . lutbelauguageofpbeuomeuology,tbestoryeveuts
areappreseuted`totbeimagiuatiou.
Likestoryeveuts,aueestraleveuts are displaeediu relatiou
totbesubj eet.tbeyareoutsidetbememoryof tbeliviugiudi-
vidual aud so are temporally distal. luValbiri tbougbttbese
two modes of aetor displaeemeut-tbe displaeemeut rela-
tive to story eveuts aud tbat relative to tbe past-teud to
be fased or liuked togetber siuee Valbiri do uot bave a uo-
tiou oftraitiana/ stories tbat are esseutially netious, ratber,
tbey ideuti[ tbe eveuts of all traditioual stories as aueestral.
!be dream itself preseuts a double aspeet. Ou tbe oue
baud,aslbaveeommeutedouabove,itisasubjeetiveexperi-
euee tbat iuvolves tbe dreamer iu a set of eveuts, a kiud
of` euaetmeut, yet oue iu wbieb at tbe same time tbere is
au elemeut ofpassivity. As Sebutz ( 1 962 : 2 41 ) basputit, tbe
dreamiug self` does uot bave tbe mll atteutiou to life`
tbat ebaraeterizeswakiug experieuee. Ou tbe otberbaud, tbe
dream as subjeetive experieuee is esseutially private aud to-
tally eut off from tbe wakiug soeial world, iu tbis respeet,
like tbepast, itistrauslatediutowakiugrealityoulytbrougb
appreseutatiou iusigus. Vbeuit eutersiuto rememberedex-
Yawalyu: Vomeu's Lesigus 1 1 7
perieuee, tbe dream may appear to be bouudto tbe uumed
eousisteutlife-proeessbyfewertbreadstbauareordiuary ex-
perieuees` ,Simmel 1 95 9: 2 44) .
!bese geueral features ofdream experieuee seem televaut
t au uuderstaudiug of Valbiri tbougbt iu tbis matter. !be
Walbiri view is eertaiuly uot tbat life is like a dream` but
aore uearlytbeopposite. tbatwberevereveutsequeuees are
eat offfrom tbe world of everyday li fe so tbat tbey seem to
eoustitute a elosed totality of tbeir owu aud eau be talked
+bout` but uot lived tbrougb` iu tbe day-to-day iuvolve-
aeut of soeial life, tbeu sueb eveuts are gurha-stories,
1reams,tbeaueestralpast.!beloeatiouoftbewakiugsubj eet
|a relatioutosuebeveutsis outsidetbeeveutstbemselves, but
. asideapreseutatioualneldtbateauiueludesigusreferriugto
o appreseutiug` tbeseeveut. Altbougb djugurba eveutsare
1.stal totbeaetor, tbeyare ofeoursemostimportauttoVal-
|| ri beeause tbequiutesseutialmeauiugfaluess ofdaily experi-
eaeeis,iueffeet,lodgedwitbiutbiseut-offworld.
Ve eau uow better assess tbe role of desigus aud sougs
|:omtbisperspeetive. Ordiuarysigus ,verbalorgrapbie) eau
|eused to talk about` aueestral eveuts, atteutiou is uot di-
.eeted to tbe form of sueb sigus exeept iu as mueb as tbe
|o:m, beiugpietorialiutbeeaseoftbegrapbiesigus, eouveys
. a|ormatiou about tbe eouteut. !busiuwomeu's storytelliug
we see tbe buildiug up of assoeiatious betweeu forms aud
eoatextsofmeauiugaspartofarefereutialsystem ofeommu-
a. eatiou.Butrefereutialeodestbataredenuedasbaviugbeeu
intrinsic parts cftbedisplaeedeveutsequeueeseaualsobefelt
. oevoke tbesesequeueesmoredireetlywitbiutbepereeptual,
:eseutatioual neld of tbe iudividual. tbey eau belp to eol-
| +pse tbe separatiou betweeu tbe aetor aud tbe djugurba
: veats beeause tbey do uot simply refer to tbese eveuts but
-
l
!
.
1 1 8 W abiri leouogtap|y
( \ `` also ate felt to be eompoueuts oftbem. !be fotm of tbese
sigusistbetefotesigu|neaut atauotbetlevel, itis itsel fauim-
pottautpattoftbemeauiug.
a
lu eetemouial tbeu, oue eau btiug to beat upou otwitbiu
tbelived-iu aetivities ofwakiuglifetbosequalitiesaudeveuts
desetibed as djugurba tbat ate otbetwise diseogaged ftom
tbese aetivities. !beaetotis,iu effeet, iusetted iuto djugurba
aetiou otis btougbtiuto eoutaetwitb tbequalities oftbeae-
tiou tbtougb eodestbateauteiutegtatesuebeut-offtauges

f
expetieuee witbiu bis pteseutatioual neld. Desigus aud sougs
iu tbese eoutexts fuuetiou to telate tbe aetot to djugurba
eveutsiua diffeteutway tbau do sigus iutbeotdiuatytefet-
eutial mode ofeommuuieatiou. we may saytbat tbey teiute-
gtate tbe aetot witb djugurba tatbet tbeu simply eommuui-
eatiug to bim about it. !bete is a diffeteut telatiousbip
betweeu aetots, sigus, aud sigu-deuoted eveuts (djugurba)
tbauiutbetefeteutialmodeofeommuuieatiou.
lu Valbiti tbougbt, dteams aud eetemouial eoustitute a
siugle sequeuee ot uotioual eomplex. as we bave seeu iu tbe
easeof yawalyu, tbe Valbiti believetbat desigusotigiuateiu
dteamsaud tbeusbouldbepaiuted iutbewakiuglifeofeete-
mouial ,seealsobelow,Cbaptet) Dteamaudtiteeoustitute
eomplemeutatypolesofasiugleptoeess.!bedteamwotksiu
tbe ptivate eouseiousuess of sleep, wbile tbe eetemouial
wotks iu tbe wakiug tatioual otdet of tbe soeial wotl d,
botb sttuetute tbe telatiou betweeu aetot aud eveuti ua dif-
feteutway ftomtbat ofotdiuaty expetieuee, fotiutbelattet
tbe subj eetive iutegtatiou of tbe iudividual witb tbe eut-off
djugurba taugeof expetieueeis uoteeuttal, wbile iu dteams
audeetemouytbisistbekeyfeatute.
:
1o A distinction between sign and symbol is sometimes used to
cover this diference in the qualities of communication codes.
CHAPTER _
Guruwari Desi gns,
Songs, and Country
lu Valbiti tbougbt tbete is a elose telatiou betweeu
gtapbie fotms aud tbe eouutty, otgtouud (walya), siuee tbe
tetm guruwari eau beusediu ageuetalseuseto tefetto auy
isiblematk lef: by au aueestotiu tbeeouutty, aud iu addi-
||ou, grwari iu tbe absttaet aspeet of aueesttal powets`
+.elodgediutbeeouutty. Amougtbemostptomiueutof tbe
gtapbs tbat V albitidtawiutbesaud atettaekptiutsof aui-
aals aud bitds aud eitele ot eitele-liue uotatious tefettiug to
laees audj outueys. Au examiuatiou oftbeseappate
(
tlysim-
|e fotms eau lead us iuto a eloset examiuatiou of Valbiti
||ougbteoueetuiugtbeassoeiatioubetweeuguruwari desigus
+adtbeeouutty.
Footptiutsateimptessediutbesaudbyboldiugtbebaudiu
atiousspeeial positious ,Fig. ;) , tbeit ptoduetiou is a easual
| ay aetivity iu wbieb meu, womeu, aud ebildteu may iu-
1alge. !be eitele ot eitele-liue uotatiou eommouly appeats
1atiug geuetal eouvetsatiou about j outueys aud plaees. !be
c| telesiguines aloeale audtbeliue apatbotmovemeut ftom
| aee to plaee, agtoupofeiteles may beusedto speei[tbe
.elativeotieutatiouofloeales,Fig.9) . Altbougbbotbtypesof
g.apbs ate geuetally available amoug meu aud womeu, meu
+ply tbem mote widely, giviug t|em a featuted plaee iu
. |eitstotytelliugtepettotyaudaueesttaldesigus.
|ooked at iu tbe eoutext of tbe widet gtapbie system,
I 1 9
Figure 7. Track pri nts and sand drawi ng technique *
Kangaroo
Opossum
and
Marsupi al
Mouse
Snake
Dog
Emu
Pri nt
4 M w
1

|

ML
L & W

<`
"

Wi l d
turkey
Eagl ehawk

Human
J
Technique
Hi nd feet : drawn wi th i ndex or
with the t i ps of the i ndex and
middl e fi nger crossed. Tai l :
i mpressed between hi nd feet
with outer edge of hand. Front
paws (when shown) : claw pri nts
dabbed in with fi nger ti ps.
Tai l : i nner surface of i ndex
fi nger makes smooth, del i berate
meander i n sand. Paws: same as
for kangaroo.
Same as opossum tai l .
Thumb l ai d si deways i n the sand
makes the pad pri nt; fi nger tip or
i ndex and mi ddl e fi nger togther
make the toes.
Ri ght: Thumb is hel d between
mi ddl e and fourth fi nger; i ndex is
bent behi nd and rest i ng agai nst
mi ddl e fi nger. Hand i mpressed so
that back of i ndex and mi ddl e
fi nger, and pad of thumb make
the pri nt.
Left: standi ng emu as i n Fi g. 8C,
no. I a.
Drawn wi th i ndex or i mpressed
wi th si de of hand. Cl aws are
dabbed wi th fi nger ti p. One styl e
of emu pri nt i s al so made i n thi s
way and takes the same form as
the turkey pri nt.
Large pad: i mpressed with side
of thumb. Toes: i mpressi ons of
i ndex t i ps.
Fi ngers are cl enched; hand hel d
hal f closed. Footpri nt i s made by
i mpressing outer edge of hand i n
sand. Toe pri nts added with
fi nger dabs.
* Thi s i s not a full l i st; only a few exampl es are given. There are var
i ant forms and techniques for some of the prints.
Guruwari Lesigus izi
.raek-priut imitatious ,ealled wulya, foot,' footpriuts')
coustitute a speeial elass ofelemeuts audngures, for tbey are
csseutially trauslatious ofuatural saud markiugs iuto artifae-
tualoues ofbumaumakiug.
Eaeb elemeut orngure siguines tbe priut made by oue or
aorespeeies, forexample, tbereisouetypeofpriut formar-
supial mouse aud opossum ,tbat is, tbey beloug to a siugle
visualeategory), auotber for tbevarieties ofkaugaroo, aud a
.bird for bumau beiugs ,Fig. ;) . A ngure may eousist ofa
uumber oftbe same elemeuts ,footpriuts) or oftbe footpriuts
rauged ou eitber side of a tail' ,a meauderiug or straigbt
liue).
Oue mauimpressiugtraekpriuts outbesaud aeeompauied
tbis aetivity witb a eommeutary, for example, tbe mau rau
away' , berausoutb.' ! luauotberiustaueeamauelaborated
tbe depietiou ofa kaugaroopriuttbat bewas demoustratiug
.o meiuto a buutiug seeue. Aner tbepriuts were impressed,
be drew a eirele to iudieate tbe loeatiou of tbe kaugaroo
sleepiuguuderatree, audauotbersligbtly fartberofftoiudi-
eate tbe loeatiou of tbe buuter. He tbrows a spear' said
.be uarrator aud swif.ly drew a liue from tbe buuter to tbe
kaugaroo.
Priutsusedtotellstoriesiutbiswayearryastaudatdsigui-
neatiou. !bey eouvey tbespeeies, uumber ,wbeu overtbree
or four, mauy'), aud direetiou of iudividuals moviug
1
I did not often observe men telling stories in this way, but in
paper drawings men spontaneously used track prints to depict narra
tive action (Fig. 8). See Basedow ( 1 929: 43ff), who describes track
print stories on message sticks.
2 A more usual representation of kangaroo hunting shows the kan
garoo lying down under a tree (as in Fig. Z no. 3 c), but the use of a
circle-line fgure to convey action or movement between two points
in space follows the pattern of masculine iconography.
' I
! I
1 2 2 Valbiri lcouograp|y
tbrougb tbe eouutry. As oue youug Valbiri mau putit, tbe
grapbseauberead. 'Vbatisread'obviouslyreplieatestbe
sigualiug value oftbe priuts iu ordiuary buutiug eoutexts.
FigureAaudBillustratesbowsomemeumadeuseoftraek
priuts to tell stories iu drawiugs tbat tbey made for me ou
paper. lu tbese typieal uarrative improvisatious tbe priuts
areeombiuedwitb a few additioual elemeuts ,a waterbole, a
uest ofeggs, a suake) to eouvey a uarrative situatiou sueb as
au emu, seeiug asuake, beeameafraid audweutaway east. `
Clearly, agrapb tbatsiguines tbefootpriutof aspeeies sueb
asopossum orkaugaroomay, wbeutrausferredtoauarrative
aboutaueestors, sigui[tbefootpriutsofkaugaroo orpossum
aueestors, aud tbis is aetuallya ebaraeteristie featureof meu's
use oftbe footpriutsiustorytelliug. lutbepaper drawiugsof
FiguteB, traekpriutsusedtoreeouutaueestraliueideutstell
usof tbeuumberauddireetiouofmovemeutof eertaiuauees-
torspassiugtbrougbapartieularloeale. ltbappeustbatiutbe
drawiugof IigureB, uo. 2 , tbefacttbattbeactorsareauees-
tors is grapbieally sigualed by tbe preseuee of a eeremouial
striugerossiu tbe drawiug, butuosuebgrapbieeue is avail-
ableiuFigure B, uo. altbougb bere also tbeiuformautre-
garded tbe drawiug as au aueestral seeue. !be same drawiug
eould equallywell bave beeuused toportrayaseeue ofdaily
life.
lu still otber eases a mau may regard a partieular set of
priuts as a guruwari desigu belougiugtoauaueestor oftbat
speeies, as desigus, traek priuts eau oeeur iudepeudeutly or
nxed iuto larger grapbie eomposites ,Fig. C) . Vbeu tbe
priuts oeeuriudepeudeutlyoulyextragrapbie faetors,sueb a
' Illustrations taken from paper drawings that men did for me are
used here and in subsequent chapters as "visual texts" in much the
way verbal texts may be used in the study of cultural expression and
conceptualization.
Guruwari Lesigus 1 2 3
tbe medium aud soeial eoutext iu wbieb tbey appear ortbe
| uformaut'sassertioutbattbegrapbisauaueestraldesigu,eue
tbe differeuee betweeu iustauees of tbis kiud aud tbose iu
wbieb tbe priuts are simply used to reeouut aueestral move-
meuts ,witbout also beiug regarded as desigus). !bus paiut-
iugs outbe eavewalls at Rugari, auimportautemu sitewest
ofYueudumu, aretbegurwari ofaueestral emuswbo eame
to tbe site audwalked arouudtbere ,Fig. C, uo. 1 ) . At tbe
same time, tbe priuts provide uarrative iuformatiou ou tbeir
direetiouoftravelaudiudieatetbeirpreseueeattbesite.
Figure B. Track-print stories and designs
A. Track pri nts used to tel l stories. After charcoal (1 , 2, 4) and penci l
crayon (3) drawi ngs. The drawi ngs were done by different men, but
at the same ti me. The snake i s a tradi ti onal form, but water hol e and
grass (3) are nontraditional i n style.
1. Emu and snake
-
| "
*

4
*
2. Dog, kangaroo, and snake
1 . An emu saw a snake and, becomi ng afraid, ran away eastward. The
upper set of pri nts depi cts the emu runni ng away. East is l eft i n t his pi c
ture.
2. Seei ng a snake, a dog turned away westward; a kangaroo al so saw
the snake and went east. East is ri ght i n thi s pi cture.
'
1 24 W albiri Iconography
Figure BA (continued)
^
1 f
f

3. Kangaroo and emu

l
1
~
r
O O
C C C
4. Emu and eggs
3. A kangaroo and emu come down to the water to dri nk.
4. An emu, leaving its nest, goes to a water hol e. Pri nts at bottom l eft
apparently i ndi cate the return.
B. Track pri nts represent i ng ancestral journeys. After penci l crayon
drawi ngs.
'
1 . Two opossum ancestors 2. A kangaroo ancestor
1 . Two opossum ancestors went i nto the ground at a site cal l ed Wara
g i nbi ri . The base of the l ittle bush is the poi nt at whi ch they entered the
ground.
2. A kangaroo ancestor came to Wanabi , took the l arge string cross,
whi ch i s a ceremoni al object, out of hi s body and left i t there. A number
of other kangaroos who were travel i ng behi nd hi m ( not shown i n the
drawi ng) came up and saw it. A rocky hi l l with trees is shown behi nd the
stri ng cross.
Guruwari Designs 1 2 5
Figure 8 (conti nued)
C. Track pri nts as guruwari desi gns
a
b
1 . Emu guruwari on the cave wal l s at the site Rugari . After cave pai nt
i ngs.
a. Pri nts of an emu standi ng over its eggs. Cf. Spencer and Gi l l en,
1 938, Fi g. 1 24.
b. Pri nts of a large number of emus who came to the site. The ci rcl e
l i ne fi gure si gni fi es that they wal ked around the si te. Each ci rcl e i s a
camp.
*
I
\
w

(
J

(
oO ID
L
,
C
J L I
J l
v
v ^
0 o
f
/ J
IJ L
l
C \
v
|
. I
\
^

2. Marsupi al mouse 3. Wi l d dog 4. Kangaroo
Desi gns after crayon penci l drawi ngs (2, 4) ; after decorati on i n red
and white fl uff on box-type headdress (3) .
2. 0 = campsite; S = path /tai l .
4. ) ( = kangaroos l yi ng down (repeated at each end).
r z 6 W albiri leouograp|y
ludeed, ouly anue liue dividestbe use oftbe grapbssimply ' 1
toreeouutaueestralmovemeutsaudtbeiruseasdesigus,siuee
tbe termguruwari may referuot oulyto aueestral desigus as
su

b but also to
'
be traek priuts of tbe aueestor, tbe aetual
pruts made by bim as be travels aloug. Vbeu amau ideuti-
nes

eouveutioual

priuts as guruwari, be may meau tbat tbey

depiet

tbefootprmtsoftbeaueestor, audtbereforearebisgu
ruwarz, orbem

y beiudieatiugtbat tbepriutsareapartieu-
lar aueestral desigu. Aetually, for Valbiri, tbe oue teuds to
imply tbe otber. tbe aueestor's footpriuts are bis desigus iu
tbeseuse

tbattbeyareamougtbosemarks`orvestigesof bis
passage m tbe eouutry tbrougb wbieb be is ideutined aud
nxed foreveriutbeeouseiousuess ofliviug Valbiri. Hrewe
meetagaiu witbtbeeirele ofreality aud refereueeso ebarae-
teristie of Valbiri tbiukiug about desigus aud aueestral
eveuts. desigus are amougtbemarksmadebyaueestorsiutbe
eouutryaudtbeyalsorepresent suebmarks.
oeourse uot all desigus iuelude traek priuts, aud mauy
speeies sueb asyawagi berry, witebetty grub, nre, orbouey
autwoud uot

bave sueb priuts. lu praetiee, traekpriuts are

stressed m desigus for kaugaroo, marsupial mouse, opossum,
suake,dog,audemuaueestors. ludesigusfortbenrsttbreeof
tbe

e s
P
eeies, tbe tail witb its implieatious ofmale sexuality
(ngmdz deuotes botb tail` aud peuis`) is a promiueut fea-
ture.
Vbeufootpriutsaudtailpriutsappearaspartofeirele-liue
ngures, as tbey do iusomeguruwari, tbetail nuetiousastbe
patb liue aud tbe footpriuts serve as adj uuetive` elemeuts
raugedouei

berside. lsball bave more tosayabouttbistype

of eoustruetiou later, bere l will merely uote tbat tbe tail-
4 I have discussed this at more length in another paper (Munn
1 964).
Guruwari Lesigus l 27
|ootpriut ngure witb its eeutral liuear eore ,tbe tail) audplu-
:aladjuuetives , footpriuts) isuotauisolatedtypeofarrauge-
aeut but eau be seeu as a subelass of a more geueral ngure
typewitbwide ramineatiousiutbe meu's desigusystem. Siu-
|larly, tbefootpriutplurals eau be seeuto ntas aspeeial elass
of plural forms iuto tbe geueral teudeuey of tbe system to
utilize ngureseousistiug simply ofrepetitious oftbesame ele-
meut.
lu tbe ease of tbe suake, tbe traek priut depiets botb tbe
body aud tbemarkitmakesiutbegrouud asittravelsaloug.
W albirialsoereateastaudardpietureofasuakeiuwbiebitis
eouueeted to a eirele represeutiug its bole. !bis ngure,
kuowu to botb meu audwomeu, is sometimes drawu iu tbe
saud as aspiral eirele, suggestiug tbesuakeeoiled iubisbole,
audtbeuexteudediuameaudertodepiettbesuakeuueoiliug
aud emergiug. !bis represeutatiou eau be seeu as a speeial
easeofaeirele-liueusuageoeeasiouallyoeeurriugiusaudsto-
ries, but iu meu's guruwari desigus for suakes tbe eirele al-
waysspeeinesapartieularloeale ,as well as tbesuake'sbole),
wbile tbe meauder is tbe suake's body aud priut as it moves
aloug. luotberwords,tbengureisassimilatediutoloealeaud
jouruey ngures, j ust asnguresoftbe tail-footpriuttypeteud
tobeassimilatediutbisway.
lt is uotable tbat tbe meauder liue used to epreseut tbe
suake aud tbe opossum's tail-wbieb fuuetious as a promi-
ueut feature iu meu's desigus for tbese speeies-is, witb oue
exeeptiou, eutirely abseut from yawalyu iu tbe eolleetiou,
aud reeeives ouly limited usage iu womeu's saud stories.
5 One yawalyu design in my collection that includes a meander had
been taught by a man to a woman. The absence of the meander in
Yuendumu yawalyu contrasts with the designs reported by C. Berndt
( 1 950) for the northwestern desert, where a meander representing
snakes is a prominent feature of the iconography.
f ,
1 2 8 W albiri leouograp|y
Vomeu'sopossumyawalyu douotstresstbe tail asauimpor-
tauttbeme, aud tbeoulysuakedesiguiutbeyawalyu eollee-
tioudoesuoteoutaiuameauder.
luadditiou, womeu's raiudesiguslaektbemeauderrepre-
seutiug ligbtuiug tbat is so importaut a tbeme iu tbe meu's
desigus for tbis aueestor. Jveu iu tbe siugle ease iu wbieb
ligbtuiug is represeuted by tbe womeu's desigus, it does uot
take t|e form ofa meauderliue. Yetwomeu's raiusougsre-
deet mueb tbe samesort ofimagery ,iueludiug, foriustauee,
tbe strikiug oftrees by ligbtuiug) tbatis fouud iu tbemeu's
sougs.lusum,tbemeauderisafeatureofmaseuliueieouogra-
pby tbat earries witb it eouuotatious ofmaseuliue sexuality.
As will beeome appareutlater, ligbtuiug aud suakes, as well
astails, bavesuebassoeiatious.
!raek priuts iu geueral are uot eommou iu womeu's de-
sigus or iu tbeir storytelliug. Noue oftbeyawalyu desigus
promiueut iu eeremouial paiutiug at tbe time of my visit
stressed footortailpriuts. ltwould seem tbattbis feature eau
be related to differeuees iu tbe eeouomie roles of tbe two
sexes . altbougb womeu eugage iu tbe buutiug of smaller
game, buutiug aud traekiug are eoueeived of as maseuliue
speeialties, wbile foodgatberiugis au esseutially femiuiue ae-
tivity. Voreover, foodgatberiugisaeomparativelystatiouary
aetivity ,asforiustauee, iudiggiug forbouey autsaudyams),
wbile traekiug obviously iuvolves mobility aud tbe follow-
iug ofgame.!beimportaueeoftbesetbemeswillbeseeuas
tbesymbolismofmeu'sdesigusuufolds.
Loeale aud |ouruey Figures
Duriug deseriptious ofiudividual or group movemeuts
from oue plaee to auotber, or of tbe relative geograpbieal
positious ofloeales, a mau may traee ou tbe grouud a uota-
Guruwari Lesigus 1 29
.|ou of eireles ,plaees) audliues ,patbs betweeuplaees). Sueb
aotatious may appear wbeu tbe speaker is referriug to tbe
j ouruey ofau aueestor or wbeu be reeouuts tbe travels of
somepreseut-dayValbiri,Fig.).
Figure 9. Site-path notati ons
t
I
Yi mumbi
1. Movements of a
Wal bi ri band
Yuendumu
l
l
Yi nundiwarguwargu
GaJcagul angu
Wandal gu
2. Route of a group
of ancestral women
^
Gal i bi nba
^
~ Gargu
oWadi l bi nyi
3. Locales al ong an
ancestor's route
After i nstances of ci rcle-l i ne notations recorded duri ng conversations.
Walbi ri terms are the names of the sites ment ioned by the i nformant as
the ci rcle was drawn. Arrows show di rection of travel.
1 . A descripti on of the movements of a group of Wal bi ri fami l ies in the
peri od before the shi ft to settl ement residence. Each ci rcl e specifies the
pl ace, a water hol e or hi l l , near whi ch the camps were made. Accordi ng
to the i nformant, the group regul arly t raversed the regi on between Canis
tan (Yi mumbi) , Yal uri mbi (Mt. Al l an) and Yul umu. Occasi onal l y l onger
tri ps were taken to Yuendumu and Mt. Doreen (Megi ndj i and Wi l bi ri are
near the l atter settl ement) . The sites menti oned as par of the route have .
various ancestral and subsection affi l i ati ons (e. g. , Yul umu, honey ant,
Djabangari-Djabanangga; Meg i ndj i , rai n, Djangal a-Djambidj i mba). See
Chapter 1 .
2. A stereotypi c means of depi cti ng an ancestral route or a series of
"l i ne" of water hol es. See Fi gure 1 0. Ci rcles specify the women' s camp
sites. Site names commonly si gni fy items associated with the ancestral
track: e.g. , Yinundiwarguwargu refers to the bean tree (inundi) , asso
ci ated with the stri ngs of red beans the women wear whi l e danci ng.
3. The notati on need not i nvolve the use of the path l i nes. Someti mes
locales onl y are noted. See the l i st of rock hol es i n Figure 1 1 B.
J 30 W a|biti leouogtap|y
Plate 7. A man' s watercolor and penci l crayon drawi ng of rock hol es and con
tracks. The ci rcl e (rock hol e) and l i ne (path) figure at the base of the hi l l is
guruwari designs. No meani ngs were gi ven for the arcs affixed to the path l i ne.
!be basie j outuey ngute eousists of two diffeteut ele
meuts. a eitele aud eoujoiued liue. A modined fotm oftbi
ngute is ptomiueutiugruwari desigus, aud tegulatlysigui
nes a eampsite otplaee (ngura) witb tbe patbs (iriyi) oftb
iudividuals iu questiou leadiug to ot ftom it. Numetous va
iautattaugemeutsatestaudatdizediumeu'sdesigus,audtbes
willbediseussedsubsequeutly. l elassi[tbemallasmembe
of a siugle ngute type witb tbe geuetal meauiug site-pat
Beeause ofmeu's mote exteusive audpteeise geogtapbie
kuowledge, eitele-liue ngutes ate iu widet use amoug me
tbauwomeu, tbeeloseassoeiatiou oftbis geogtapbieal iufot
matiouwitb tbe aueesttal toutes btiugs it iuto tbe spbete o
Guruwari Lesigus I 3 I
|uowledge liuked witb maseuliue eult. A womau's iufotma-
:|ou, outbeotbetbaud,is eounuedptimatilytotbeuamesof
+ few maj ot sites aloug ttaeks ofaueestots witbiu bet owu
segmeutoftbeeommuuityeouutty,otwitbiutbeYueudumu
:egiou. Sbe maysbowpattieulatiutetestiu betowu eoueep-
.iousite aud its aueesttal assoeiatious. But bet atteutiou eeu-
:ets upou tbe vatious aueestots witbiubet eouutty at latge,
:atbet tbau upou tbe details of pattieulat aueesttal toutes.
Tbus wbeu l asked some womeu fot mote pteeiseiufotma-
iou tegatdiug site uames aud tbe toutes of aueestots, tbey
saidtbatlsbouldaddtesstbesequetiestomeu.
!bepossessiouofsiteiufotmatiouis,tbetefote, auaspeetof
aaseuliuetole,butexeeptwbeteseetetuamesateiuvolved,it
| s uot elosed to womeu. A mau may itemize tbe sites of au
+ueesttaltouteiutbepteseuee ofbiswife,butwillbeeatefal
.o exelude auy meutiou of seetet boatds ototbet ptobibited
1etails.
!be most geuetal ptemise bebiud tbe Valbiti eoueeptiou
ofaueesttal times is tbat all aueestots ttaveledtoutes wbieb
c+u be loeated iu tbeeouutty. !be majottopogtapbiealfea-
.tes ate viewed as baviug beeu eteated tbtougb aueesttal
eveuts, aud may be tbougbt ofas metamotpboses ofpatts of
a n aueestot's body, ot as due to bis bodily imptiuts i utbe
couutty. As a tesult, auaueestoteaubefollowed (bura, to
'o|low,asiubuutiug, toeome bebiud),litetallykeptttaekof,
4uougb bis site assoeiatious. Eaeb aueesttal j outuey begius
w| tb au emetgeuee ftom tbe gtouud aud isnualized iu a te-
. a :u to tbe gtouud, wbetbet at tbe site ofemetgeuee ot at
" The diference between Walbiri women and northern Bidjand
j nra women whom I knew at Areyonga was marked in this respect.
Many of the latter had extensive knowledge of the site names and
routes associated with major ancestors.
1 3 2 Wabr Ieouography
some plaee far distaut from it. Aueestors are tbougbt to re-
maiutodayiusidetbegrouud.
!bis eoueept of loeale aud j ouruey provides tbe frame-
work for meu's sougs aud uarratives aboutaueesttal events.
Some sougs eousist simply ofsite uames, aud tbe term for
soug,yiri, alsomeaus uame,`aswell as visiblemark.` Used
iu a broad seuseyiri iueludesguruwari ,visible marks oftbe
aueestor),altbougbiua uarrowerseuseitrefetsto tbeverbal
forms ouly. A sequeuee ofsougs or wbat tbe Valbiri eall a
liue` providesuamesoftbe sitesassoeiatedwitb au aueestor
as well as refereuees to eveuts aloug tbe traek. Valbiri meu
tbiuk of tbe sougs as baviug au exaet sequeuee, eorrelated
witbtbesequeueeofsites.
Similarly, tbe typieal aueestral uarrative is buit upou a
framework of site sequeuees, a mode of uarrative order
wbieb, as webaveseeu, isuotusedbyValbiriwomeu,wbo
typieally buildtbeirstories ou a miero-temporal

eaffoldiug
of tbe daily life eyele ratber tbau ou tbe maero

time
_
oftb

e
jouruey. !be j ouruey model is tbe more iuelusive, smee it
eauiuelude tbedailyeyele ofaetivities, for example, som

of ' '
meu'suarrative aeeouuts deseribedailybuutiugaudgatbermg
aetivitiesattbesitesalougaroute) .
Someaeeouuts ofauaueestral traek eousist almosteutirely
of lists of site uames eouueeted by pbrases iudieatiug tbe
movemeut of tbe aueestors betweeu sites. !bis provides a
kiud ofmiuimal aeeouut ofau aueestral j ouruey. !be same
traek may, ofeourse, beriebiueveutstbat take pl

aee alog
tbe toute, but tbe site-patb framework is brougbt mto rehef
by tbis sort ofuarratiou. Au abstraet fromouesueb miuimal
aeeouutwillsuggesttbepatteru.
7 The sequence is not, however,
_
carred out prec
_
isely in cere
monial, and of course the sequence Itself 1b always subJeCt to the va
garies of individual memory.
Guruwari Lesigus 1 3 3
They slept at Wabaqi ["small yam"] . The two kangaroos rested.
They go on to Bigili [Vaughan Springs] . Afterward they go on
to Walguru [ "stone axe"] . On they went. The two kangaroos
went on . . . . They slept at Ngalyirba. Aferward they went on
to Bangunubunda [where] they scooped out wooden dishes. . . .
They went on to Winidj ara [where] howling dogs pursued
them. They fed. . . . Afterward they went to Ganibaguru. They
sat down, sat down, sat down [ i.e., for a long time] . They went
into the distance to another country.
Not ouly are meu's mytb uarratives eousttueted tbrougb
tbe site-patb framework, but so also is tbe stereotype for
dreams iu wbieb meu may see desigus aud sougs for bulaba
,publieeampeeremouies).!beValbiriviewistbatadreamer
arst bears a guruwalba siugiug ou a tree, perbaps wbile
'e is still balf-awake. !beu be follows tbe aueestor's traek
|rom plaee to plaee, aud tbevariousguruwari aud sougs are
:evealed to bim. lu tbe latter situatiou be appears to be
aerged witb tbeaueestor. Forexample, asuakebulaba beiug
performed duriug my stay at Yueudumu was said to bave
|eeu dreamed by two Yaumadjiri meu at a settlemeutto tbe
aortbeast. Aeeordiug to my iuformauts tbe dreamers fol-
|owedtbetraek orliueoftbesuakeasbemoved fromsiteto
s|te.Aliueofmeudaueiugiutbeeeremouywasalsosaidto
followup`tbetraekoftbeaueestor.
!bis site-patb or site-list strueturiug of experieuee nrmly
|iuds story aud dream to partieular, spatial loei-aetual
p| aees wbieb eau be direetly eueouutered outside tbe story
,or dream) eoutext. Names are tbe detaebable, liuguistie as-
peetsofplaeestbatservetomediatetbemtoiudividualexperi-
eaee wbeu tbe visible reality of tbe plaee is uot direetly
' Informants used the term ganari-li, which they translated as "line
up," "we follow'm up."
1 34 W albiri leouograp|y
witbin tbe aetor's presentational neld. Ananeestor may tbus
be followed tbrougb tbe listing of bis site names ,or
tbrougbasongline).
!beieonograpbie equivalent oftbesite-patb frameworkis
tbe eirele-line ngure type ,Fig. L) . Various standardized ar-
rangements oftbis ngure in men's designs depiet different
kindsof routes,witbtbeeirelealwaysspeei[ingtbeeampof
some partieular aueestor at a uamed plaee. Patbs are usually
straigbtlines, butforalimitednumber ofspeeieswitbspeeial
ebaraeteristies ,as for example, tbe snake and opossum) tbe
patblinetakesameanderingform.
A elosed, reetauglelike arrangement oflines and eonjoined
Figure 10. Typical circl e- l i ne (site-path) arrangements i n men's designs
Straight path

+
+

' - _
.
.
2 3 4
1 . Li st or "l i ne" of campsites with connecting paths. The number of
ci rcl es can be i ncreased accordi ng to the number of sites. Long l i sts are
most common on boards, but shorter arrangements occur also in designs
for body and ground. See also Plate 7.
2. Subordi nate locales along a main route can be shown by the addi
tion of branchi ng l i nes with attached ci rcles.
3. Li nes attached to a central ci rcl e i ndi cate movement toward or
away from a central si te: e. g. , emergi ng from t he ground at the site and
spreadi ng outward i n di fferent di rections; i ntersection of different ances
tral t racks at a si ngl e site.
4. " Boxed" arrangements or tri angul ar figures i ndi cate wal ki ng around
a si ngl e region i ncl udi ng more than one site.
Guruwari Lesigus 1 3
5
Figure. 1 0 (conti nued)
Meander path

5 6 7
Site ci rcles and path I i ne
L
L
L

1 1 1 2

8 9 1 0
`
1
1 3 1 4
5-1 0. Meander l i nes occur for species wi th wi ndi ng o r meanderi ng
paths such as rai n, snake, fi re, opossum, and kangaroo mouse. I n one i n
stance, a meander was used for the paths of women danci ng. 7. Cri ss
crossing of two meander paths: onl y occurence, for two rai n ancestors.
The poi nts of intersect ion represent the i ntersect ion of two rai n ances
tors. 8. Si ngl e crossing of path: one i nstance, for smoke, the path of a
fi re ancestor.
'
1 1 -1 4. Designs may i ncl ude an arrangement of site ci rcles without
path l i nes; or of path l i nes without site circles. A si ngl e site ci rcl e or a
si ngl e path l i ne may also occur along wi th other subsi di ary el ements.
Nos. 1 3 and 1 4 are common arrangements of path l i nes in body desi gns.
The crossbar of no. 14 i s not a path. See also yawa/yu design arrange
ments, Figure 6C, no. 1 .
eireles ,Fig. o, nos.
4
L) may be used to depiet a single
eountry around wbieb tbe aneestor is said to bave walked,
eaeb eirele would tben referto differenteampsites intbere-
giou. Or, tbe interseetion of two different traeks may be
q6 W albiri leouograp|y
sbowuby tbe erossiug of two patbliues. !wo liues iuter-
seetiug a rigbt augles iu a eeutral eirele ,Fig. o, uos. ,,,)
may depiet four separatetraeks eouvergiug ou or emergiug
from aeeutralloeale. A liue ofsites, tbatis, tbeeoutiuuous
traekofasiugleaueestor,issbowubyaliueofeoujoiuedeir-
eles aud liues ,Fig. L uos. 5) . As tbese examples demou-
strate, tbe variaut arraugemeuts are treated by Valbiri as
ways ofdepietiugdiffereutspatialdistributiousofloeales, aud
are uot simply a deeorative play witb tbe eirele-liuemotif. lt
is for tbis reasou tbat eeutral Australiau desigus bave some-
timesbeeureferredtoasmaps.
Cirele-liue arraugemeuts oeeuriu desigus ouallmedia, but
are espeeiallypromiueut ouboards audstouesaudiugrouud
paiutiugs. Certaiuarraugemeutsseemtobemore ebaraeteris-
tie ofouemedium tbau auotber, buttbereis uobard aud fast
rule.
Siuee all aueestors are liuked witb speeine loeales aud
routes, auy oue eau iu priueiple be represeuted by a desigu
iueludiug a site-patb ngure. lupraetiee, mauy meu's desigus
iuelude separate oeeurreuees of a eamp eirele or patb liue
ratber tbau tbe wbole ngure. A siugle site may be depieted
simply by a eirele, aud a uumber ofsites by more tbau oue
sueb eirele, or tbe aueestor's patb witbout a eamp may be
sbowu.!bereare,iu faet, relatively few guruwari desigusiu
my eolleetiou tbat do uot iuelude at tbe miuimum eit|er a
site eirele or a patb liue. As l suggested iu tbe diseussiou of
traek priuts, tbese elemeuts ,or tbe full eirele-liue ngure)
9 Designs that include either the entire circle-line figure or at leas
one of these elements comprise about 85 per cent of the guruwart
collection of 1 44 designs representing 50 different species. Forty-nine
designs include both circle and line, and these represent 3 3 different
species.
Guruwari Lesigus 1 37
oneuserve as tbe eeuter or eore of a eoustruetiou iu wbieb
otberpluralelemeutsareraugedarouudtbem,orareattaebed
totbeirsides,seebelow,Cbapter6).
Vbeu aetor-item ngures oeeur iu guruwari desigus, tbe
foeal eireularitemistbeeampsite,altbougbotbermeauiugs
are likely to be applied to it at tbesame time. !busiuguru
wari, ngures of tbe aetor-item type aequire au additioual di-
meusiou of meauiug by amalgamatiou witb tbe site-patb
tbeme,seeFig.CaudFig. I 6, uos. , ) .
l uilbindji desigustbesite-patborj ourueyuotioumayalso
express tbe sexual meauiugs ebaraeteristie of tbese desigus.
Forexample, tbepatb liueappeariugiutbesedesigususually
represeuts tbe patb of tbe desired lover as sbe is drawu to-
ward tbemau performiugtbeilbindji; tbeliue may also rep-
reseuttbemau'speuis.
!beparallelbetweeutbegeueralimportofsite-patbngures
aud traekpriuts will be readily observed. !be priut aud tbe
patbliue botb sigui[ marks madeiutbe grouud bytbe pas-
sage ofiudividuals tbrougb tbe eouutry. Moreover, Valbiri
alsotbiukofeampsites,ortbefeaturesof tbetopograpbytbat
emerged at tbese sites, as beiug aueestral marks. Botb traek
priuts aud site-patb ngures depietwbat are iu effeet vestiges
oftbe aueestor, marks iu tbeeouutry tbat be bas leftbebiud
bim. Valbirieauiutbisseuse follow tbe aueestorstbrougb
ereatiug aud reereatiug tbeir guruwari desigus j ust as tbey
eaufollowauimalsbytraekiugtbem.
lueertaiurespeetsfootpriutsseemtoprovidetbetypeeou-
eept for gurwari. !bey eoustitute a grapbie form tbat is a
poiut of iuterseetiou betweeu tbe body, produetious of tbe
body, aud tbe grouud, iu tbis seuse, tbey express a relatiou-
sbip betweeu tbe body aud tbe grouud. lu additiou, tbey
' 38 Va|biri lcouograpby
evoke a seuse ofpassage, ofmotiou aud mobility eouueeted
witbbodilymovemeutaltbougbtbeytbemselves,liketbefea-
turesoftbeeouutry,arestatie,spatialforms.
Coueeutrie Cireles
Auimportautfeature ofguruwari desigusistbeuseofeou-
eeutrie eireles or a spiral to represeut tbe eampsite ratber
tbau a siugle eirele sueb as ebaraeterizes tbe ordiuary uota-
tiou. Veu treat tbe two forms-tbe eoueeutrie eireles aud
tbe spiral-as equivaleut, aud freely alteruate tbem iu
usage. Siueetbetwoareiu freevariatiou, ustbe ouelabel,
eoueeutrieeireles,torefertotbisgrapbieform.
Elsewbere bave diseussed tbe siguineauee ofeoueeutrie
eireles. ! Here will merely iudieate tbat wbile from oue
poiut ofview tbeeireles eoustitute a siugleelemeut,tbe site
eirele), from auotber, tbey eomprise angureof tbeeuelosure
type . tbe eeutral area is eoueeptualized as a bole ,or water
bole) from wbieb tbe aueestor emerged oriuto wbieb be or
bis progeuy weut duriug bis travels. !be surrouudiug liues
are tbe eampsite itsel f, sometimes tbougbt ofastbe patbs tbe
aueestor made iuwalkiug arouud. !be eireles tberefore syu-
tbesize tbe uotiou of a plaee wbere tbe aueestor slept ,made
eamp), aud walked arouud, witb eoueepts of emergeuee
,eomiug out), proereatiou ,progeuy go iutotbegrouud), aud
deatb ,aueestor goes iuto tbe grouud) . ! Elemeuts of tbe
aueestor's life eyele are tbus eouuoted by tbe eirele-liue
ngure, so tbat tbese are fused witb tbe uotiou ofbis traek iu
tbeeouutry.
1
Munn 1 967. See above Chapter 3, n. 1 1 .
1 1
See the sand story "going in" scene and its iconography, Figure
Z. no. 4
Guruwari Lesigus I 39
Desigus iu Meu's Storytelliug
Ve bave already seeu tbat meu may use illustrative saud
drawiugs iu talkiug about j ourueys. Vbeu a mau aeeom-
pauies storytelliug or eouversatiou witb saud drawiug, be
doesuotusetbeeoutiuuous,ruuuiugsauduotatiouebaraeter-
istie of womeu's bebavior, but be sometimes aeeompauies
parts ofa uarrative ,espeeially au aeeouut ofaueestors) witb
illustrative uotatious of a typieal saud story type. !bese are
uot, bowever, systematieallyiuterloekedwitbtbestorytelliug
proeess, uor are tbey au iutegral part of tbe uarrative teeb-
uiqueasiutbesaudstory. Amaumaysometimesillustratebis
diseussiou witb a more formal diagram. ouoeeasious bave
observed, illustrative ngures are aetually desigus relevaut to
tbeaueestraluarrative,orelemeutsofsuebdesigus. !bisbe-
baviorparallelstbat bavedeseribed forwomeu,auditisap-
pareut tbat tbe desiguis elosely assoeiated iu Valbiri imagi-
uatiou witb tbe aueestor represeuted aud speeine uarratives
or types of uarrative eouteut. !bus desigus or desigu motifs
may be evoked by diseussious iuvolviug relevaut subjeets.
!bebasiesaudstoryelemeuts arestaplesofmeu's usageas
well as womeu's. Aeeordiug to my observatious, meu make
wide use ofaetor-itemngures, euelosures, aud eirele-liue ar-
raugemeuts iu tbeir illustrative saud drawiugs. Examples of
tbese usages are sbowu i u Figure wbere bave trau-
IZ
In one instance I came upon some older men instructing an unini
tiated boy of about twelve in the names of sites associated with the
rain ancestor belonging to his father's and older brothers' lodge. In
the discussion they illustrated their commentary with a circle and
meander line showing the travels of the rain. The meander is charac
teristic of rain designs; the designs themselves would of course have
been closed to the boy until initiation, but boys may be taught site
names and the outlines of the narratives beforehand.
*
Valbiri Iconography
seribed tbe saud illustratious used by two iuformauts iu tell-
iug me stories. For tbe nrst oftbese, ,Fig. i iA) tbe grapbie
depietious were eutirely of tbe aetor-item type, iu tbe see-
oud,weseeawiderraugeof nguresiuuse.
!be story sbowu iu Figure i iB, eoueeruiug a raiubow
suake I3 atVaugbauSpriugs,asiteuortbwestof Yueudumu) ,
was triggered by tbe iuformaut's demoustratiou of a suake
desigu. Variouseombiuatious ofelemeutsiuto aetor-item, eu-
elosure, aud eirele-liue ngures were used iu tbe proeess of
uarratiou. Afterreeouutiugtbeiueideut, tbestorytellerweut
ou to explaiutbeloeatiou ofroek boles at Vaugbau Spriugs,
wbieb be illustrated witb arraugemeuts of eireles ,Fig. i iB,
uos. q, ) . !bus a story iueideut witb a site refereuee eau
!3 This snake is the mythical fgure connected with the rain and
the rainbow which is widespread in Australian mythologies.
Figure 1 1 . Men' s storytel l i ng with sand notations
A. The ori gi n of crows. After sand notat ions accompanyi ng the account.
Numbers i ndi cate drawi ng sequence.
C '
L
L
2
L
\
C C
3
\
3 4
1 . A man sits at a water hol e wi th two dogs i n front of hi m; onl y one
U is shown for the dogs. A woman who is mother-in-law to the man
comes al ong and cl ai ms the dogs are hers. She is shown si tti ng outsi de
the man' s camp. She tri es to call them up to her, si nce she cannot ap
proach a son-in-law. The man, however, pul l s her into hi s camp. 2. The
man and woman sleep together in hi s camp, after whi ch she l eaves, tak
ing the dogs. The brothers of the man l earn that he has commi tted i ncest
with h is mother- i n-l aw, and su rroundi ng hi m (3), carry hi m off to the fi re
to be burned. 4. The man burns on the fi re (O=fi re with man burni ng on
it) whi l e the other men stand around hi m. After burni ng, the man be
comes a crow and fl i es away. In other versions both the man and woman
are puni shed. Thi s story i s wel l known i n the camps.
Guruwari Designs
Figure 1 1 (conti nued)
B. A rainbow snake story. After sand drawings. The story notat ions ac
companyi ng the account of an ancestral i nci dent at Vaughan
Spri ngs were preceded by the demonstration of a snake design that
suggested the story.

C /N
a _
<
C
O
C
0 o o
4
Rai nbow snake design Story notati ons: a rai nbow snake and
two men at Vaughan Spri ngs
The rainbow snake design. Accordi ng to Wal bi ri bel ief the rainbow
snake l ives under the water of many major ancestral sites; his body
shi nes with the col ors of the rai nbow and l i ghtni ng. See also text di scus
si on, Chapter 6. CC= progeny of the snake. The depi ct ion of the snake
with eyes and tongue i s a traditional feature.
Story notations. Numbers i ndi cate drawing sequence. 1 . a. Rock hole
with the rainbow snake i nsi de (smal l ci rcle) . b. Two men came to one of
the rock hol es at Vaughan Spri ngs. c. Si tting down, they drank the
water, then uri nated i nto the rock hol e and went to sl eep. 2. Second ver
sion of the fi rst account, tol d a few mi nutes later. Spi ral = snake l yi ng
down i nsi de the rock hol e. After the men drank at the rock hol e, the
snake emerged and, goi ng fi rst to one and then to the other man, ate
each one and returned i nto the rock hol e. Not shown in the i l l ustrati on:
l i nes were drawn from the ci rcle to show the snake emergi ng to eat the
two men. 3. The son of the fi rst snake emerged from hi s hol e (camp) and
went on to the next rock hol e at Vaughan Spri ngs. The fi gure i s of a
site-path type, used here to specify the snake movi ng from one pl ace to
the next. 4. The storytel l er went on to expl ai n the arrangement of the
rock hol es at the site Vaughan Spri ngs. 5. Fol l owing the more exact de
pi ction of thei r arrangement, the rock hol es were drawn in a I i ne.
mergeiuto a loeale diseussiou. 1beelose assoeiatioubetweeu
desigus aud verbal uarrative, aud tbeteudeueyfortbe oueto
triggertbeotber,isalsosuggested.
lu tbe followiug ease wesee auotber sort ofiuterplay be-
tweeu tbeuse ofdesigus, uotatious, audtbeverbal uarratiou
ofiuformatiou.
Some men demonstrated for me a honey ant design oydrawing it
W albiri Iconography
in the sand. This design (Fig. 2, no. ) depicted the intersection
of two honey ant ancestors at Yulumu, an important Ngalia
W
al
biri honey ant site near Yuendumu. One track runs westward
through Yulumu into the community country of the Walmalla
W albiri; another runs from the south in the country of the Bin
dubi peoples northward through Yulumu into the country of the
Yanmadj ari people. The tracks intersect in Yulumu (the central
circle of the design). My informants explained that this design
Figure 1 2. Designs and the i ntersecti on of ancestral tracks
2 3
For ful l er explanation see text.
1 . Sand drawi ng of honey ant design to be i ncised on stone or board
carri ed by messenger. Central ci rcl e= Yul umu; l eft ci rcl e= Gunadjari ;
ri ght ci rcl e= Li mal i mi ; top ci rcl e= Yanmani bundj u; bottom ci rcl e= Bu
banya.
2. Sand drawi ng sketch used by men to expl ai n movements of honey
ant ancestors and location of community countri es. O=Yul umu.
3. Man' s paper drawi ng of an oval board wi th i nci sed desi gns i l l ustrat
i ng the shari ng of ancestral countri es. X= guruwari. UU =two arbitrators
si tti ng tal ki ng. == the people of each community sleepi ng. Those at
the top are from one community, those at the bottom from the other.
oo= soi l .
Guruwari Designs 1 43
talks agaiust a ngbt (glu-gudjugu ngari-ga, ngbt-agaiust
tells), since it signifes that the communities of people through
which the two tracks run have "one guruwari" (guruwari
djinda). The design might, accordingly, be incised on sacred
boards or stones carried by messengers sent to arbitrate a dispute
between these communities.
After drawing this design, these men used it illustratively in
the ensuing discussion of camps and directions of movement of
the honey ant ancestors whose tracks crossed at Yulumu; the geo
graphical distribution of present-day Aboriginal communities in
relation to these tracks; and the j ourneys of messengers between
the specifed regions. As the discussion continued and the outlines
of the original design became obscured through use, a simplified
notation was sketched in the sand (Fig. 1 2, no. 2), depicting again
the tracks coming from opposing directions and their intersection
at the central site of Yulumu.
!bis example illusttates sevetal poiuts of iutetest to tbe
pteseut atgumeut. Fitst, it demousttates bow a desigu may
fuuetiouasauexplauatotydiagtamiuadiseussiou,auditsug-
gestsas well tbeovetlap betweeu otdiuaty uotatious aud de-
sigus iu tbeeommuuieativeptoeess. Seeoud,ituudetliuestbe
Valbiti assumptiou tbat tbe desigus ate stotage poiuts ot
eodes fot vetbalizable meauiugs ,tbe desigu talks agaiust a
ngbt).
!bisviewwasteitetatedtomeiutbeeommeutatyofauotbet
mau upoutbesame desigu, aftet l sbowed bim my uotebook
ttausetiptiouofit. Aeeotdiugtobim,tbisnguteeouldiufaet
be used as a desigu fot auy aueestot eveu tbougb it was
liuked witb tbe bouey autiu tbis iustauee. !beu be dtew a
telated desigu ,Fig. Z uo. , ) sbowiugitiueisedouastoueot
boatd. lutbisdesigu, a setofetossed liues fotmstbe foeusof
au aetot-item ngute. !be etoss depiets aguruwari desigu
plaeedbetweeutwoaetotswboatetepteseutativesof diffeteut
1 44 Valbiri leouograp|y
eommuuities. Vy iuformaut explaiued. !be djugurba says
(wangga, speaks) stopngbtiug, weare ofoueeouutry(walya
djinda, soiloue) . ' !be wbolerepreseutatiourefersto asitu-
atiou iu wbieb two meu are arbitratiug au argumeut for dif-
fereut eommuuities ,tbe latter symbolized by tbe liues of
sleepers'bebiudeaebarbitrator) .
Hereagaiutbe verbal siguineauee oftbe desigus isstressed,
audtbestaudardizatiouofsymbolievaluesassoeiatedwitbtbe
erossed-typesite-patbngureis elearly suggested. !beuotiou
tbat aguruwari desigueouldbeusedsymboliealIyiuapoliti-
eal eoutext oftbis kiudreiteratestbeValbiriview tbatsueb
grapbsarepartoftbeireommuuieatiousystem.
!berelatioubetweeutbestruetureoftbispartieulardesigu
auditssymbolievaluebears eloserexamiuatiou. Ateitbereud
of tbe ngure are plaeed elemeuts represeutiug tbe opposiug
eommuuitieswbosearbitratorssit faeiugeaeb otber,betweeu
tbe arbitrators, at tbe eeutral poiut of tbe desigu, lies tbe
erossed-patbngureupouwbiebtbey are foeused ,tbatis,itis
tbeitem oftbeaetor-item ngure). !besymbolie uuity oftbe
two meu is reiuforeed by tbe graius of soil ,suggestive of
oueeouutry,ouesoil) plaeedoueitbersideoftbem.!be
oppositiou of tbe two eommuuities is mediated by tbe eeu-
trallyplaeedguruwari ngure, tbesymbolie expressiou oftbe
sbarediuterestsaudvaluesoftbetwogroups.
!bis poiut mayremiud tbereader oftbe earlierdiseussiou
of desigu produetiou, tbere l suggested tbat if we eousider
desigusiuterms oftbesoeialiuteraetiouaudrelatiousbipsde-
1
4 The carrying of sacred boards or bullroarers and "message
sticks" by a messenger to summon other communities to ceremonies
is widespread in Australia (see for example, Spencer and Gillen
I 8gg: I 40-1 41 ; Meggitt I g66A6). The use of gruwari to express
friendship, which my informants described, seems related to this
function, although different in purpose.
Guruwari Lesigus 1 45
nued tbrougb tbeir produetiou, tbey tbeu appear as soeial
forms tbat traversetbebouudaries oftbebody, audsome-
diatebetweeupersous.
lu tbe ease of tbe represeutatives of tbe two belligereut
eommuuitiessbowuiutbedesigu ofFigure uo. , tbegu
ruwari betweeu tbem expresses tbe eommou eouutry iu
wbieb tbey botb are feltto sbare rigbts. !beeouutry ,iutbe
symbol of tbe erossed patb liues) lies betweeu tbe two arbi-
trators,mediatiugtbeirrelatiousbip.
ltis iuterestiug to eousider tbattbedesiguplaeed betweeu
tbetwomeualsosuggestssauddrawiugitself,siueeiutbelat-
ter, tbeneld ofiuteraetiou oftbe aetors ,speakers orspeaker
aud listeuers) iueludes saud-drawu markiugs lyiug betweeu
tbem. lusaud drawiug,grapbsemergiugoutbegrouud form
partoftbematerialneldoftbediseourseaud aidiutbeimple-
meutatiouofaeommouuuderstaudiug.
!be situatiou iu traekiug also bas eertaiu parallels. lu tbis
eoutext, tbe priuts ofauimals ,orotberbumau beiugs) ou tbe
grouud may implemeut tbe buuter's seareb siuee tbey eode
iuformatiou about tbe wbereabouts oftbe auimal or persou
wbo made tbepriuts, aud so nuetiouas mediatiug formsbe-
tweeu a produeer aud au observer, earryiug iuformatiou
abouttbeformertotbelatter.
Desigus aud Sougs
Valbiri postulate elose assoeiatious betweeu tbe guruwari
desigus assoeiated witb asiugleaueestor audtbesougs detail-
iug tbe eveuts of bis traek. !be faet tbat tbe termyiri eau
eover botb verbal forms aud visual marks also poiuts to tbe
Valbiriviewtbat desigus audsougseoustitute asiugleeom-
plex. Not oulyis tbeir assoeiatiou expressed iu tbe uorms of
ritual bebavior, buti teau also be observedi utbe way meu
Valbiri leouograp|y
baudle tbe meauiugs ofdesigus aud sougs, siuee tbey teud to
treat tbem as eomplemeutary ebauuels of eommuuieatiou
about au aueestor. l bave already suggested bow tbis patteru
of assoeiatious is worked out iu tbe femiuiue subeulture fo-
eused ouyawalyu; itremaius to eousidertbe same patteru iu
meu'stbeoriesaudbebavior.
r
-
-
. v v
'
Valbu meu beheve tbat sougs aud guruwari desigus ,as
well as otber eeremouial parapberualia) were geuerated to-

etber iu tbe sleep oftbe aueestor. Exeept for bulaba de-

sigus, ' meudouotstresstbepersoualdreamiugof desigusby
liviugValbiri. Veugivetbestaudardexplauatioutbatiuau-
eestral times aueestorsdreamed tbeirsougs aud desigus wbile
sleepiug iu eamp. As oue iuformaut put it. be dreamt bis
traek. Ougettiugup, tbeaueestor put (ira-ni) bisdesigus
,tbat is, be paiuted tbem or otberwise gave tbem material
orm) aud saug bis sougs. As be traveled aloug, be saug bis
j ouruey.besaugtbesougsforeaebsite,tbesiteuames,wbieb
are also bisuames) , be saug a] bis j ouruey, tbe eveuts aloug
tbeway. luValbiriideologyauaueestorsiugiugbissougsis,
iu effeet, puttiugbis grouud marks, or makiug tbe eouutry.
As oue ofmy iuformauts putit, guruwari, yiri ,sougs), aud
walya ,soil, or grouud) are all oue tbiug (djinda-djugu)
,Vuuu i e. : ) .
.
As au aueestor travels aloug, be ereates bis verbal, artifae-
tual (viz. desigus aud desigu-markedsaera) audtopograpbieal
15 veggitt ( 1 962 : 2 2 7ff) found that body designs for the Big Sun
day ntuals (see above, Chapter 2, n. 18) were also "still appearing as
men dream of novel designs to symbolize the various incidents and
sites recorded in the

yth." Aside from this and the bulaba designs,

oweve

,
_
men emphasize the dreams of ancestors with respect to de
sign ongms, and they regard most designs as nyuruwa7U ("old")
rather than djalanguwa7U ("new," newly created in the dreams of
living men).
Guruwari Lesigus i ;
surrogates or ideutity marks, be leaves a reeord of bimsel f.
Siueetbisreeordderives frombisdream,audismadethrougb
aud outof bisowubodyortbrougbbispersoual aetivities, it
is iutriusieally ideutined witb bim. Ou tbe oue baud, tbese
visual aud verbal reeords fuuetiou for Valbiri as surrogates
for partieular aueestors, ou tbe otber baud, tbey eode de-
seriptious or verbal audvisual statemeuts abouttbe eveuts
audebaraeteristiesofaueestorsaudtbeirtraeks.
lu Valbiri tbougbt verbal aud visual forms eode eomple-
meutary iuformatiou about au aueestral traek. Valbiritypi-
eally gave me some oftbe sougs oftbe traek as supplemeu-
tary explauatious oftbemeauiugs ofdesiguswbeutbeywere
diseussiugtbesematterswitbme. Drawiugapartieulardesigu
oupaper migbtstimulate au assoeiated soug, aud iuformauts
ofteu bummed tbese sougs to tbemselves wbile drawiug de-
sigus. For iustauee, oue mau saug tbe followiug soug wbile
drawiug meauder liues represeutiug smoke iu a desigu for a
nreaueestor.
wa!unggana
nre
mzraranggana
bigsmoke
is
!bis soug was part ofa uarrative to wbieb tbe desigu re-
ferred audwasiutbesougliueassoeiatedwitbabulaba eere-
mouyeurreutlybeiugperformediutbeeamp.
luauotberiustauee, a desigubeiugpaiutedoutbebody of
adaueerduriugeeremouialpreparatiouswas explaiuedt ome
asa depietiouof tbetailaudboomeraug ,botbitemsspeeaed
1b
Song words often take a special form, or are foreign terms;
translation is therefore chancy. My informant gave the meaning "big
smoke" for miraranggana. According to Kenneth Hale, (n.d.) the
term mirawari means "mirage"; in my data it also appears as the
name of an ancestral site associated with rain, fire, and smoke and
thus may, perhaps, be related to the song word.
W albiti leouogtap|y
by a siugle gtapbie elemeut) of au opossum aueestot. Veu
tbeucoutiuuedtbeitexplauatioubysiugiugasougbelougiug
to tbeeetemouytbatbadbeeusuugdutiugtbeptepatatious.
Opossum ttavels ou, opossum tail.' Poiutiug to tbe desigu,
' tbeyadded tbattbeopossumwalkedalougway.Desigusaud
sougs ate tbustteated aseomplemeutatyebauuelsofeommu-
uieatiou, eaeb is a tepositoty ofuattative meaniug, aud tbe
ptoduetiouofouemayevoketbeotbet.!betteatmeutofgu
ruwari desigus aud sougs iu tbismauuetis eleatly a speeial-
ized fotm oftbe geuetal teudeuey to peteeive hgutes iu tbe
gtapbie system as stotes ofuattative, poteutially vetbalizable
meauiug, otto use tbemiu eoujuuetiouwitbvetbalizatiouto
eommuuieatesueb meauiugs. Fot tbe Valbiti, gtapbs do iu-
d d k ' ee spea .
!be iutetloekiug of vetbal aud visual-gtapbie fotms is a
petvasive featute of Valbiti eidos, oue wbieb ebataetetizes
botb tbe maseuliue aud femiuiue subeultutes, it is opetative
botb iutbe easual soeial eoutexts of stotytelliug aud eouvet-
satiou audiucetemouial eoutextswbete tbe two fotms fuue-
tiou as eootdiuate patts of a eousttuetiou ptoeess tbtougb
wbieb tbe qualities aud poteuey of tbe aueestots ate teem-
bodied.
lu eetemouials, sougs eombiue witb desigus to iufuse tbe
eveut witb djugurba qualities, as well as to tepteseut dju
gurba meauiugs. Uulike tbe desigus aud otbet visual eou-
sttuetious, sougs laekspatialloealizatiouaudeaupetvadetbe
aetivityasawbole. !busasyutbesisofspatiallyloealized aud
uouloealized mediaistequitedtofotm tbeseusualqualitiesof
tbeeveut.
ludeed, it seems tbat iu positiug tbe elose assoeiatiou of
sougs auddesigusi utbeiteosmologiealassumptiousabouttbe
uatute of tbe wotld Valbiti ate exptessiug symbolieally tbe
Guruwari Lesigus 1 49
telatiou fot tbem ofvetbal lauguage aud gtapbie ot, mote
geuetally, uouvetbal eommuuieatiou as awbole. Sougsateiu
a seuse symbols of otal lauguage, aud aueesttal desigus ate
symbols ofvisual otgtapbielauguage. '!beaueestotsateiu
effeettalkiug about' tbe tbiugs tbat bappeuto tbem iubotb
visual-gtapbie aud vetbal ways, aud sueb talkiug' objeeti-
vates tbe wotld atouudtbem,giviugitsoeial, eommuuieable
teality.
CHAPTER
Men's Ancestral Designs:
Structure, Semanti cs,
and Di fferenti at i on
!beoutside observerlookingatValbirimen' sdesigns for
|ifferent aneestors gains tbe impression ofanover-all bomo-

eneity of forms and arrangements ontbe one ban

, and of
|unnite variationi ndetail ontbe otber. !be basis oftbisim-
|
ressioneanbeelarinedonly

byexaminingtbeinternal orga-
:ization of tbedesignsand some oftbemeansbywbieb eon-
rastsbetweendi fferentspeeiesaremade.
voeabulary and Figure !ypes
!be elements used in men's designs inelude many oftbose
bat bave already been diseussed for otber segments of tbe

rapbie art, butsomearemorespeeialized. Alistoftbemost

commonly used elements and tbeir eategory rangeswill be
|oundinFigure . Different designs areereatedbyvarying
-eleetions and assemblages of tbese elements. ln my eollee-
ion,tbeupperlimitofdesigneomplexitywitbrespeettotbe
umberofdif erent elementsisnve,tbelowerlimitisoneel-
,ment ,usually repeated), or an element oeeurring only in
|
luralform,suebassmalleireleelustersordasbes.
lfweset out tbe basie types ofarrangements oeeurringas
,eparate designs aeeording to sueeessivelevels ofeomplexity
,eomplexity' referring bere to tbe number ofdif erent ele-
,ents in a design), eertainprineiplesof design strueture be-
Veo's Aoeestral Lesigos t i
eomeevident. !bisissbownin Figure 1q, wbere tbe vertieal
eolumnsillustratesueeessivelevelsof eomplexity ,1 to)and
Figure 13. Guruwari: basic vocabulary
El ement
1 .
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.

.
.
Meani ng range
Campsite; ci rcul ar path (addi ti onal
meani ngs accordi ng to specific
context, e.g., hole, fi re, fruit, hi l l , etc.)
Straight path (addi ti onal meani ngs
accordi ng to context, e.g. , t ree trunk,
backbone)
Li ght ni ng
Snake meander path
Smoke, etc.
Actor sitting ("actor standi ng" does
not occur in guruwari exampl es)
Cave
Bough shade, hut (rare)
Rainbow
Spears
Arms and l egs
Actors l yi ng down
Ri bs, etc.
Basi c guruwari vocabul ary el ements are shown. There are a few other
uncommon el ements that are not wi del y generalized in the system. In ad
diti on, ilbindji make use of the same elements, but they al so empl oy
some i diosyncratic ones, not prevalent i n guruwari.
1 . Concentric ci rcl es and spi ral are in free variation. For range of
meani ngs see Figure 1 , no. 1 3. _
3. In addi ti on to the generalized meander l i ne, a snake may also be
represented by a more specific pi cture with eyes and tongue. In some i n
stances, thi s is an unbreakable unit, in others i t woul d appear to consist
of a meander pl us adj uncti ves, that is, small circles and dash for tongue.
, 5, 7. May overl ap i n shape. A cave (5) is someti mes pl aced at each
end of a l i ne of site-path el ements.
6. When straight l i nes occur in adj unctive positions, or at right angl es
to the core el ements (see text, Chapter 6) , they do not usual l y carry the
path meani ng, and they are ordi nari l y pl ural el ements l i ke 7-1 0.

W albiri leooograp|y
Figure 1 3 (conti nued)
El ement
7.
8.
9.
1 0.
`
! '
O0
O0@
\ O
(

Meani ng range
Ri bs
Shel l s
Cl ouds
Burrows, etc.
Rai n drops
Eggs
Ants, etc.
Rai n fal l i ng
Smal l rai n cl ouds
Wal ki ng, etc.
+
Footprints. See Figu re 7.
7-9. Pl ural el ements. The same item may be represented by d ifferent
"pl ural s" in certai n i nstances, and there appears to be a good deal of
shuffl i ng of meani ngs between the di fferent pl ural s. On the whol e, how
ever, roundish dropl i ke pl ural items are represented by dots or smal l cir
cl es, semi ci rcul ar forms by arcs, and so on.
1 0. Footpri nts functi on l i ke other pl urals, appearing in adjuncti ve posi
t ions or as separate desi gns without additi onal el ements. See Figure 1 4.
tbe borizoutal eolumus, tbe basie types ofarraugemeuts tbat
eauoeeurattbeselevels.
ltwillbeseeutbattberealbaseliue oftbesystemislevel Z
beeause bere we eau isolate all tbe basie ngure types tbat
oeeuratauyotberlevel ,iueludiuglevel 1 ). Orputiuauotber
way. iuiuereasiug tbe uumber ofdi ffereut elemeuts iu a de-
sigu beyoud two, we do uot add to tbe stoek ofbasie ar-
raugemeutsiutbesystem, wemerelyeombiueaudreeombiue
tbe types oftbislevel, orwe add to tbe uumber ofdiffereut
elemeutsiu aualready giveustrueturalpositiou. Auytypeof
ngure tbat eau oeeur witb tbree, four, ornve differeut ele-
meutseaualsooeeurwitboulytwo.
Veo's Aoeestral Lesigos
1
5 3
!uruiugtotbenguretypesassetoutatlevel Z weseetbat
. 'eyiueludetbesite-patb, aetor-item, audeuelosuretypesal-
:eady diseussed iu some detail, two otbers wbieb l bave iso-
|ted require furtber elueidatiou. Vost importaut are tbe
+:raugemeuts l bavebraeketed as eore-adjuuet.' !beyeou-
sist ofeitberasiteeireleorapatbliuewitbvariouspluralele-
aeutsrauged proximal to tbis eeutral eore. ' !bese plurals
aay be loosely grouped arouud tbe eore, anxed to it, or
:augedoueitbersideofit. Auyelemeut ,witbtbepossibleex-
eeptiou ofpatb liues) may be pluralized aud fuuetiou iu tbis
adj uuetivepositiou,buttbeouesmosteommoulyusedaretbe
plural elemeuts-eirele elusters, dasbes, or small ares. As
we bave seeu, footpriuts are also eommou iu tbis positiou.
Plurals fuuetiouas deseriptivemodiners oftbeeeutral siteor
patb aud iu tbis respeet are seeoudary anxlike elemeuts, as
eaubeseeubyexamiuiugFiguresiq aud .
A less eommou ngure is oue eousistiug ofa series ofsite
eireles witb a borizoutal liue divider' alteruatiug witb tbe
eireles. l bave ouly a few examples oftbe type ,oeeurriug at
varyiug levels of eomplexity) . Altbougb speeine meauiugs
maybeappliedtotbe liues, tbey alsomayberegardedsimply
as divisioumarkers. lu auygiveuiustauee a speeine meauiug
is always tbesame for eaeb liue iutbe series. lt is also possi-
ble, tberefore, to regardtbis type as alist ofsites,eireles) al-
teruatiug witb a list ofsome otberliuear item ,for example,
aetorslyiugdowu).
!be arraugemeut is aetually remiuiseeut ofa tally' tbat
Valbiri eommouly draw iu tbe saud to list various items iu
series. tbe tally eousists of sets ofparallel liues, eaeb item iu
tbe series represeutiug oue iustauee of tbe item. l bave ob-
served lists oftbiskiudusedtomarkofaseries ofsougs aud
sites iu followiug tbe liue' of a eeremouial eyele, iu addi-
tiou, tbeuse ofaseriesorrow ofeirelesiu meu's diseussious
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Valbiri lceuograp|y
fsite oeatious was poiuted to iu tbe last ebapter. !be site
hstofeneleseau.lsooeeuraloueasasiugledesigu.
lfweturuuowtonguresiuvolviugmore tbautwodiffer-
eut elemeuts, wecau see tbat tbey are ereated iu two basie
"
ays.

by tbe uestiug ofouengure type iu appropriate posi-

tiou

uotber ,ferexample, tbe use ofa site-patbngureas

tbeitem mauaeter-item eoustruetiou) , orbytbeadditiouof
adj uuetives up tetbe uumber tbree ,rarely more, altbougb
foureauoeeur)ineore-adjuueteoustruetious.
For

example, ta

site-patbngure eauoeeuriu auypositiou

oeeupied by tbe s:te or patb separately iu eoustruetious of
l

l Z exeept iutbe site list divider` type ofngure. ,!he

+t
'
:dersee

to fauetiouas asubstitutefortbepatb liue, aud

IS t

tbe
P
osttioutaattbepatbwould uormallyoeeupyiutbe
ty
P
:eal stte-patb fgure !bus weeau obtaiu ngures sueb as
stte-patbJ-adjuuetive, wbere tbe site-patb ngure oeeurs
iusteadof tbesiteor patbastbeeore`of tbeeore-adj uuetive
ngure. Similarly, .site-patbngureeaube euelosed iuaeirele
or, as l bave justsaggested, iteau nuetiou as tbeitem iu au
aetor-itemngure.
!be aetor-itemfgureeaualso oeeuriu auypositiouoeeu-
ied a te or patb iulevel Z e

ustruetio
"
, iueludiug site
hstdivtder ngures. lteauoeeurm tbe posttiou oftbesiteiu
tbe latterngure, er it eau fauetiou as tbe eore of a eore-ad-
j uuetngure ,seeaeeveFig. e, uo. 1 ),altbougbeoustruetious
iuvolviug aeirele-liue eore are far moreeommouiumydata.
Au aetor-itemngareiuwbiebtbe item` is asite-patbngure
eau also uest iu etber eoustruetious, siuee it bas tbe same
privilegesofoeeurreueeastbesimpleraetor-itemngure.
!bese examples illustrate bow tbe eomplexity of desigus
eau be iuereased tbrougb tbe uestiug of ngure types. Ve
ma

, bo

ever,

alse obtaiu more eomplex ngures simply by

addmg adjuuetivesto ngures oftbe eore-adj uuetive type. For
Veu's Aueestral Lesigus 1 5 7
| astauee, we may add au adjuuetive to tbe patb or site-ad-
j auetive arraugemeuts oflevel Z yieldiug at level 3 a ngure
witb two adjuuetives aud asimple ,oue elemeut) eore. Simi-
| arly, we eau add au additioual adjuuetive to site-
patbJ-adjuuetive ngures yieldiug a eoustruetiou of level
witb two differeut adj uuetives rauged arouud or afnxed to a
eirele-liue eore. !be additiou of adj uuetives to eore-adjuuet
aguresistbeprimarymeausofiuereasiugeomplexitybeyoud
level3
!bese eommeuts are sumeieut tosuggest tbebasie ebarae-
teristies ofdesigu strueture aud tbe way iu wbieb au iuden-
uiteuumber ofdesigu forms beeomes possible witb a limited
uumber of elemeuts audarraugemeuts. Ve eau uow better
uuderstaud bow desigus are eoustrueted to represeut eaeb
speeiesof aueestor.
!be Coustruetiou of Desigus
for ludividual Aueestors
Eaeb aueestor is geuerally assoeiated witb more tbau oue
guruwari desigu. A well-iuformed mau is ordiuarily able to
supply moretbauouedesigufor amajoraucestorofbisowu
patrilodge, audsometimes for well-kuowu aueestors ofotber
patrilodges. Vbiletbedifereut desigusbelougiug to asiugle
aueestor may be assoeiated witb di ffereut sites or site seg-
meuts,moretbauoucdesigumayalsobeliukedwitbouesite.
Valbiri eall tbese desigus two nres (dara-djara) ; by tbis
tbey meau tbat tbe aueestor slept more tbau ouee at tbe
plaee, ereatiug differeut desigus iueaebsleep.` ,!bere may
aetually be more tbau two desigus iuvolved.) Daradjara are
geuerally used ou differeutmedia ,forexample, ou sbields or
outbegrouud) attbesameeeremouy. A desiguis uot, bow-
ever, ueeessarily restrietedto ouemedium orauotber. lu ad-
ditiouto daradjara, audtodesiguswbiebarerelatedtodiffer-
W albiri lcouograp|y
eut parts of a track, au aucestor may also be represeuted by
guruwari desigus tbougbt to refer to tbe track as a wbole.
Fora uumber ofwell-kuowuaud importaut species, l was
able to obtaiu suncieut material to illustrate bow di ffereut
desigus for oue aucestor ,or for oue species) are made, aud
wbat tbese desigus sbare iu commou. !be basic priuciple iu-
volved iu tbe coustructiou of desigus for a siugle aucestor is
tbeouewebaveeucouuterediutbe coustructiou ofwomeu's
desigus,uamely,tbatofvariatiououatbeme. Eacb oftbede-
sigus belougiugto tbeaucestorpreseuts aselectiouofoue or
more oftbe distiuctive features oftbespecies,eacb feature is
represeuted by a differeut elemeut. !bere are alimited uum-
ber of sucb features sbumed arouud iu tbe differeut desigus
,Fig. 1 5 ) . !bey may cousist ofrelevaut uatural cbaracteris-
tics, trackpriuts,audculturalartifacts. Sometimestbecbarac-
teristics of liuked species are part of tbe complex, for iu-
stauce, wallaby aud diugo footpriuts may occur as adjuucts
to tbe patb ofyaribiri suake siucetbey are believed to bave
crossedtbistrackiuaucestraltimes.
!bedesigus for asiugleaucestor,ordiffereut aucestorsof
tbe oue species) preseut variaut selectious aud arraugemeuts
oftbestockof features ,assbowu iu Fig. 1 5 ) , audmayrauge
iu complexity from depictious of ouly oue sucb item to a
more complex syutbesis ofa uumber offeatures. !o make
differeutdesigus for tbe ouespecies, Valbiri iueffectassem-
ble aud reassemble, build up aud break dowu, a relatively
hxed selectiou of elemeuts carryiug specinc meauiugs ,tbe
features oftbespecies) tbataremoreorlessstabliized fortbat
aucestor. For iustauce, small circleclusters used iu raiu de-
sigusspeci[raiudrops ,usediuboueyautordyiugautde-
sigus, tbey staud for tbe uumerous auts. Similarly, tbe meau-
deriug patb liue of a suake desigu is always tbesuake, wbile
tbat of au opossum desigu is tbe opossum' s tail, aud so ou.
Veu's Aucestral Lesigus 1 59
Figure 15. The features of ancestors and desi gn vari at ion. Onl y some
of the more characteristic ranges of variation are suggested, that is, the
typical features and el ement representations for each totemi c ancestor.
A. Yaribiri snake
Features
O=snake hol e
8 =snake. A specific
pi ct ure of a snake
may also be used.
: : = eggs
, oo, " = ribs, boards
vv= footpri nts of
l i nked
ancestors
El ement combi nations
8 - LL - vv
8 - "
0 -
. .
8 - )
0 - 8 - : : -
Design exampl es

0 3f
1 0
.
.
=
9 4
. 4 P w
.
0
4 4
#
.
.
W

.
-
Figure 1 6,
no. 1 0
Figure 1 6,
no. 9
Desi gns are al l board or shi el d designs. A pi cture of a snake may be
used i nstead of the meander l i ne. Wal l aby and di ngo are l i nked
,
with the
snake; onl y wal l aby pri nts are i l l ustrated. Two i nformants al so suggested
that ovals may be substituted for arcs to represent the ribs ( = boards) of
the snake.
B. Rai n
Features El ement combi nati ons
0= rock hol e 8 - "
Design examples

9 9
4
P
4 9 9
P
9
9 9
4 * .
i
, ,
: co W a|biri lcouograp|y
Figure 158 (continued)
Features El ement combi nations Design examples
S =l i ghtni ng
SSS= paral l el
paths of
l i ghtni ng
rai nbow
rai n
S= cri sscross
l ight ni ng
paths
: : = rai ndrops
cl ouds (rare)
= = , ) ) = rai n clouds
5 - = =
-
0 - S -
555 -
5 ) )

i
t
-
-
- - -
~ Q G -
- -
-
- : - ' :
- . - -
- -
M
.
.
Fi gure 1 6,
no. 1 6
The fi rs
.
t desi gn, the : : form, i s a body design; the remai nder are
board des

gns,

nd one gr

und desi gn. The path l i ne is usual l y l ightni ng,

but somet1mes j ust the ra1 n fal l i ng. Li ghtni ng can also be treated as a

eparate ancestor; dashes al ong the meander are then general ly i denti
f

ed as sp

rks rather than clouds. I n one i nstance a number of paral l el

l mes was Interpreted as the rai n runni ng i n ever di recti on al ong the
gro

nd. I n

ther cases, the paral l el l i nes may each specify a closely as

sociated ra1
.
n feature. Smal l -ci rcl e cl usters are usual l y rai ndrops, but i n
one or two mstances were sai d to specify t he cl ouds. The arc appears to
be an al ternate for the more usual rai n cl oud dashes, but tends to be
used for the l arger rai n cl ouds (milbin) rather than the smal l stri ngs of
clouds (gucu guqu) usual l y represented by the dashes. See also Capel l 's
(1 953:1 21 -1 22) Wal bi ri text descri bi ng the rai nstorm and its movement
across the country.
Whi l

one or two rai n desi gns that do not use the meander path l i ne
occur 1n my collection, most of the rai n desi gns the men i l l ustrated are
of the meander type.
Figure 15 (conti nued)
C. Honey ant
Features
: :, ) ) = ant
I = central passage
(underground
path)
diggi ng sticks
of women
)), )), @ = si de burrows
, , = (l i nked) vi ne
ancestor
U=woman digg ing
0 = nest (hole)
Veu's Aucestra| Lesigus
El ement combi nati ons
( (
/ -
/ | | "
-
I - (( ((
- U
o - I -
( ( (( -
o
- I - (( (( - ,
Desi gn examples
. . . .

'
.
.
.
. .
. . .
. .
&

Fi gure 1 6,
no. S
The fi rst design is a body design; the remai nder, except for the second
(a headdress design?) , are board designs. There i s ambi guity in the use
of the arcs, but burrow arcs are commonly doubl ed. The vine and ant
arcs are never affi xed to the core, but always ranged around it when
shown.
ltsometimes bappeus tbat t|e same featute may berepte-
seuted by altetuate elemeuts. !bis occuts especially iu tbe
plutals fauctiouiug as adjuuctives. !wo iufotmauts te-
matked upoutbeuseofsucb altetuates fottbetibsofyaribiri
r 62 W abiri leouograp|y
suake ,Fig. 5 A) . !bey explaiued tbatovals eould be substi-
tuted fortbe ares alougtbesides oftbesuake meauder witb-
out ebaugiug tbe meauiug. !be two eouhguratious resultiug
areesseutiallysyuouymous grapbs. luadditiou, dasbes,orsets
of parallel liues) provide a tbird, somewbatless typieal alter-
uate for tbe same feature, uot meutioued by tbese two iu-
formauts.
lt will be seeu from Figure r 5 tbat relative to tbe desigu
strueture tbe basie features of a speeies eau be divided iuto
two groupiugs . tbose features tbatwbeu assembled iua eou-
hguratiou oftbeeore-adjuuettypearealways represeuted iu
tbe eore positiou, aud tbose tbat are represeuted iu tbe ad-
j uuetivepositiou. lutermsofgrapbieelemeutstbismeaustbat
eertaiu features arealways represeuted by tbesiteeireleaud
patb liue, wbile otbers are represeuted primarily by plural
elemeuts sueb as ares, eirele elusters, aud dasbes, orby foot-
priuts. !be aligumeut is exemplihed for tbe tbree speeies iu
Figure 5 asfollows .
Core Adjunct
Site Path
0 |
)) vv
Yaribiri snake snake eggs ribs ri bs foot-
snake hol e pri nts
of
wal l aby
Rai n rock l i ghtni ng rain- small
ngaba hol e rai n fal l i ng drops rain
(also, rai nbow cl ouds
cloud)
Honey ant nest central honey si de
yarimbi hol e underground ants burrows
passage or smal l
ants, etc.
Note tbat tbe site eirele aud patb liue take ou refereutial
meauiugsrelevautto eaeb eoutext . forexample, tbe eampsite
Veu's Aucestral Lesigus
Plate 8. Three boards pai nted wi th guruwari. Left: a rai n ancestor (for
meani ngs see Fi gure 1 6, no. 1 6) . Center: a yawagi berry ancestor. The
l arge ci rcl e is the berry (the camp) . Smal l ci rcl e cl usters are rai n
clouds or rai n drops. Rai n has special associ at ions with yawagi berry
(see Fi gure 1 8, no. 6). UU two women eat i ng the berry. H F the berry
t ree. Thi s element is rare, but it has anal ogues in yawalyu depi ctions of
trees. Right: A typical rai n design. S F l i ghtni ng. F rai n cl ouds.
ofyaribiri suake is tbe suake's bole, wbile tbe patb is tbe
snake. Valbiri regard tbe site-patb meauiugs aseoustauts, at
tbe same time tbat tbey may apply speeihe elass meauiugs to
agiveudesigurelevauttotbepartieularspeeiesiuvolved.
lu eoutrast to tbe eore elemeuts, adjuuetive features are
i64 W albiri lcoaograp|y
geuerally uumerous, ofteu dimiuutive features sueb as aut
swarms, graius of saud, sparks, leaves, pearl sbells, stems aud
immature yams, aud footpriuts. lu a uumber of iustauees
tbese featureswereexplieityideutined astbeuumerousprog-
euy oftbespeeiestbatbetbrowsoff'' (gidji-ni) orseattersas
be travels aloug, a uotiou eeboiug tbe eoueepts about auees-
tralpoteueybeiugliketbebitsofduffsbakeuoutotbesoilby
daueers iu meu's eeremouies ,see above p. 30) . For example,
iuformautsregardedsmall elouds(guqugwju) audpearl sbells
as progeuy (guqu) or little oues (wida) seattered by tbe
raiuaudraiubowsuakerespeetively,seealsoCapell, 95 3 : iZ i u) ,
tbese elemeuts are represeuted as adjuuets t o tbe patbs
of tbese aueestors. Oue iuformaut also equated raiu
drops aud progeuy witb ribs' wbeureferriug to tbe meau-
iugsof oueraiudesigu.!beliukbetweeuribsaudprogeuyis
made elear iu tbe desigus for yaribiri suake, wbere tbe ribs
are regarded as bis progeuy, aud ideutihed as well witb de-
sigu-marked boardstbatbeearriesattimesoubisbead.Small
eirele elustersused foryaribiri desigus also represeut uumer-
ous progeuy siuee tbey are tbe eggs of tbe female.yaribiri
,Plate9) .
Examples iudieatiug tbis assoeiatiou are fouud iu desigus
for otber speeies as well. lu a desigu fora dove aueestor tbat
deeorated a beaddress iu oue eeremouy, sbort parallel liues
plaeed atrigbtauglestotbeeeutralliuerepreseutedtbebird's
ribs, agaiuideutinedasebildreu ,seeFig. ,uo. ). !bistype
ofdesigueaubeusedfordiffereutspeeies,audisuoteouhued
to tbe oue aueestor. lu tbe dyiug aut eeremouy deseribed
belowiuCbapter; ,audseeFig. , uo. 5) , dasbesarouudtbe
eeutral bole ofa grouud paiutiug were ideutihed by oueiu-
formaut as people (aba), tbat is, tbe mauy people pro-
dueed by tbe aetivities of tbe aueestor. lu still auotber iu-
stauee, tbeeeutraleireleofayamdesiguwasdeseribedastbe
Plate 9. A man' s penci l crayon drawing of yaribiri snakes and
decorated boards. On the l eft is the father; the other two snakes
are his sons. The board on the l eft shows the snake hol e (camp)
and eggs. The board on the right shows a snake and eggs. A
cave is at upper left; a tree stands between the two snakes on
the left.
66 W albiri leooograp|y
l arge yam, wbile tbe smaller tubers aud roots plaeed as ad-
j uuetsarouuditwerereferredtoas'ebildren. '
ltwould appear tbeu tbat tbe typieal plural adj uuets sug-
gest feeuudity, or reproduetiou, or, more geuerally, tbe uo-
tiou of multiplieity so importaut to tbe life-maiuteuauee or
iuerease' uotious eeutral to male eult. Sueb assoeiatious
would be eousisteut witb tbe symbolie siguineauee of tbe
eamp aud patb iu Valbiri tbougbt, for as we sball see later,
meu equatetbe eamp witb tbe female, aud tbe patb witb tbe
malepriueiple. Heueeaeore-adjuuetngureiuwbiebtbeeore
was a eirele aud liue would express a eomplemeutary sym-
boliewbole tbe female, tbemale,audtbeuumerousmembers
oftbe speeies or ebildreu wbo are ereated by tbe aetivities
oftbeaueestor.
Semautie Complexit

m Veu's Desigus
Veu frequeutly aseribe multiple meauiugs to a siugle
grapbie elemeutiubotbguruwari audilbindji desigus. lbave
alreadypoiutedtotbeoeeurreuees ofmultiplemeaoiugiutbe
ease oftbe eirele-liue ngure, itis to tbeseeore elemeuts tbat
metapboriemeauiugsaremostfrequeutlyaseribed.Cireleaud
liue ,eampaudpatb)maybeusedasageueralizedformulafor
represeutiug au iudenuite rauge of di fereut-meauiug items.
!be loeale aud j ouruey tbeme permeates tbe more speeine
images of tbe various totemie speeies providiug a mode of
orderaudsemautieeomplexity abseut fromwomeu'sdesigus.
Some examplesaregiveuiutbedesiguexplauatiousforeir-
ele-liue desigusiuFigure 6. Foriustauee, iutbeyam desigu
,Fig. 6, uo. ) tbe eirele speeines tbe yam, tbe eamp oftbe
yam aueestor at a plaee uamed by tbe iuformaut. Siuee tbe
eamp beeame a bill wbere tbis food is uow fouud, all tbese
items ,bill, yam, eamp oftbe yam aueestor) eaube speeined
bytbeeirele.
Veo's Aoeestral Lesigos 1 67
Figure 1 6. Guruwari designs and explanations
Ancestor Actor Item
1 . Kangaroo "si tt i ng camp /
here" string

cross
`
2. Wafingari "2 men decorated

men sitting" shi el ds

3. =water
I
hol e, camp,
fi re I I I = spears
Note: One Yangaridj i desi gn that is supposed to be pai nted by men on
women is i ncl uded (no. 7). The i nformant's expl anati on i s given except
where meani ngs are in square brackets, whi ch i ndi cate my i nterpol at i on.
The expl anati ons of el even men are exempl ifi ed i n the sixteen desi gns,
but others were someti mes part of the discussion. More than one item
may be represented by the same element.
1 . After paper drawi ng. Al ong their route the two kangaroos carried
l arge string crosses. The desi gn refers to the ancestors. When the two
kangaroos fi nal l y burned on the fi re far to the south in the Rawl i nson
ranges they l eft their string crosses behi nd them on the ground. See
above Fi gure 8B, no. 2. As one man suggested: cross, camp, and pl ace
became one thi ng. Each part of the cross si gnifies part of the body of
the kangaroo. The use of an actor-item figure (someti mes with tai l and
footpri nts) appears to be standard for kangaroo designs.
2. After paper drawi ng. The decorati on of shields is a major feature of
the i niti ati on ceremonies ori gi nated by the Wafingari men. Treatment of
shi el d oval as l i ne occurs i n other i nstances.
3. After sand drawi ng. The two men put down thei r spears and sit i n
the shade after hunti ng meat. The meat cooks on the fi re. Spears and
camp are handl ed by the ci rcl e- l i ne (site-path) formul a, and it seems
probable that the spears also depi ct thei r paths, al though thi s meani ng
was not stated by the i nformant. The spears used by the two men are the
tal l l eafy pol es with whi ch men dance at i ni ti at ion ceremoni es. The Wa!
ingari took these from thei r l egs, and today they are attached to the dan
cers' l egs. In another i nstance, an i nformant expl ai ned the situation with
a sand notati on showing the poles or spears bei ng pul l ed from the l egs
of the men. He equated spear, peni s, and pole.
1 68 W albiri Iconography
Figure 1 6 (conti nued)
Site Path Adjunctives
l eaves 4. Yam site name
camp
food
hi l l
5. Wi tchetty site names wal ked
grub hi l l
6. Honey ant site names they
diggi ng- "fol l ow"
stick holes
) = slept
: : = red ochre

\
' paints up'

o
~
7. Honey ant central [paths] arms
ci rcl e=
breast, site
name, other
ci rcl es=
sites from
which the
bi rds were
attracted to
central
ci rcl e
4. After paper drawi ng. A yam ancestor at a si te east of Yuendumu.
The camp of the yam ancestor i s the yam; yams are i nsi de the hi l l at thi s
pl ace.
After apr drawi ng. The witchetty ancestor dreamed h is designs
Whi l e sleepmg m camp and then, waki ng, painted hi msel f-i . e. , with the
ochres i n the design-and sang.
6. After paper drawi ng. Women sit di ggi ng for honey ants at the cen
tral site. With their digging sticks they dig for the ants, "fol l owi ng" them
along to the di fferent sites.
7. After paper drawi ng. A honey ant desi gn that the i nformant said
coul d be pai nted by a man on his wife. A honey ant woman sitting at the
cntral ci rcl e attracted or "pul l ed up" quai l s from various surroundi ng
s1tes. The arms of the woman are shown as the adjunctive. The quai l is
regul arl y associated wi th honey ant ancestors.
Figure 1 6 (continued)
Si te
8. Honey ant si te names
camp
9. Yaribiri o = hol e
snake O= camp
1 0. Yaribiri
snake
1 1 . Opossum site names
"here they
dance"
1 2. Di ggi ng- breast
stick camp
women
Men' s Ancestral Designs 1 6
9
Path
"two went
then"
snake track
snake
tai l s
"they came
and went"
[paths]
Adjunctives
= a vi ne
( ( = ant
burrows
I= ribs,
marks
: : = [eggs]
_
f
c
'
, u

: _
t (( +

ribs, boards qq
chi l dren
A ^ P
I
[footpri nts]

I
'
<

8. After paper drawi ng. The vi ne i s associated wi th the honey ants.

The camp is the mai n hol e; the surroundi ng arcs are side burrows. Two
honey ant ancestors traveled al ong-i ndicated by two path l i nes.
9. After board pai nt i ng. The two paths, one on ei ther side of the camp,
i ndicate i n thi s i nstance that the snake came back to hi s camp.
1 0. The desi gn at Ngama cave; after a paper drawi ng by the i nform
ant. The ribs of the snake became sacred boards that he carried on hi s
head as men do today i n ceremoni es; these became his progeny.
1 1 . After paper drawi ng. The opossums moved back and forh between
the two nearby sites. Men dance at the site.
1 2. After paper drawi ng. The breasts of the women are thei r camp
sites. The women carry sacred boards and dance along l eaving water
hol es made by their diggi ng sticks.
1 70 W albiri lcouograp|y
Figure 1 6 (conti nued)
Site Path
Adj unctives
1 3. Di ggi ng- site names
stick sleepi ng
women pl ace
danci ng
ground
[paths] diggi ng
sticks
. F
*
.

1 4. Emu stomach
camp, home
1 5. Rai n site name
rock hol e
camp
1 6. Rai n
rai n
l ightni ng
rainbow
"track then"
[?]
l ightni ng smal l rai n
bl ack cl oud . cl ouds
rai n runni ng trees
: : = rai ndrops
1 3. After board pai nt i ng. Same as for no. 1 2.
1 4. After a cave pai nti ng at Rugari . See al so above, Fi g. BC. The i n
formant expl ai ned that the stomach and camp were the same-the mark
made by the emu l yi ng down?
1 5. After paper drawi ng. The rai n emerges from t he rock hol e and
goes i nto the sky. I ts sky track i s usual l y the l ightni ng, but l i ghtni ng,
rai nbow, and rai n are sometimes treated as paral l el path l i nes. I n thi s
exampl e, the two outer l i nes on each si de are the rai n and the l ightni ng;
the i nner l i ne i s the rai nbow.
1 6. After board pai nt i ng; see Plate 8. Each band ( rather than each
l i ne) specifies a di fferent feature of the rai n' s track. The representati on
of a bl ack cl oud by a path l i ne i s unusual . The dashes represent both
cl ouds and trees that emerged from the rainstorm.
Similarly, tbeiuformaut for tbekaugaroodesiguofFigure
r 6, uo. said`tbatthe eoueeutrie eireles ,tbe item of tbe ae-
tor-itemhgure) speei[botb tbeeamp of tbekaugaroosauda
saered obj eet, astriugeross, wbieb tb. Lwokaugaroosearried
aloug tbeir route. Vbeu tbeyhually burued ou a nre farto
Veu's Aucestral Lesigus I ? I
tbe soutb, tbey left tbeir striug erosses bebiud tbem ou tbe
grouud. Asauotbermausuggested,tbe eross, eamp, andplaee
beeameouetbiug.
Veusometimesgave eamp (ngra), meauiugtbeeampof
tbe aueestor, as tbe explauatiou oftbe eirele, ortbey meu-
tioued some topograpbieal feature ,usually a waterbole) . lu
otberiustauees, amorespeeializeditemofmeauiugwasgiveu
,for example, yam, diggiug-stiek boles) , aud furtber
eommeutsormyquestiouiugrevealedtbattbeyideutaedtbe
item witb tbeeampsite. Attimesiuformautsalsovoluuteered
more tbau oue meauiug, explieitly equatiug tbe items witb
eaeb otber, as iu tbe examples eited. Vbetber or uot a mau
provided eamp aud patb as speeine meauiugs iu auy
giveu iustauee, tbis meauiug is a geueral premise aud eau be
elieited witb fartber questiouiug. !be provisiou ofmultiple
meauiugs oftbis sortwas uotrestrietedto afewmeubutap-
peared as a geueral patteru oftbiukiug, part oftbesystem of
assumptious about desigus aud tbe uature of tbe world to
wbiebtbeyreferred.
!be basie equatioual patteru ofmultiple meauiugs tbat l
obtaiued for tbe eirele was . ,aueestral) eamp, topograpbieal
feature, speeial item ,relevaut to tbe speeine aueestor) . !bis
patteruwasuot, ofeourse, alwaysaetualizediuauygiveuset
ofiuterpretatious. Siuee Valbiri regard all tbese items as as-
peets oftbe eouutry ,aud both tbe eamp aud speeial item
may betbougbt ofasliterallyembeddediutbe eouutry) , tbe
eutireeomplexaetuallyeoustitutestbesubstauee oftbeplaee.
For Valbiri tbe use of oue grapbie elemeut to represeut
di ffereut-meauiug itemssimplyredeetstbepremisetbattbese
items are tbe same tbiug, iu tbis seuse tbe eirele speeihes
ouly oue eomplex eutity. Ve may iufer, bowever, tbat tbe
staudarduseofasiuglegrapbieelemeuttoeovertbediffereut
items itself reiuforees tbe unitary way of tbiukiug about
1 7 2 W albiri lconograp|y
tbem-tbat it is part of tbe dynamie tbrougb wbieb sueb
eoneeptionsaremaintained.
lftbesemanties oftbe eoneentrie eirelesare eonsidered in
relationto tbe wider grapbie system, it will be seen tbattbe
usage j ust deseribed eombines tbe typiealsemantie funetion-
ing oftbe singleeireleintbe sandstoryorgeneral storytell-
ing witb tbat ofits funetioning in traek and j ourney diseus-
sions. ln tbe former, as l bave stated, tbe eirele may beused
to speei[anyoneofarangeofdi fferentelassesoftbingsde-
pendingonsituational eontext. Similarly, inguruwari designs
tbe eoneentrie eireles may represent sueb items as digging-
stiek boles, different fruits, women's breasts, snake and ant
boles,nre,andotbersimilarroundisbitems.
!be patb may also beusedto refer to a range ofdifferent
meanings,altbougbmultiplemeaningsseemtobemoreelabo-
ratedfortbeeirele.Ligbtning, forinstanee,istbepatboftbe
rain aneestor. Statieitems, sueb as a tree trunk, may also be
eompounded witb tbepatbnotionand tbustakeoneonnota-
tionsofmotion.
!o tbe outside observer some oftbese items seem to be
eamps and patbs in a moreorlessliteral sense, for example,
tbenotiontbattbesnake'sboleisbis eamp, ortbatbispatb
is tbe mark tbat be makesin tbe ground as be travels along.
Otberitems,bowever,seemlessliterallyeampsandpatbs,for
example, tbat tbe eamp oftbe yam is tbe yam tuber. lt is in
eases of tbe latter type tbat tbe formulaie use oftbe eirele-
line ngure is most apparent. lor Valbiri, ofeourse, tbere is
no sueb distinetion between more literal and less literal
usages . itwasas obvious tomyinformantstbatayamtuberis
tbeeamp oftbeyam as tbattbe bole oftbesnakeisbiseamp.
!be point istbattbereis an underlying produetivity in tbe
system at work bere and tbat any speeies eould be worked
into tbe pattern. !bis is not to say, of eourse, tbat for all
Ven's Ancestral Uesigns 1 7 3
aneestors tbe partieular equations tbat are made are well
knownandstandardized.Ontbeeontrary, tbepreseneeofan
open-ended, indennitely extendible pattern yields anotber
level ofordertbatereatesaeonstantpotential for tbe work-
ingofspeeinesintotbeeommonstrueture.
!bisfeature alsobelpsustogainaelearerview ofonelogi-
eo-aestbetie funetion tbat repetitive, generalized sbapes may
performinavisualart. Suebsbapesarenexible. tbeirgeneral-
itymakespossibleindennitespeeinevariationwitbina frame-
work of standardized forms, and tbe inelusion of new`
meanings or eontent witbout destroying eontinuity and
order. !be experienee of sameness and tradition ean be
maintainedwbileattbesametimetbesystemisnotnxedto a
limited range ofpartieulars inits expression oftbe pbenome-
nalworld.
Vetapboriemeaningseanbeeasilymanipulatedwitbintbis
framework sinee it allows for a density ofmeanings in eon-
j unetion witb a simplieity ofform. !bisinverse relationsbip
between semantie density and formal eomplexityis ageneral
ebaraeteristieofvisualsymbolsystems.
Design Differentiation
As tbe examples of ligure i suggest, tbe eontrasts be-
tween designs for di fferentspeeies depend inlargepartupon
tbe seleetion and arrangement ofadjunetiveelements. Letus
take a simple model of bow tbis works. !be meander line
may be used in tbe representation of a number of different
speeies, but its distribution is a speeialized one. Rain, vari-
ous snakes, nre, opossum and marsupial mouse are speeies
types represented by meanders. lf, bowever, werange foot-
prints oftbetypetbat eanbeused for eitbertbeopossum or
Goldenweiser (1 936) frst drew attention to this form of varia
tion, which he labeled "involution."

I 7
4
Valbiri lcouograpby
marsupialmouseas adjuuctivesoueitberside oftbeliue, tbeu
tbe desigu is oue ortbe otber oftbese auimals, butuotraiu,
suakeornre. Vbilecoutrastsareuotalwayssoclearcut, tbis
simple example couveys ageueralpriucipleat work iucreat-
iugcoutrastsbetweeudesigusfordiffereutspecies.
lu Figure 5 , tbe reader will observe au immediate gross
coutrastbetweeu tbe suake audraiu desigus ou tbe oue baud,
aud tbe boney aut, ou tbe otber, siuce tbe latter uses tbe
straigbtliue. Betweeu tbe two formerspeciestbedegreeaud
uature of tbe coutrast varies. !be suake aud raiu designs
usiug tbe combiuatiou ofmeauder liue aud dots or small cir-
cles for iustauce, are close bomograpbs,'but tbis overlap
caube obviated by tbeuse ofa species-specinc elemeut for a
suake-tbat is, a grapb represeutiug tbe class suake ouly,
iu coutrast to tbe meauder, wbicb caustaud for otber items
sucb as opossum tail aud smoke as well. Ou tbe otber baud,
tbe fourtb raiu desigu witb tbe crisscrossiug patb aud tbe
dasbes placed iu tbe iuterstices does uot occur for yaribiri
suake. Furtbermore, tbe most typical aud best-kuowu raiu
desigu uses dasb adjuucts as iu Figure , wbile tbe well-
kuowuyaribiri suake paiutiug at Ngama caveemploys deep
arcsraugedalougtbemeauder,Fig. I 6, uo. 1 o).
luordertoexamiue tbis problem ofdesigu difereutiatiou
2 We have to distinguish here between the existence in the graphic
structure of standardized contrasts between typical designs for differ
ent species, and the individual's ability to accurately identify the spe
cies represented by a design, an ability depending in part on individ
ual knowledge. All W albiri men assume that a totem does have
typical, distinctive designs whether or not, in any given instance,
they are able to identify the species involved. The typical design fea
tures for certain ancestors are, however, widely known. For example,
a number of honey ant and rain designs that I showed to several in
formants of diferent patrilodges were readily identified by these
men.
Veu's Aucestral Lesigus
Figure 17. Di fferenti ati on and overl appi ng i n meander desi gns
I 7 5
Rai n Fi re
Rai nbow snake Yaribiri snake Other snakes
Ngaba
Djangala
Djambi dj i mba
Wafu
Djabangari
Djabanangga
Wan ira
Various
subsections
Dj uburul a
Djagamara
Various
subsections
S - raindrops,
eggs eggs
rai n cl ouds

4
B M

9 R

&
4
S - // _
5 - ( (
5 - LL
cl ouds

C
L J
smoke
cl ouds
1
pearl
shel l s
ribs
boa
nbs
.
boards

ribs
boards

Examples given are drawn from specific i nstances of these combi na

ti ons in my col l ection. Bl ank spaces i ndi cate that I have no i nst

nc
.
e

f
thi s combi nati on in the col l ection. The exampl es do not necessanl y i ndi
cate al l the vari ants for any parti cul ar element combi nati on; they are
si mpl y intended to i ndicate the presence of a de

ign i ncl udi

g th
.
ese aa
j unctives for a parti cul ar ancestor. Where a parti cul ar meanmg l avail
able for the adjunct ive element in each context it is given with the de
sign examples. In the case of the design S-// for "other snakes," the
meani ng "footpri nts" was suppl i ed in one i nstance.
Fire; S-( (. The desig n refers to the maki ng of fi re in ancestral t i mes;
the smoke cl ouds that resulted l ed to rai n. See text, Chapter 6. Thi s par
t i cul ar configuration appears to be di stinctively associated with fi re.
moreclosely, l sballlook at tbeuetworkofgrapbicrelatiou-
sbipsbetweeudesigusforcertaiuspeciestypicallyrepreseuted
by meauder ratber tbaustraigbtliues. Oftbese, opossum aud
W albiri leouograp|y
marsupial mouse eau be immediately distiuguisbed from tbe
otbers bytbeuse oftbe footpriut adjuuets. Of tberemaiuiug
aueestorsebaraeteristieallyrepreseutedby ameauderpatb,all
butwitebetty grub bavesomeexplieit assoeiatious witb raiu.
!bese pbeuomeuaeoustitutetbe familiar,widespread Austra-
liau raiu eomplex. raiu itsel f ,aud ligbtuiug sometimes
treated as a separate aueestor from tbe raiu), tbe raiubow
suake, aud hre. For suakes otber tbau tbat of t|e raiubow
suake oue huds less direet assoeiatious witb raiu, but eertaiu
suggestive liukages do oeeur. Desigus represeutiug tbe raiu-
liuked pbeuomeua regularly utilize eirele elusters, sets of
liues, ordasbes aud ares as adjuuetive elemeuts. !be arrauge-
meuts oftbese adjuuets maydiffer,so also, iusomeexamples
-uotably for hre-tbe baudliug of tbe meauder liue may
bespeeialized. !beresultis auetworkofoverlappiugbutuot
ueeessarilyideutiealdesigus,seeFig. ;) .
l tsbould be kept i u miud, bowever, tnat marked visual
similaritiesbetweeudesigus fordiffereutspeeiesdouotueees-
sarilysigui[speeiheeosmologiealorotberassoeiatiousof tbe
aueestors iuvolved. !o my kuowledge tbere are uo speeial
mytbologieal ties betweeumarsupialmouse, forexample,aud
raiu despite tbe faet tbat botb use a meauder liue patb, aud
ouly alimited uumber ofspeeies are represeuted bytbiskiud
ofpatb liue. Ou tbe ouebaud, tbere is tbequestiou ofspeei-
hed liukagesbetweeu tbeaueestors, outbe otber, t|at ofde-
sigusimilarities. Vbetberoruottbetwoareeorrelatedbasto
beiuvestigatediueaebease.
Vbeu sueb eorrelatious do oeeur-as appareutly iu tbe
raiu eomplex wbieb l sball sbortly look at more elosely-
tbis does uot iu itselfimply auy eertaiu eorrelatiou betweeu
tbis orderiug patteru aud tbe soeialstrueture. !be aueestors
Veu's Aueestral Lesigus
tbat form tbiseomplex are distributed amoug patrilodgesbe-
lougiugto di fereutsubseetioupatrieouplesaudtotbeoppos-
iug moieties.3 Voreover, eaeb oftbese lodgeseoutrols

tber
speeiestbatdouotpartieipateiutberaiueomplex.
ltis tbe features oftbespeeiestbemselvestbatprovide tbe
primaryexterualimpetusfortbeformtakeubydesigus. !be
opossumuses ameauderliuebeeause,iutbeValbiriview,its
tail bas tbis sort of sbape, aud makes a mark like tbis iu tbe
saud. !bis basis for tbe desigu forms-tbeir ieouie, repre-
seutatioual aspeet-provides au iudepeudeut dyuamie for
tbeelaboratiouofdesigueategoriestbatisuotdireetlybouud
totbeelassineatiousoftbesoeialsystem.
lu tbis respeet, tbe aualogy ofberaldie deviees tbat Durk-
beim applied to eeutral Australiau totemie desigus is uot
aeeurate, siuee iu a fully developed beraldry, grapbie differ-
eutiatiou preeisely eodes soeial segmeutatiou. lu tbe Valbiri
ease, bowever, tbere is uo isomorpbism betweeu tbese two
systemsofdiffereuees,Lvi-Strauss 963 . ,;) .
lu beraldry, as iu a pietorial writiug system, t|e ieouie
qualitiesliukiugtbevisual forms totbeirmeauiugsteudtobe
atteuuated beeause of tbe over-all adjustmeut of tbe visual
forms to auotber uuderlyiug soeioeultural system for wbieb
tbe formereoustitutesa eommuuieatioueode. lutbeValbiri
desigus, ou tbe eoutrary, tbe boud betweeu tbe desigu forms
aud seuseexperieueeiseeutralfortbereisuosystematiesub-
ordiuatiou oftbeieouieelemeutto aseeoudabstraetorderiug
' As indicated in Chapter 1 rain is controlled by two lodges of
Dj angala-Dj ambidjimba men from Mt. Doreen and Conistan. One of
the fre ancestors is controlled by a lodge of Dj abangari-Dj abanangga
men from the Mt. Allan-Conistan region, and yaribiri snake by Dju
burula-Dj agamara men from the same region. Rainbow snakes occur
at various major sites and belong to the owners of these sites.
W albiri leouograpby
system. !bus seleeted qualities of tbe pbeuomeual world,
trausposed iuto tbesimpleliuear forms oftbe grapbs, are of
primary siguiheauee i u tbe dyuamies O desigu formatiou.
Veauder Desigus. !be Raiu Complex
Valbiridistiuguisb tbedesigusforraiubowsuakeaudraiu,
but reeoguize botb grapbie aud eosmologieal assoeiatious be-
tweeu tbem, tbe twoaremesbediutbeirtbiukiug, uot ouly
beeause tbe suake is tbougbt to bave tbe eolors oftbe raiu-
bow oubis body, but also beeause beis tbougbt to give rise
toor seud outtberaiu. !wo iuformautssuggestedtbatde-
sigus for raiuaud raiubowsuakesbare tbe meauderliue but
eould be distiuguisbed by tbe iuterebauge of dasbes ,raiu
elouds) or ares ,pearl sbells assoeiated witb tbe raiubow
suake) anxedtotbeside oftbemeauder. !beyillustratedtbis
poiut by drawiug a meauder iu tbe saud witb dasbes aloug
tbe sides, aud tbeusubsitutiug for tbe dasbes tbe ares of tbe
suake. Af:er tbis, tbeeomparisou oftbetwo pbeuomeuawas
amplihed by tbe additiou of a eirele aud meauder hgure be-
sidetbe origiual meauder to explaiutbattberaiu falls dowu
ou tbe surfaee oftbe grouud, wbile tbe raiubow suake ,tbe
meauderwitbtbeares)livesuuderueatbtbegrouud.
Vbile are adjuuets are oeeasioually used iu raiu desigus
primarily to depiet large raiu elouds (milbiri) , 5 tbe ares do
uot appear iu tbe same positiou aud arraugemeut as iu tbe
raiubow suake desigus ,see Fig. I ) iu tbe desigu eolleetiou.
!bepearlsbell, =ebildreu)aresoftberaiubowsuakearerem-
iuiseentoftberib, =ebildreu)aresofyaribiri suake,butagaiu,
The rain is also thought, however, to have an underground track
(the water running into the earth) .
" Walbiri distinguish various kinds of clouds. For example, the
g
u
tu
g
ucfu mentioned earlier are small strings of white rain clouds,
while the term milbiri refers to larger gray clouds.
Veu' s Aucestral Lesigus I 79
examples sbow differeuees iu tbe typieal are arraugemeut.
For botb suakes tbere is a partieular empbasis ou iuerease
fuuetious, aud proereatiou. Beyoud tbe obvious assoeiatiou
betweeutbetwobeeausetbeyaresuakes ,iufaet, tbeyaretbe
two most promiueut suakes amoug tbe V albiri aueestors) l
baveuoevideueeofspeeiheuarrative liuksiutbe mytbology.
Yaribiri suake did eross tbe raiu proeeediug westward from
its origiu at Valabauba, but tbis is au assoeiatiou tbat, as l
bave poiuted out, oeeurs formauy aueestors baviug uo otber
speeialeoueeptualliukages.
Letuslookuow atraiuaud hre. Likeraiu,hredesiguseau
bemadewitb dasbesalougtbesidesoftbemeauder ,Fig. | ) ,
tbedasbesaretbe sparks, audtbemeaudersmoke.Adis-
tiuetive hre desigu, bowever, uses a siugle looped meauder
liue.Aresuestiugiuaudarouudtbetopoftbelooprepreseut
large elouds or au overeast sky from wbieb raiu falls. Sueb
ares mayoeeuralso iuraiudesigus audaetuallyreferto adi-
reetuarrativeliukbetweeuraiuaudhre, ouetbatis reeorded
iu tbehre desigu ofFigure i. !belatterrcfers to auauees-
raliueideutiuvolviugtbemakiugofhreatasiteealledVira-
wari. !wo meu are said to bave made hre bere, rubbiug a
spear tbrower agaiust a sbield iu tbe traditioual metbod. As
tbe smoke swirled up iuto tbe air, elouds formed aud it
raiued. !beraiuaueestorfromValabaubaisalsosaidtobave
eueouutered tbe raiu mau wbo was ereated by tbe smoke
frombishre.
!bis eouueetiou betweeu hre, smoke, aud raiumakiug is
reiteratediuauotberiuformaut'seommeutary.Hedeseribeda
mau makiug hre as part ofau ilbindji eeremouy to attraet a
womau. smoke from tbe hre rose up iu a red eloud aud
turued to raiu. Vy iuformaut illustrated tbis situatiou by
drawiugiutbesaud auareelosedattbebottombyaborizou-
! So W a|biri leooograpby
tal line, tbis represented tbe redeloud of smoke, tbe bome
of tbe raio. Lioes depietiog tbe smoke risiog to form tbe
eloudwereattaebedattbebottomoftbeare.
!bus links between rain and nre suggested at tbe visual
level in desigo similarities are matebed by explieit linkages
and equations io tbe imagery ofrelated narratives. !be are
, =eloud) eneloses notionsofraio and nre in asinglegrapbie
sbape. Altbougb my informants did not explieitly equate tbe
meaoder oftbe smoke witb rain or ligbtning, it would also
seem to besuggestivelyparallel to tbesepbenomena. Valbiri
sometimes personi[ tbesmoke as a young man wbo, in one
song, issaidto stand up (kari) aod go intotbesky. Ligbt-
ningmayalsobepersoninedintbisway, anditiseommonto
express bis emergenee from tbe water bole eamp of tbe rain
andbis journeyaerosstbeskybysayingtbatbe standsup.
Finally, tbe redsmoke rising from tbe nre and eausing tbe
rain to pour down seems to bear an implieit parallel to tbe
brilliant ligbtning standing up andbringing ontbestorm.
lt is also possible to poiot to some general links betweeo
nreandsnakes. !beseappearintbenarrativeofabulaba eer-
emony beiog performed at Yuendumu during mystay. !be
protagonist oftbisnarrative was a snake wbo emerged from
tbe ground as tbe smoke ofa nre. One man's drawing illus-
trated tbe nre as a eirele from wbieb a number ofmeander
lioes arose, tbe lines bad numerous dasbes plaeed between
tbem, and also represented tbesnakeburning ,literally going
upinsmoke' ) .
!be networkofassoeiations lbavesketebedbereiodieates
liokages of varying degrees of explieitness between rain,
snakes, and nre. !bese assoeiations inValbiri narrative and
' Kenneth Hale ( 1 967: 6) points out that associations between water
and fre are also expressed in a special ritual language used by men.
Veo's Aoeestra| Lesigos
imagery are matebed by grapbie linkages in tbe design sys-
tem, tbat is, in tbe network of overlapping formal resem-
blanees between nre, rain, and snake desigos. !bis evidenee
maywellbeevenmoreexplieittbanl bavebeenabletoshow
from mydata. ltis, bowever, sumeientto pointto aeoneep-
tual andimaginal elustertbatis eonveyedintbegrapbiede-
signstbrougbvisialsimilarities.
Diseussion. !be Syntbesis of Country
and Speeies Features in Designs
lo tbis ebapter, it bas been sbown tbat tbe grapbie strue-
ture of designs is used to buildup representations not simply
ofeamps and paths, butalso ofdifferentnaturalfeaturesrele-
vant to eaeb aneestor. !be designsystem treats eaeb speeies

as a seleetion of

eatures tbat ean be assembledioto a wbole,

or detaebed from eaeb otber, ratber tban as a unitary, un-
breakable form. !beresultis a rami[ingsystemofdifferent
designs for one aneestor ereated by tbe proeess of ordering
andreorderingasetofbasieelementsioan involuted fasb-
ion.
DesignstbuskeepbeforetbeValbiriimaginationtbematie
elementstbat eonveyeertain bodilyand otberrelated ebarae-
teristies of individual aneestors, eombining tbese witb tbe
generaleamp-patb eonnguration.!bissyntbesisofeountry
on tbe one band and speeies-speeinc, bodily or personal,
ebaraeteristies on tbe otber is tbe essenee of tbe aneestral
identitymark.
A similar syntbesis oeeurs in Valbiri notions about tbe
eountrysideitself,sineeaswebaveseen,tbeeountrynotonly
eontaios tbe bodies of tbe aneestors inside it, but is also
tbougbtofasbeingtbemetamorpbosed formsandimprintsof
tbeirbodies,orbodyparts.Vemaytakegurwari ioitsvisi-
1 82 Valbiti leouogtap|y
ble aspeet to be tbis amalgam of eouutty' aud body'
tbtougb wbieb au aueestot may be followed. Agaiu, tbe
footptiut suggests a simple model of tbis uotiou siuee iu it
gtouud aud body iutetseet. tbe priut eonveys tbe featutes
,feet, ot feet aud tail) oftbe auimal iu tbeit fotm as gtouud
ptiuts.
Gruwari ate eoustituted by tbebiudiug ofbodily aspeets,
petsoual ebataetetisties, aud aetivities of a mobile beiug, to
extetual spaee, tbis biudiug' eteates tbe visual fotms ttau-
seeudiugtbeiudividualpetsoutbtougbwbiebValbititepto-
duetivevitalityisfeltto bepetpetuated

ovettbegeuetatious.
Gruwari ptovide atempotal, trausgeuetatioual modes ofiu-
tet-telatiousbip betweeu iudividuals aud gtoups at tbe same
time tbattbeyexptesstbe fuudameutaltemporalottbytbmie
sequeuees of movemeut ftom plaee to plaee, wbieb Valbiti
use to eouvey tbe aueestot's life eyele. !bus tbesttuetuteof
petmaueuee eueapsulates tbe ttavel expetieuee of ittevetsible
sequeueetbatisalsoauidiomfottbemottallifeeyele.
CHAPTER _
I conography and Soci al
Symbol i sm i n dDd
Ceremoni es
l sball uow exteud tbe aualysi of Valbiti ieouogtapby to
eettaiu aspeets ofmeu's eetemouial dtama, aud to fotms of
eetemouialpatapbetualia. Outbe ouebaud,myputposei sto
bigbligbttbe eouueetioubetweeutbeiutetualsttuetute oftbe
desigusystemaudeettaiutitualeousttuetiousiutbtee-dimeu-
sioual spaee, aud outbe otbetto eousidetbowaueesttaltep-
teseutatioushguteiutbesymboliettausaetioubetweeulodges
ofoppositemoietiestbateoustitutestbebanba ,fettility) eete-
momes.
Banba Cetemouial Cousttuetiou
AtYueudumu,banba eetemouiesgeuetallybegaujustaftet
midday aud euded iu tbe late aftetuoou, befote suuset. !be
eetemouy typieally eousisted ofleugtbyptepatatious, iuvolv-
iugtbeeousttuetiouofeetemouialpatapbetualiaaudtbedeeo-
tatiouoftbedaueets`bodieswitbtedaudwbitenuff, followed
by a btief dtamatizatiou of sevetal miuutes dutation. Cete-
mouies take plaee away ftom tbe maiu eamps, iu tbe seelu-
siouoftbebusb.
As l bave pteviously iudieated, daueets iu banba eete-
mouies sbould be membets oftbeowuiugpattilodge ,otbat-
riugtbis, at least oftbesamemoiety as tbe lodge) , tbese ate
tbegira ot, as l bave ealled tbem, tbe mastets' oftbe eete-
1 83
84 W albiti lcooogtap|y
mony. !be meu wbo ptepate tbe daucets sbould beloug to
tbe opposite pattimoiety, tbey ate tbegurungulu, 'wotkets`
fot tbe cetemouy. lu most of tbe banba l obsetved, tbese
uotms wete adbeted to, but iu some iustauces lodge owuets
belpedwotketsiutbeptoductiouofcetemouialobj ects ,asiu
tbedyiugautcetemouydesctibedbelow). '
Dutiug tbe cetemouial ptepatatious mastets aud wotkets
geuetallysitat sepatatewiudbteaksotsbades` exceptwbeu
tbedaucetisbeiugdecotatedotabeaddtessbeiugbuiltup ou
bisbead. !betelevautaucesttalsougsatesuugdutiugptepa-
tatious, as tbese ate uecessaty to iumse tbe obj ects witb
stteugtb. Vbeu tbe patapbetualia ate teady, tbey may be
btougbt to tbe mastets fot apptoval. Smallet obj ects sucb as
citculatbeaddtessesateplacediuasbield,tockedby tbemas-
tets, aud suug ovet. Daucets ate tbeu decotated at tbe mas-
tet's sbade, aftet tbe cetemouial obj ects bave beeu teadied.
!bustbecetemooialptepatatiouotdiuatilyeutailssomeiu-
itial sepatatiou of membets of tbe opposing pattimoieties
dutiug most oftbecousttuctiouptocess, witb acouvetgeuce
oftbe two gtoupstowatd tbeeud as tbedaucet ,ot daucets)
is decotated. Af:ettbecompletiouofcousttuctiou

bedtama-
tizatious iuvolve membets of botb moieties iu a commou
ceutetiug`focus-tbedaucetstbemselves.
Banba dtamatizatious ateof two btoadtypes. luouetype,
oueotmotedaucetsctoucbaudsbufdeactossasmallcleated
space wbile tbe uoudaucets ,especially wotkets) suttouud
tbem giviug sbott titual calls (wahl wahl) . !bis type tepte-
seuts tbe aucestots iu camp. Some vatiatious of tbis sott of
cetemouy ate desctibedbelow. lutbeotbettype,petfotmets
positioued iutbebusb apatt ftomtbe otbet meu dauce iuto-
watd tbe audieuce. `!bis tepteseuts tbe aucestot ttaveliug
1 I never saw a man of the wrong moiety perform as a dancer in
the ceremonies; this agrees with Meggitt's observations ( 1 962 : 2 2 3, 224).
/
.

.
Banba Cetemooies 8 5
aloug tbe ttack ot comiug iuto camp. lubotb fotmsofcete-
mouytbepetfotmauce eudswitbtbetemovaloftbe daucets'
beaddtessesby membetsoftbeoppositemoiety.|ustasiutbe
guruwari desigusystemaudtbeuattativesttucturesofmytbs,
dtamatic vatiatiou occuts witbiu a geuetal site ,statiouaty)
-patb ,mobile,ditectioual) ftamewotk.
Despite tbe ultimate setiousuess iu tbe aim of tbese cete-
mouies, tbete is uo uuifotm toue ofawe ou tbe cetemouial
gtouud. Ou tbe couttaty, Valbiti petfotmauces ate usually
casual, hlled witb jokiug, sexual allusious, couvetsatiou, aud
bautet. lusttuctiousmaybe giveutodaucets, wbo ate some-
times jokiugly iusulted if tbey ate uot petfotmiug well.
Vbile tbete ate momeuts of bigb setiousuess, tbe ovet-all
toue of tbe cetemouy is vatiable. Ptepatatious may iuvolve
casual bebaviot witb some couvetsatiou iutetspetsiug tbe
siugiug. Dutiug tbe btiefpetfotmauce, tbete maybej okiug,
but also appateutis au iuteuse commuual iutetactiouiuvolv-
iug gatbetiug atouud tbe daucet witb accompauyiug titual
calls. !be decotated daucets ptovide tbe commou visual
focus fottbeotbetmeu, aud it is, ofcoutse, tbe daucets tbat
tbe two moieties bave combiued to ptoduce, oue ptovidiug
tbewotk ofcousttuctiouwbiletbeotbetptovidestbebodily
media tbtougb wbicb tbe patapbetualiaaud decotate cobet-
eutlyassembledaudtbeeuactmeuttakesplace.
lu tbe cousttuctiou of cetemouial patapbetualia aud tbe
decotatiou of tbe daucet, tbe aucestor is teembodied. !be
tetm balga is oneu used iu tbis coutext. lt deuotes pbysical
pteseuce, desb ot body, as well as matetial pleuty. Exptes-
sious sucb as balga-djari, to be botu,` ot balga-ma-ni, to
btiugiuto beiug,` makepbysically pteseut,` maybeusedto
tefettotbecetemouialcousttuctiouofguruwari.
Refettiugto a kaugatoo cetemouy, ouemautematked tbat
tbe pattiliueal lodge owuiug tbe cetemouy migbt ask tbe
! 86 W abiri leouogtapby
wotkets to ptepate tbe eetemouial patapbetualia by sayiug,
Youmakeneat. ltwillbebotutbeu. ltwillbavefat. lwaut
to eat. ` He also explaiued iuEuglisb, You make'm fatbet, l
waut to eat. ' !be eetemouial eousttuetious teembody tbe
aueestotaudaspattoftbis ptoeess aidiu eoutiuuiug tbesup-
ply ofkaugatoosiutbeeouutty,tbatis, iu effeettbeyteem-
bodytbekaugatoosaswell.
!bevatiouseetemouial petfotmauees tbus iuvolve pteseu-
tatious of aucesttal beiugs. As oue iufotmaut put it, tbe
aueestot getsup` ,as ftom sleep) , otbets suggested tbat be
is eomiug` ,iuto tbe petfotmauee plaee) ot tbat eetemouies
pull out`tbeaueestotftomtbeeouutty.!betemovaloftbe
beaddtess matks tbe eud of tbis eetemouial teembodimeut.
Cetemouialeousttuetiouistbeuaptoeessofmakiugvisible
aud giviug matetial embodimeut to aueesttal beiugs, iu tbis
tespeet, aud iu its implieatious fot tbe teptoduetiou of tbe
speeies , as well as ofbumaubeiugs) itisliketbeembodimeut
ofbittb. !weiufotmauts dtew a diteet patallel betweeutbe
family eamp aud tbe banba eetemouialeamp outbebasisof
tbeit eommou sexual-ptoeteative fuuetious. Voteovet, tbe
tetm !ra-ngga ,sexual iuteteoutse-plaee of) may be
used to tefet totbe banba eamp as well as tbe family eamp.
!besepatallelsateteitetatediueouueetiouwitbtbetbemeof
food ptoduetiou. Vauy of tbe totemie speeies iuvolved iu
banba ate ediole ot food-telated ,as, fot example, taiu), so
tbatmembetsofeaeb moietyateptodueiug foodfottbeop-
posite uoiety ,eompate tbe exptessiou quoted above, You
make'm fatbet, lwautto eat`) . Similatly, iutbefamilyeamp,
a mau aud biswife ate eugaged iu teeiptoeal food ptodue-
tiou. !hus, as we sball see iu mote detail iu tbis ebaptet,
banba eaubesaidto fotmulatetbelife-maiuteuaueeptoeesses
offoodptoductiou audptoeteatiou ,wbieb bavetbeitmattix
iu tbe betetosexual telatiousbips oftbe family) ou tbe sym-
Banba Cetemouies
bolie plaue ofeosmos ot uuivetse-maiuteuauee aud ttausge-
uetatioual, pattiliueal eoutiuuity ,wbieb bave tbeit mattix iu
uuisexualtelatiousbips) .
!be teeiptoeal sttuetute oftoles iueetemouial ptoduetiou
may be examiued fattbet ftom tbis petspeetive. !be eete-
mouial fotms move` betweeutbetwomoieties, fottbey ate
iu effeet detaebed ftou tbe bauds of tbe wotkets aud at-
taebed to ot btougbt iuto assoeiatiou witb tbe bodies oftbe
daueets. lu auy giveu eetemouy, tbe telatiousbip of eaeb
gtoup to tbese visual symbols is tbe iuvetse of tbe otbet's,
siueetbefotmeteteatesometbiugtbatisdetaebedftomtbem,
wbiletbelattetteeeivetbisasakiud ofgif:`tbattbeytake
ouiupattasavisualeovetiugoftbeitowubodies. Voteovet,
tbisgif:btiugs abouttbeideutineatiou oftbedaueetwitbbis
aueestots, aud so iu effeet gives bittb` to tbe aueestots, ot
teembodies tbem as aebildteembodiesesseutial aueesttalgu
ruwari powetswbeuitisbotu. Butwbileaebildeoutaiusgu
ruwari inside bisbody,tbedaueetweatsguruwari ouotover
bisbody.
!beiuvetsetelatiousbipofwotketsauddaueetstotbeeet-
emouial patapbetualiaseemsto ptojeet outbesymbolieplaue
tbe telatiousbip betweeu wife aud busbaud vis a vis tbeit
ebildteu ,espeeially tbeit sous) iu a soeiety wbete pattiliueal
deseeut denuestbeiudividual'saueesttalideutitywitbtespeet
to titual gtoup afnliatiou. !bus tbe motbet gives bittb to a
ebild wbo iubetits tbe fatbet'statbet tbautbemotbet'sauees-
ttal gtoup ideutity aud is a membet of tbe opposite patti-
moiety to bet owu. Similatly, tbeguruwari tepteseutiug tbe
aueestotsofaspeeinepattilodgesbouldideallybeeteatedby
membets oflodges oftbe oppositepattimoietyto tbeowuets
,i. e. , as tbe motbet eteates` a ebild of tbe opposite patti-
moiety to bet owu) . !bese guruwari fotms, sepatated ftom
tbeitotigiual eteatots,`beeomeideutinedwitbtbebodiesof
! 88 Va|biri leouograp|y
members oftbe owuiug patrilodge, trausformiug tbe latter
iuto embodimeutsof tbeirowupatriliuealaueestors. Assome
Valbiriputit,amautbeudaueesbisowuguruwari" ,Vuuu
: e.) .
2 I

a more general sense, the ceremonial production process com
mu
.
m

at

s between the moieties symbols of sexuality and procreation,

IS md1cated by the semantics of the symbols themselves (see below,
"Iconography and Ceremonial Forms"), in which male, female, and
reproductve eleme
.
nts are combined. Workers are thus making the
reproductive capacity of the dancers which they themselves (i.e., the
dancers) cannot construct.
In this connection it is of interest to consider if there is not some
relationship between the ritual interdependence of the patrilodges on
the one hand and the marital interdependence of the matrilineal de
scent units on the other. As noted in Chapter I Walbiri marriage ar
rangements are primarily the responsibility of the mother's brother
and the matriline. Peterson (1969:35) has drawn attention to the im
p
ermanence
_
of these matrilineal units, remarking that they are "sub
) ect to
.
c
?
ntmual fssion"; thus "no permanent exchange relationships
can exist be

ween them. )he corporate patrilodges are not directly

concerne
.
d

1th the marnage arrangements, but they involve the

commumca

IOn of sexual r

productive capacities at a symbolic level.

Put
_
otherwise, the ceremomal production process in which the lodges
a
:
e n
_
wolved could b

construed as a condensation symbolism expres
SIVe m
_
part of mar

1age exchange: in this way, marital interdepen

dency IS transposed mto the patrilineal idiom of corporation and per
manence.
From this perspective,
.
the guruwari transmission between lodges
can be seen as condensmg both the separation of children from
'
:omen , I discuss in the text) and the separation of women (poten
tial mothers) from men (male affnes). Both these notions are inter
twin

d in the
.
n
:ore general principle of the communication of repro
ductlv

apacltles. Both the matrilineal organization (involved in the
transmission of women) and the family organization (involved in the
procreation of children) constitute interrelated social matrices ensur
in
?
sexual-reproductive processes and intergenerational continuity. In
this sense, the ceremonial transaction of guruwari could be inter
preted as a condensation symbolism coding both these structures at
the level of universe maintenance.
Banba Ceremouies
!be aguatieally denued group ideutity is, ofeourse, most
siguineautiutbeeaseofsous,siueeitistbeywbowillbe iui-
tiated iuto male eult wbere ideutineatiou witb patriliueal
aueestorsiseoutiuually reeuaeted. Voreover, iu eireumeisiou
eeremouies, tbe soeial separatiou oftbe boy frombismotber
audbisfamily oforieutatiouisdramatizedtbrougbbissepara-
tiou from womeu audbisiutegratiouiutoadultmaseuliueso-
eiety. iu tbese eeremouies, womeu ,espeeially tbe boy's owu
motber) are tbefoeus ofseparatiou agaiustwbiebiseouuter-
posed tbe boy' siutegratiouwitb meu, aud witb tbe symbols
ofaueestral eult. !be boy is reboru3 tbrougb tbissbi ft iu
ideutineatiou. !be motber's relatiousbip to ber sou isoue iu
wbieb ideutineatiou must besevered-wbile tbe fatber's re-
latiousbip is tbe reverse, siuee it is iupart tbrougbbim tbat
tbeboy'suewideutitywillbedenued.
From tbis perspeetive, hanhaeeremouial formsappear iu a
strueturalpositiou equivaleut totbatoftbeebild ,partieularly
tbemaleebild) . tbey embody tbeaueestralideutityoftbepa-
triliueage oftbe oppositepatrimoiety fromtbosewboereate
tbeembodimeut, audtbeyareseparated fromtbelatteriutbe
proeessofbeiugideutinedwitbpatrilodgemembers.
Auiuterestiug mytbtbat lbavereeouutediu auotbereou-
text ,Vuuu : ;: ) supports tbe aualysis offered bere. lu tbis
mytb eertaiu aueestral womeu are followed from plaee to
plaee by two meu wbo make assiguatious witb tbem at tbe
various eamps aloug tbe route. As tbey travel aloug, tbe
womeu emit feeestbat are also saered boards. !be meupiek
up tbese boards aud make eeremouial beaddresses out of
tbem, tbey wear tbe beaddresses as tbey travel bebiud tbe
womeu, but remove tbem eaeb time tbey euter tbe eamp to
bave sexual iutereourse. Duriug iutereourse tbe boards are
' W albiri men associate the metaphor of dying with circumcision.
W albiti leouogtapby
left outside tbe eamp, so as to keep tbem seetet ftom tbe
womeu, iutbemotuiug, tbe meupiektbem up agaiuas tbey
ptoeeedalougtbetoute.
lutbismytb, tbeboatds ,feees) emitted ftom tbewomeu's
bodies beeome tbemeu'sbeaddtesses, tbeteis also additioual
evideueetbattbeyeaubeequatedwitbtbewomeu'sptogeuy
,see Muuu 1 97 1 : 1 54- 1 5 5) . !be womeu lose tbe boatds to
tbemeu, j ustas tbeuovieeis lost' to womeuiu maleiuitia-
tioueetemouies, aud as a eetemouial objeetissepatated ftom
meuof tbeopposiug moiety ,wbo eteated it) aud plaeed ou
tbe body of a daueet oftbe mastets' moiety ,aud lodge) .
Moteovet, j ust as tbe obj eets aud eetemouies ate kept seetet
ftom womeu today, so tbe mytb sbowstbeit ueeessaty sepa-
tatiouftomtbebetetosexualeoutextof aetual,biologiealpto-
eteatiou. lu effeet, tbe plaue ofttausgeuetatioual eoutiuuity
assoeiated witb tbesymbols oftbepattilodgeopetates atoue
level,wbilebetetosexualtelatiousbipsaudtbefamilyofpto-
eteatiou'opetateatauotbet. !bebeaddtessestbemselvespto-
videtbepivotofeoujuuetiouauddisjuuetiou.tbeyeodebotb
tbe symbolieliukage oftbe two otdets aud tbeit sttuetutal
sepatatiou.
!bese featutes suggest some of tbe siguineauee of tbe
'maskiug' quality of tbe body deeotatious typieal of banba
eetemouies, wbete tbe daueet's faee aud totso ate geuetally
eoveted witb deeotatious. lu tbis way bis petsoual ideutity
-bis pbysieal body-is ovetlaid by guruwari, by fotms
epitomiziugbisaueesttal,soeialideutity.Putiuauotbetway,
On the depersonalizing aspect of facial masking, Edward Tir
y

kian ( 1 968: 83) has sug

estively commented, "Everyone can recog

mze the mask and what It stands for as a social character . . . . The

ask is the public medium of expressing and teaching what is most

mherently sacred to the collectivity. The mask mediates the visible
and the invisible; it relays one to the other. . . . [It is] the social
cloak of the face."
Banba Cetemouies
bis biologieal-pbysieal beiug is ovetlaid by bis attifaetual ot
symbolie,aueesttalpetsoua. '
!betesultof tbistelativelydeuse symbolie eovetiugistbat
tbe teality of evetyday life is iu effeet sbined ot iuvetted
siueetbeovetlayofguruwari makesvisible fotms ,tbatis, au-
eesttal beiugs) uot otdiuatily visible iu daily iutetaetiou.
!btougb tbe fotmatiou ofguruwari tbe djugurba ateaof ex-
petieuee, uotmally exeluded ftom pteseutatioual immediaey
,see above, Cbaptet 4), is iutegtated iuto tbe pteseutatioual
neldoftbeaetot.
!be telatiou betweeu tbe aetots ,daueets aud obsetvets)
audtbeaetiouiubanba eetemouialbaseettaiupatallelsto tbe
telatiou betweeu tbe dteamet aud bis dteam iu tbat iu botb
iustauees tbe diteet pteseutatiou of djugurba expetieuee is
made possible tbtougb a sbift iu tbe otdiuaty sttuetutiug of
tbe aetot-aetiou telatiousbips of daily, lived-iu' expetieuee.
lu eetemouial, tbe daueets ate pattly detaebed ftom tbeit
owu petsoual ideutities tbtougb body eovetiug implyiug
ideutineatiou witb aueestots, aud ate eugaged iu au aetiou
tbat iuvolves, aeeotdiug to Valbiti belief, a teeuaetmeut of
eveutssupposedtobaveoeeuttedi uauotbetage. Veeausee
sueb reenactment as eombiuiug tbe eugagemeut of aetiug
out' witb tbe diseugagemeut of lookiug at' eveuts ftom
outsidetbem ,siueetbeyatereeuaetmeuts ofprevious oeeut-
teuees). !bis sott of eugaged-diseugaged sttuetutiug of tbe
aetot-aetiou telatiousbip typHes tbe eteatiou of djugurba
eveutswitbiutbepteseutatioualimmediaeyof tbeiudividual's
neldofexpetieuee.
leouogtapby aud Cetemouial Fotms
lutbetypiealbanba, tbe daueetis deeotated witbted aud
wbite duff desigus exteudiug ftom tbe beaddtess ovet bis
5 The term for red is yalyu-yalyu, a reduplicated form of the term
W albiri leouograp|y
faeeaud dowubis body ,see Plates L 3 ) ; bemayearryeer-
taiuadditioualobj eetssuebasdeeoratedsbieldsoralougpole
attaebed to bis baek. Aetors eommouly earry bloodwood
leaves assoeiatedwitb fertility, wbiebtbeysbake orbeat ou
tbegrouudas tbeydauee,ortbeseleavesmaybeattaebedto
aeeutralpropasiutbenyiugauteeremouydeseribedbelow.
Vell-iuformed Valbiri meu are tbemselves quite explieit
about tbe relatiousbip betweeu tbeir desigu ieouograpby aud
tbe forms of eertaiu eeremouial parapberualia. !beir aware-
uess was most foreibly brougbt to my atteutiou iu oue iu-
staueeduriugtbepreparatiouofaeireularbeaddress foraua-
tive eat eeremouy belougiug to a lodge of Djuugarai-
Dj abaldj ari meu. !bis was of a eireular type used also
iusomeotberbanba lobserved.Vorkerseoustruetedtbebead-
dress of mulga brauebes sbaped iuto a eirele aud wrapped
witbbairstriug.lutbisstageofpreparatiou,itbadadougbuut-
likesbapewitbaboleiutbeeeuter.
As tbe preparatious proeeeded, l drew tbe mulga riug iu
myuotebook. Fourworkerswitb wbom lwassittiugbadal-
ready assisted me iudrawiugoumyuotebookpage a desigu
of eoueeutrie eireles, depietiug two eamps eouueeted by a
meauderiug patb liue witb footpriuts pged aloug its sides.
for blood. Fluf is reddened with blood, and blood is of course an im
portant part of masculine ceremonies; its sexual connotations are a
well-known feature of central Australian ritual. Yalyu-djinda, "one
blood," is an expression W albiri men use to refer to the unity of the
patrilineal lodge (women do not share this "blood"). But the term is
also used more widely, as a general equivalent of "one country" (wal
ya-djinda). In its most general sense, "one blood" like "one country"
can be used to convey the notion of kinship. The associations of
white are less certain; there may perhaps be links with semen or I and
milk, but I have no explicit evidence to this effect. Unfortunately, my
data are weak on color symbolism, as I did not give it suffcient at
tention during my fieldwork.
Banba Cereoouies 1
93
!bis desigu represeuted tbe aueestor wbose eeremouy was
beiug performed. Reeoguiziug my seeoud drawiug as a pie-
tureoftbe beaddress, tbeyiusisted tbat l attaeb itto tbe de-
siguabovebydrawiug aeouueetiugpatb ,tail)liueaudraug-
iug footpriuts aloug tbesides. !beyideutined tbe beaddress
astbeeamp orbole, audalsoealleditngami, atermdeuotiug
tbedeep-sided

oodeuseoop iuwbiebwomeuearriedwater
iu tbepasttbatisalsousedto deuote motber' ,asiungami
langu, two people iu tbe motber-ebild relatiousbip). !be
beaddresswasregardedas femiuiue, audtbeliueasmaseuliue
,tbesouoftbefemaleeirele).
Vbeutbis beaddresswaseompleted, tbebolewaseovered
by addinoualmulga, audredaudwbitenuffwasattaebediu
eoueeutrie eireles arouud a large eeutral area. lt was elear
tbat iu tbe meus' view tbis form represeuted tbe aueestral
eampaudtbeauimal'sbole.
!bebeaddresswastbeuplaeedouasbieldaudearriedover
to tbree meu oftbe owuiug lodge. !wo oftbese were old
meu,buttbetbird,tbesouofoueoftbem,wasayouugmar-
ried mau iu bis early tbirties. Eaeb oftbese iudividuals took
tbesbieldwitbtbe beaddress iuturuaudquiveriugritually,
saug over it. Vorkerstbeu preparedtbeyouuger mau ,wbo,
my iuformauts poiuted out, wouldbeauimportautleaderiu
tbis lodge wbeu bis fatber died), to be tbe performer. A
mulga base for tbe beaddress wasbouudto bisbead, aud tbe
` The shield is, of course, a masculine implement, but its form par
allels those of the oval containers used by women. The shield may
also be used as a container for ceremonial materials such as fuff or
blood. Masculine symbolism closely associates shields, baby carriers,
and other containers. My impression is that the placing of the cere
monial object on the shield and its presentation to the masters has
overtones suggestive of the baby in the carrier, but I did not think at
the time to check this with informants.
I 9
4
W a|biri lcouograp|y
beaddressattaebed to it, bewas tbeu deeorated witb red aud
wbite duffdesigus. Duriugtbeproeessbe oeeasiouallysbook
bissbouldersiuaritualizedquiveriug.7
!be desiguplaeed ou tbe bodywas uot tbe ouesbowuto
me iu tbe drawiug, but eousisted oftwo erossed liues repre-
seutiug tbe tail aud peuis ,patb) oftbe auimal ,like tbebody
desigufortberatkaugaroo, Plate L) . Noueoueeutrie eireles
represeutiug testieles8 were plaeed arouud tbe liues iu a
eore-adjuuet arraugemeut ,Fig. , uo. ) . !be daueer was
tberefore deeked out iu forms represeutiug botb female aud
maleelemeuts, tbeeampaudtbepatbexpressediutbeeombi-
uatiouof eireularbeaddressaudliuearbodydesigu.
!be performauee was of tbe eamp` type. !be daueer
sbufded forward iu tbe eleared spaee, beatiug buuebes of
bloodwoodleaves agaiust bis legs aud alteruatiug tbis bebav-
ior witb ritual quiveriug. !be bloodwood leaves are always
tbougbt of as life-giviug, meu explaiued iu tbis iustauee tbat
tbey were ebild-baviug, preguaut. ` !be aetiou as a wbole
expressed tbeproereative poweroftbe aueestor wbo, asoue
mauputitiurefereueetoauotbereeremouyoftbistype,was
ealliugup`bisebildreu.
!beworkers iu tbiseeremouy madesymbols tbat brougbt
togetber femaleaud malesexuality ,eamp aud patbelemeuts)
iua syutbesis ou tbe bodyof tbedaueer,tbedaueer'saetious
symbolized proereatiou ,tbe staudard meauiug iu daueiug of
tbis type) . !bus tbe workers provided tbe ieouograpby of
male aud femalesexuality tbrougb wbiebtbedaueer asserted
' The signficance of ritual quivering has been suggested in Chapter
i .
8 The circular shape representing the testicles suggests ambiguous
male-female associations comparable to the ambiguous quality of the
shield, which is a masculine obj ect but oval in form like the feminine
containers (see note 6 above).
Banba Cereoooies
Plate 10. Preparations for a rat kangaroo ceremony. The dancers com
bine ci rcle and l i ne configurati ons. See Fi gure 1 8, no. 7, for meani ngs.
.~...~.~~
W albiri Iconography
Figure 18. The iconography of banba ceremonies
Body desi gn
Obj ect carried, or
other ceremoni al
prop Headdress
1 . Native cat
(djadji[i}
Dj ungarai
Djabaldjari

Arms
testi cl es peni s
(path)
Back
hol e
camp
watr
carner
mother
2. Marsupial mouse
(djunganba)
(Pl ate 1 1 )
Djabangari
Djabanangga
3. Ni ght (munga)
and berry
(yagadjin)
(Pl ate 1 2)
Dj ungarai
Djabal djari
path
-peni s
tai l
Wi nds over face,
torso, and arms
Ni ght (path)
Key ("Type of acti on" and design col ors) :
A. Ni ght. No
headdress. Pol e
extends above
head
B. Yagadjiri
berr
carrier
scoop for food,
etc.
" Fixed ceremony. Actor shuffles in pl ace (camp) .
,= Actor dances in toward other men (following track).
Bl ack areas " red in design unless otherise stated. Designs were
created with red and white fl uff, but shi el ds were pai nted.
. , .... . . ..
igure 1 8 (conti nued)
Body design

Banba Ceremonies
Obj ect carried, or
other ceremoni al
prop Headdress
i ,;
Type of
action
. Kangaroo
(mafu)
(Pl ate 1 3)
Dj uburul a
Djagamara
paths

Torso and upper

arm
~. _,
paths
L
scoop i n which tail, peni s
. Flyi ng ant
(bandjkt)
( Plates 1 4A, B)
Djuburul a
Djagamara
Torso
food is shaken
small camps
.
Ground pai nti ng
post = ant hi l l
(post set
here)
1 -5. These ceremonies are di scussed in the text, Chapter 7. Except
for no. 2, marsupi al mouse, al l of the banba ceremonies i l l ustrated were
performed as part of or prel i mi nary to ci rcumci si on ceremonies hel d i n
l ate December and early January 1 957. 3. The body desi gn for the ya
gadjiri berry dancer i s not shown. It i ncl uded broad horizontal stripes on
the chest (possibly representi ng rock hol es?).
. .__ _,
W albiri Iconography
Figure 1 8 (conti nued)
6. Yawagi
berry
Dj uburul a
Djagamara
7. Rat
kangaroo
(mala)
(Pl ate 1 0)
Dj ungarai
Djabal djari
8. Pi geon
(ngun)
Djabangari
Djabanangga
Body desi gn
Object carried, or
other ceremoni al
prop
frui t

track of ram
Torso
ni s
i l pri nt
Back & front
ancestor
l yi ng
down
Shi el d
Headdress
Ci rcul ar
headdress
6. This ceremony, l i ke no. 5, was performed after the decorat ion of

-
hi
_
el ds in the morni ng. Shi el ds were prepared for both yawagi and band
tt, among others, but bandjici dancers di d not carry the shi el ds. The
yawagi performer danced in flouri shi ng the decorated shi el d i n front of
hi
n
. Sh(el d designs were i n charcoal and white. Thi s yawagi bel ongs to
a s1 te di fferent from that of the Djangal a-Djambi dj i mba yawagi menti oned
i n Chapter 1 .
7 . Fou r dancers crouched facing north; grasping thei r knees, they hel d
l eafy branches i n thei r mouths as they shuffled i n pl ace.
8. Another headdress of the same shape as the one shown had red
and whi te horizontal stripes across it; thi s type was worn by two dancers
representi ng femal e bi rds. The one shown here was worn by the "fa
ther. " The headdress as a whol e probably represents the bi rd' s beak as
this meani ng was g iven for a simi larly shaped headdress i n another ai rd
ceremony. Beaks have phal l i c associations. The three dancers crouched
i n a cl eared ci rcul ar space with a small ci rcul ar depressi on i n the cen
ter. The two female dancers shuffled toward each other and sat down
one di rectly behi nd the other. The "father" clasped the two "femal e'
:
dancers, an act that si mul ated sexual i ntercourse.
,,,_. .
loure 1 8 (conti nued)
. Yaribiri
snake
Djubu rul a
Djagamara
1 0. Opossum
(djanganba)
Dj uburul a
Djagamara
Body desi gn
connects wi th
ci rcul ar headdress
Back Front
f i \ f
On torso
On thi gh
Banba Ceremonies 1 99
Object carried, or
other ceremoni al
prop
tail
(penis)
Headdress
body of
opossum
9A. The body designs and headdress for a ceremony associated wi th
Ngama cave. See Fi g. 1 6, no. 1 0. The headdress probabl y represents the
hole of the snake, as well as h is coi l ed body, although meani ngs were
not obtained i n thi s i nstance. As i n the marsupi al mouse ceremony (no. 2)
the ci rcul ar headdress connects with the meander l i nes goi ng over the
body so that a typi cal ci rcle-l i ne fi gure i s bui l t up on the body of the
performer. Cf. Mountford (1 968), Pl ate 53a.
9B. The headdress onl y for a ceremony connected with another yari
biri site. Here the ribs of the snake, a promi nent feature of the snake de
signs (see above Fi g. 1 5A), are shown attached to hi s coi l ed body. Ct.
Mountford (1 968), Pl ate 65d, e.
1 0. Two performers danced toward the other men pi cki ng up the
shi el ds as they came. Quivering thei r shoul ders and shaki ng the emu
feathers on thei r arms, they clashed thei r shi el ds together si mul ati ng a
fight between the two opossum men. The shi el ds are decorated with yel
low ochre and white dots over a red ochered base.
Type of
action
//
ZLL W Abiti leouogtap|y
tbe feeuudity aud so tbe eoutiuuity of tbe speeies aud ofbis
owupattiliueallodge.
Tbis example may beeompatedwitbtbe matsupial mouse
eetemonyof tbesametypeillusttatediuFigute 8, uo.Z aud
Plate I I . lutbiseetemouy, tbeelabotatebeadgeat, eousistiug
Plate 1 1 . Performer decorated for a marsupi al mouse ceremony. See
Fi gure 1 8, no. 2, for meani ngs.
oftwo latge, eiteulat fotms, paueaked' oue ou top oftbe
otbet, tepteseuted tbe bole ot uest ,tbe eamp) of tbe mouse
wbeteitsyouugatelaid.Liuesoftedaudwbiteduffwiudiug
ftom tbe beaddtess aetoss tbe faee aud atouud tbe daueet's
totsotepteseutedtbe mouse'stail ,peuis audpatb) . Atypieal
eamp-patb ngute was iu tbis way built up ou tbe daueet's
bodyaudbead.
Auotbet type of assemblage is illusttated iu tbe uigbt aud
yagadjiri betty eetemouy ,Fig. I 8, uo. Plate Z ) iu wbieb
Banba Ceteuouies ZL
Plate 1 2. Performers danci ng a ceremony representi ng t he ni ght See
Fi gure 1 8, no. 3, for meani ngs.
wotkets eousttueted two mulga poles about teu feet loug
tepteseutiug tbettaek oftbe uigbt aetoss tbesky, aswell as
tbeuigbtaueestotbimselflyiugdowu.'Tufts offeatbetsat-
taebed to tbe poles tepteseuted stats aeeotdiug to some iu-
ZLZ
W abiri leouogtap|y
fot

auts, audw

tesaid tobaventst beeumeu. ,Compatetbe

typieal plutal adjuuet alougtbeliueateoteiumeu'sdesigus.)
Au oval beaddtess ofmulga wtapped iu baitsttiug aud eov-
eted witbted audwbitenufftepteseuted tbe woodeuseoop
oftbebetty womau. Liketbe pole, tbebeaddtesswasdeeo-
tatedwitbtufts offeatbets tepteseutiug stats. Veuexplaiued
tbattbewomau gatbetedbettiesiutbis seoop, tbeseoop also
tepteseuted tbe food itselfaud tbe eamp oftbis aueestot. lu
eouttasttotbepole,tbebeaddtesswastbedaytime,audlike
awomau. '
!be eetemouy tefettiug to tbese two aueestots, at a site
west ofYueudumu wbete tbey met, belouged to a lodge ot
Dj abaldj ati-Djuugatai meu, tbtee ofwbom petfotmedi utbe
eetemouy. !wo Djuugatai daueets daueed witb tbe poles,
tbe tbitd, a Dj abaldj ati mau, weatiug tbe oval beaddtess,
played tbepattoftbebetty womau. Veustated tbattbelat-
tetwas tbe motbet' oftbeuigbtaueestotaud ideutined bet
a

a agamata womau ,i. e. , of tbe opposite pattimoiety to

ngbt itself, aud iu tbe subseetiou of tbe motbet of Dj uu-
gatai).
!be aetot playiug tbe womau sat iu a eleated spaee aud
beat tbe gtouud witb a stoue to simulate tbe pouudiug of
foo. !be two uigbt daueets ttaveled slowlyi utowatd bet,
at ttmes

estieulatiug witb tbeit bauds to iudieate tbat tbey

wet

eommgftomadistauee.!bistepteseutedtbeuigbtmeu
eommg to tbe betty womau to obtaiu food ftom bet. Ae-
e
'
tdiugto tbe meu's eommeutaty, sbetbeugives foodto tbe
ngbt aud tbey bave iuteteoutse togetbet ftom wbieb ebil-
dteutesult.
lutbiseetemouy,tbemaleaudfemale,patbaudeamp)ele-
meuts ateideutined witb di ffeteut aueestots, tbe oue ,male)
assoeiatedwitbttaveliugaudtbeotbet, female)witbtbenxed
Banba Cetemooies
eamp' positiou. !be iuteteoutse oftbe two ,iu effeet tbe
meetiug oftbe eamp aud patb, tbej oiuiugof tbe eiteulat aud
elougateelemeuts)yieldsptogeuy.
!be teadet will bave uotieed tbat altbougb tbe betty
womauwasdesetibedas tbemotbet' oftbetwo uigbtmeu,
sbe also bad sexualiuteteoutse witbtbem, a featute tbat did
uot distutb iufotmauts wbom l latet quetied about it. Siuee
uigbt is aetually Djuugatai-Dj abaldj ati, tbe Nagamata betty
womau is iu faet iu tbe eategoty of wife' to Dj abaldj ati
meu, aswellasmotbet'toDjuugataimeu. Petbapswemay
eouelude tbat tbejoiuiug ofuigbt aud dayiuiuteteoutse, iu
foodgiviugaud teeeiviug, audiutbemotbet-soutelatiousbip
syutbesizes tbe diffeteuttelatiousbips audaetsj oiuiugtbepa-
ttimoieties. !be betty womau is motbet, sexual pattuet
,wife), aud soutee ofvegetable food, sbe eoudeuses tbe tbtee
esseutialfeatutesoffemiuiuetoleiubetpetsou.
Auotbettype ofaetivitywas mimediutbekaugatoo eete-
mouy sbowuiuFigute r 8, uo.4 aud Plate ' 3 !betwo dau-
eets wote elougate ovoid beaddtesses, tbese tepteseuted tbe
tail ,peuis) oftbekaugatoo. A sligbtlysbottet, natovoid ob-
j eet tepteseuted tbe woodeu seoop used by womeu iu tbe
pastto eolleet aud ptepatevegetable foods.!betwo daueets
etouebed faeiug eaeb otbetwitb tbe foodeoutaiuetbetweeu
tbem, aud imitated tbe pouudiug, wiuuowiug, aud eatiug of
gtassseed.
lt would be possible to ttauslate tbis eusemble iuto tbe
ieouogtapbyasatypiealaetot-itemtypeofnguteoftbekiud
we bave seeu eommouly used to tepteseut eatiug seeues iu
stotytelliug. Vale aud female elemeuts ate also btougbt to-
' Some informants suggested that the night "put" (yira-nu, put
down), the moiety to which the Dj abaldj ari-Djungarai subsections
belong, while the sun or daytime "put" the opposite moiety.
Va|biti lcouogtap|y
Plate 13. Performer decorated for a kangaroo ceremony. See Fi gure 1 8,
no. 4, for meani ngs.
getbet iutbiseetemouy. tbe female elemeutis tbe vegetable
food seoop plaeed betweeu tbe two aetots`` upou wbieb
tbeitatteuuou is foeused, tbe aetotstbemselves ate weatiug
maseuliueemblemsoutbeitbeads.
!bebasieeitele-liueieouogtapbymay beutilizediuotbet
kiuds of assemblages sueb as tbose iuvolviug gtouud paiut-
10 Although the shape of the "container" as constructed in this cer
emony was not as round as "female" obj ects usually are in the sym
bolism, the winnowing scoop has, of course, feminine connotations.
Relative to the headdress, it was, moreover, short and somewhat
rounded, more like the oval used to represent containers in sand sto
ries. Thus it contrasted with the form of the masculine headdress.
Banba Cetemouies
iugs, asiutbe nyiugaut (bandji4i) eetemouy lwituessedtbat
took plaee as oue amoug a medley of banba type eete-
mouies. ! ltwaspetfotmediuasiugleateabydiffeteutpatti-
lodgesdutiugouedayofaeiteumeisioueetemouy.
Couiealbeaddtesseswete madebywotketsatoue sbade, a
sbott post was also iuitially ptepated bete aud tbeu btougbt
ovettotbeseeoudsbadewbetelodgemastetswetesittiug.lu
tbis iustauee, substautial belp wasgiveu by mastets iudeeo-
tatiug tbe post, wbieb was tubbed witb ted oebte aud
paiutedwitb a elustet ofwbite dots tepteseutiug auts, wbile
tbe meu saug. A buueb ofleaveswas attaebed to tbe top of
tbepost.
Veauwbile,wotketsdug a boleiu a positiou tougblyeeu-
ttalbetweeu tbe sbadeswbete tbe diffeteuteetemouies wete
beiug ptepated. !bis was to be tbe daueiug gtouud fot tbe
aut petfotmauee. Aftet tbe bole bad beeu dug, water was
poutedoutbesoilaudblooddtawuftomtbeatmwastubbed
ou it as au adbesive fot tbe duff deeotatious. Red nuffwas
tbeulaidiueoueeuttieeitelesiusidetbebole audtbeuupaud
atouud it ou tbe sutfaee of tbe gtouud ,Plate A) . Vbite
nuffwasaddedtoeompletetbedesigu.
!be eouieal beaddtesses, anet beiug ptepated by wotkets
at tbeit sbade, wete tbeu btougbt to tbe mastets' sbade aud
laid ou sbields. Higb-pitebed titual ealls pteeediug tbis wete
voieed agaiu anet tbe pteseutatiou oftbe beaddtesses to tbe
mastets.
Iout meu ,two of wbom belouged to tbe pattilodge, aud
two totbesamepattimoietybutuottbelodge oftbeowuets)
wete deeotated as daueets ,fot body desigus see Figute 8,
uo. 5) , aud tbe deeotated post was plaeedi utbe bole attbe
1 1
See also Munn ( 1 967), in which this ceremony is discussed in re
lation to the Walbiri concept of "coming-out-going-in."
2 06 Valbiri lconograpby
Plate 14A. Prepari ng a sand pai nti ng for a fl ying ant ceremony. A hol e
has been made for a post; workers are decorat i ng the hol e and the area
around it with concentric ci rcl es in red and white fl uff.
Plate 1 48. The fi ni shed post and sand pai nti ng for the fl yi ng ant cere
mony. See Fi gure 1 8, no. 5, for mean i ngs.
Banba Ceremonies
eenter of tbe ground painting ,Plate : B) . 1be daneers
erouebed on tbe sand painting, beating tbe ground witb
leaves as tbey eonverged on tbe pole. As tbey sbumed in-
ward, tbe standing observers elustered around tbem and
surged inward giving tbe ebaraeteristie ritual sbouts (wah!
wah! .wah!) astbeydidso.Vbentbedaneersbadapproaebed
as elose as possible to tbe post, beaddresses werequiekly re-
moved,tbismarkedtbeendoftbeeeremony.
1beeoneentrieeirelesintbesandpaintingrepresentedtbe
eentral eamp of tbe ant, smaller eireles and dasbes around it
ontbe ground representedsubordinateeamps andtbenumer-
ous ants tbemselves ,also referred to as people) dying
around. 1beantswerealsosbownelimbingup and downtbe
post, wbieb represented an antbill witb its life-giving leaves
ontop.
Ven said tbat wben tbe daneers sbuHed on tbe ground
paintingtbeyweretbeantserawlingaroundtbeireamp,tbeir
eonvergenee upon tbe bole and post represented tbe ant
aneestors going into tbe ground, wbile tbe removal of tbe
beaddressesmeanttbattbeybad gonein. Attbesametime,
tbesbumingontbepainting andtbemovementintotbe bole
expressedtbemultiplieationoftbeants, andso alsoofbuman
progeny.
lntbisassemblagetbepropsinelude anelongate form ,tbe
post)setintotheeenterofeoneentriceireles.1beaetorseon-
verge into tbe bole, j ust as inwomen'ssandstoriesaneestral
peoplearesbowneonvergingonabole, goingin. Elongate
andeireularelementsaswellastbepluralelementssuggesting
feeundity ,tbe numerous swarming ants) eombine to ereate a
sexual imagery of fertility tbat is earried out in tbe proerea-
tivesignineaneeoftbeaetion.
1bisproereativesignineaneeissyntbesizedwitbtbenotion
208 Valbiti lcouogtap|y
oftbe aueestot'sdeatbexptessediubis eutty iuto tbe gtouud,
aud iutbe eootdiuate temoval oftbe beaddtess. ltis as iftbe
aueestotttauslatesbisowuembodimeutiutobisptogeuy. tbe
aetofptoeteatiouiuvolvestbedeatb,goiugiu') oftbegeui-
tot. ludeed, tbe temoval of tbe beaddtess tbat eloses tbe
banba dtamas ,so eudiug tbe aueestot's teembodimeut) sug-
gests tbat tbis meauiug may also be implied iu otbet eete-
mouies oftbistypesiuee, as webave seeu, all eatty tbeeou-
uotatiou of fettilizatiou eveu tbougb tbe idea of goiug iu'
ueeduotbediteetlydtamatized. Outbisview, tbetotal pto-
eess ofattifaet eousttuetiou auddtamatiepteseutatiouepito-
mizes tbeaueestot'slifeeyele. tbewotketseteatetbeattifae-
tual fotms tbtougb wbieb tbe aueestot is embodied, as tbe
embodimeuts of aueestots, tbe mastets mime seeues iu tbeit
lives, ot simply depiettbe aueestotsiutbeit eamps ot ttavel-
iug iu tbe eouutty. Dutiug tbe dtamatizatious, tbey ate also
geuetatiugtbeitptogeuy, aud at tbeeudtbeitembodimeutis
nuisbedbytbetemovaloftbebeaddtess,deatb).
Diseussiou. Symbolie aud Biologieal Cteatiou
Ou tbebasis oftbeebataetetisties ofbanba eetemouies de-
setibed bete, itis possible to suggest tbattbebanba ptodue-
tiou ofaueesttal fotms eoustitutes aptoeesswbetebysexual-
ptoeteative tesouteesate ttausfeted ftom oue pattimoiety to
tbe otbet, aud ftom matetually-anually liuked males iuto a
pattiliuealdeseeutgtoup, aptoeess tbat makes possiblettaus-
geuetatioual, eosmie eoutiuuity. Vbat tbe wotkets make is
tbe guruwari of tbe aueestot, tbat is, bis ptoeteativepoteuey
as well as bis visual ideutity matks. !btougb tbeit petfot-
mauee, tbe mastets tealize tbe geuetative poteutial oftbe au-
eesttal fotms . it is as if tbey ebauge aueestots iuto deseeu-
dauts, audso maiutaiu tbe eoutiuuity ofspeeies aud petsous.
Banba Ceremouies 2 09
lt is iutetestiug to eompate tbis pattetu of symbolie
eteativitywitbptoeteatiou attbe familiallevel. Outbeeete-
mouial plaue, maseuliue eousttuetiou aud dtamatic pteseuta-
tiou ofancestral fotmsyieldsprogeny; outbe familial plaue,
womeu ate tbe vebieles of maleprogeny wbo eoutiuue tbe
deseeut liue of pattiliueal ancestors. lu eettaiu tespeets tbe
sttuetute ofeetemouial eteativitytevetsestbat oftbefamily.
tbe petsouuel ate all males tatbet tbeu male aud female, aud
tbeeteatioubegiuswitbtbe fotmatiouofancestors wbothen
ptoeeed to tbe ptoduetiou oftbeitptogeuy. !bis set of te-
vetsalsmatks tbe distiuetioubetweeumaseuliue,symbolieot
soeialeteativity,audfemiuiue,biologiealeteativity.
lu iuitiatiou eetemouies wenudtbe most obvious poiutof
iutetseetiouoftbesetwokiudsofeteativity,siueeiutbemtbe
uovieeisbeiugsbiftedoutofbisstatusas aebildiubisfamily
of otieutatiou iuto adultbood as a poteutial busbaud aud fa-
tbet iu bisowu family of ptoeteatiou. !bis oeeuts ofeoutse
iu eouj uuetiou witb bis eutty iuto aueesttal eult. !bus tbe
ttausitiouftom ebildtoadult audpoteutial fatbetismediated
bytbeassumptiouofideutineatiouwitbaueestots,tbatis,an
cestral fathers aud ptoeteatots. !be uoviee eomes iuto bis
matutity a a membet ofauaueesttal liue' at tbesametime
tbat be beeomes tbe poteutial soutee ofgeuetatiou ofa uew
family.
!bis loeks bim iuto tbe soeial sttuetutewitb tespeet botb
totbettaditioualpastaudtbepetsoual fatute. Putiuauotbet
way, we may say tbat fot a boy tbe status ofpoteutial pto-
eteatototpateutissphtiutotbetwoeottelativeplauesof tbe
soeietalotsoeiopolitieal ,aueesttal) audpetsoual-familial. His
aueesttal, symbolie tole telates bis geuetativepoteutiality to
tbesoeial system at latge, wbile tbe familial oue telates itto
bislifeeyeleaudpetsoualkiu.
z r o W albiti lcouogtap|y
!beieouogtapbyofbanba eetemouiesislatgelyiukeepiug
witb tbis geuetative impott.
g]_j

d
liueat ,i.e., femiuiue aud maseuliue) elemeuts ateuotbtougbt
_

lay iu .ll tbe

e
_
uie

]
_

,
y
-
ate uot always
fouud togetbet iu auy siugle desigu), uevettbeless tbete is a
teudeueyfotsometepteseutatiouofbotb to oeeutiuauysiu-
gle eeremouy ,see Fig. r 8). luall tbeiustauees ofbanba lob-
setved, atleastoueoftbeseelemeutswaspattoftbeeoungu-
tatiou, audiumost oftbeeetemouiesauoeeutteueeofplutal
elemeuts suggestiug ptoeteatiou was iueluded iu tbe assem-
blage. !be daueets deeked outiu tbese eetemouial fotms ot
eomiug iuto bodily eoutaet witb tbem ,as wbeu tbete is a
paiutiugouwbiebpetfotmets dauee) ate assumiug tbetoleof
ptoeteatotswitb tespeetto tbesoeiouatutalotdet,tbeyeou-
deuse tbe poteuey of betetosexual telatiousbips witbiu tbe
male eoustitueuey of tbe pattiliueal deseeut gtoup. lu tbis
way tbe biologieal poteuey ofsexuality is eouvetted iuto a
symbolie eommuuieatiou tbat assetts tbe motal-legal uatute
ofbetetosexual aud afnual iutetebauges as eoustitutive oftbe
eudutiugsttuetuteof soeiety.
CHAPTER _
Concl usi on: Wal bi ri I conography,
a Code for Experi ence
Vbeuweexamiueeolleetivefotmssuebasmytb, titualae-
tiou, ot ieouogtapby as eompoueuts ofsoeialsystems, weate
diteetiug atteutiou to tbevatioussymbolisms tbat eueodeso-
eial systems aud values as petsuasive, diteetly felt tealities
iu tbe petsoual expetieuee ofiudividuals. !be petsuasiveuess
oftbeseeolleetive fotmsatisesiupattftomtbeittaugiblepte-
seutatiou of a divetse load of affeetive meauiugs witbiu tbe
immediaey of seuse imageties. !beit validatiou iu tbe

m-
muuity wbete tbey opetate is uot detived ftom empt

teal
testiug otlogieal aualysis but ftomtbistbetotieal

exptess

ve-
uess tbtougb wbieb tbeymay eome to map speeine desed
euds ot attitudes ou tbe aetot's expetieuee oflife situatious.
!o patapbtase a teeeut eommeut byG. B. Viluet ( r 969: 2 2) ,
eolleetivetepteseutatiousateamougtbemeebauismstbt

ug
wbieb tbe soeioeultutal sttuetute gets a gtip ou tbe mdt-
vidual.AsVietot!utuetbaspoiutedoutiueouueetiouwitb
titual, symbols make tbe Dutkbeimiau ' obligatoty' desit-
able ( r 969: 5 3) .
l tis, ofeoutse, i uDutkbeim's study of eeuttal Austtaliau
teligiou tbat tbe uotiou ofeolleetive tepteseutatious as sym-
bols mediatiug tbe autbotity oftbe soeial to tbe iudividual
imagiuatiouwasntstexpouuded.Ceuttalto Dutkbeim'satgu-
meut wete tbe totemie emblems tbat bave also beeu tbe
subj eetoftbepreseutstudy.
: t i
2 1 2 W albiti leouogtap|y
l bave attempted to demousttate tbat Valbiti totemie de-
sigus ate patt of a widely tamined gtapbie system tbat is
elosely bouud up witb liuguistie eommuuieatiou iu Valbiti
tbougbtaudusage. ltwouldseemtbattbesustaiuiuggtouud-
wotk ot uudetpiuuiug of tbe desigu ieouogtapby lies uot
simply iu tbe eetemouial aud saeted uses of desigus, but
motefuudameutallyiutbeeasualuseofgtapbie fotmsiueou-
vetsatiou aud stotytelliug. lu tbese!attet eoutexts meauiugs
tefettiug to daily expetieuee aud ttaditiou ate tegulatly
pumped iuto tbe gtapbs, aud so gtapbie fotms eutetiuto tbe
Valbitiimagiuatiou as akiud ofvisuallauguage fototdetiug
meauiugsiugeuetal,tatbettbausimplyasanxedsetoffotms
fot tepteseutiug ot tefettiug to totemie aueestors. !be sim-
plieityaudgeuetality oftbevisualelemeuts ,aud tbeiteouse-
queut eeouomy) eusutes a bigb degtee of tepetitiveuess, tbis
iu tutu is a patt of tbe dyuamie tbtougb wbieb sueb fotms
eaueome topeuettatetbeimagiuatiousofmembetsofaeom-
muuity.
Siuee tbesamevisual elemeut may be used fot atelatively
widetauge ofmeauiugs, eaebsueb elemeutis akiudof visual
eouueetivefotvatious diffeteutmeauiug items. lumueb uat-
tative usage, bowevet, tbis nuetiou is uot immediately tele-
vaut. oulyoueof tbemeauiugitemsis deuotedatatime. But
iu tbe meu's guruwari desigu system ot, mote geuetally,
wbeutbegtapbs ate diteetly liuked iuValbititbougbtwitb
tbeaueestots, tbeutbeeouueetive nuetiouoftbevisualel-
emeuts may eometo tbe foteaudsetveto teleasebouudaties
betweeu diffeteut meauiug items aud domaius of expetieuee.
Aswebaveseeu,tbemostimpottautgtapbieopetatotsiutbis
sott oftelease ate tbe eitele audliue , fotuot alltbeelemeuts
tegulatly nuetioniu tbis way). !bese fotms tegulatly fuue-
tiou as visual eouueetives betweeu tbe diffeteut domaius of
eouuttyauduatutalspeeies.
Couelusioo 2 1 3
Vetapbotie syutbeses oftbis kiud oeeut ptedomiuautly iu
Valbiti meu's ,tatbet tbau tbe womeu's) elabotatiou of tbe
ieouogtapby, just as it is witbiu tbe eotpotate operatious of
male eult tbat fabtieatious ofaueesttal desigus efdotesee aud
beeomesumeieutlydeusetoeoustituteabodyeovetiug,otto
appeatoutbesutfaeeofotbetmediaiuvatiedvisualdisplays.
!beapex ofvisualelabotatiouaud eoudeusatiou ofmeauiugs
isteaebedwitbiutbemaseuliueieouogtapby.
!bis geuetal diffeteuee iu tbe semautie aud fotmal eom-
plexity ofmeu' s aud womeu's ieouogtapbies is au aspeet of
tbe ovet-all eomplemeutatity oftbesextoleswitb tespeet to
tbesoeiobiologiealmaiuteuaueeof life.itismeuwboateeou-
eetued witb tbe soeietal plaue oflife maiuteuauee tbat de-
peuds wbollyupou tbe fabtieatiou ofsymbols, bymeausof
tbese attifaetual fotms sexual-ptoeteative euetgyeaubeeou-
taiued aud teleased fot tbe soeiety as a wbole. !btougb tbe
teeiptoealopetatiouoftbemoietiesaudtbe diffeteuttotemie
lodgesiubanba eetemouies meu eoutiuuously exebauge pto-
eteativesymbolsofttausgeuetatioualeoutiuuity,tbusbiudiug
togetbettbesegmeutaty,pattiliuealgtoupsaudbytbismeaus
maiutaiuiugtbeeosmosasawbole.
!befemiuiuetoleoutbeotbetbaud,is foeusediutbepet- `
soual, biologieal, aud family plaue oflife maiuteuauee. !be
pattwomeuplayiutitual,iueludiugtbeittoleiumeu`siuitia-
tiou tites) audtbemaj ot fuuetiousoftbeitowu aueesttal de-
sigusteudtobeeounuedtosuehmattets as femalesexuality,
petsoual bealtb, aud tbegtowtb ofebildteu. Vbile meu also
petfotmtituals, uotablyilbindji, witbapatallel foeusoumas-
euliue sexuality, tbese fotm ouly a patt oftbeit widet titual
iutetests.
luadditiou, womeu douotbave aeotpotategtoupotgaui-
zatiou, aud tbe ttausmissiou ofaueesttaldesigus is cbauueled
tbtougb tbe dogma ofpetsonal dteams tatbet tbau tbtougb
z i q W albiri lcouogtap|y
deseeut gtoup otgauizatiou. Ratbet tbau tbe deseeut gtoup,
tbeiudividual petsouis tbeptimatymedium ofdesiguttaus-
missiou. Altbougb meualsomaydteamdesigus,tbemaseuliue
'empbasisisupoutbedteamsoftbepattiliuealaueestots.
!be diffeteuee betweeu meu's aud womeu's stotytelliug is
iusttuetiveiutbistespeet. Vomeu'sstotiesate foeusdiutbe
tbytbms of family life. tbe aetivities of sleepiug aud eatiug
tbat ate loealized iu tbe eamp, tbe sepatatiou of meu aud
womeu fot buutiug aud fotagiug aetivities aud tbeit teuuin-
eatiouatuigbtwtbiutbeeamp. Ovetaudovetagaiutbesto-
ties teitetate tbe mietotempotal tbytbms of tbe daily eyele.
lumeu'suattatives,outbeotbetbaud,tbesite-patbpattetu
fotms a 'lauguage' fot tbe maetotempotal tbytbms of uo-
madie movemeut ftom plaee to plaee ' followiug' tbe watet
boles ,audimplieitlytbefoodaud game,siueeasbiniugof lo-
ealeistequited astbewatetaudfoodofapattieulatsitegive
out) . ltis uot ouly tbattbis pattetu tefets to tbewidettem-
potal ltamewitbiuwbiebtbedailyeyelesateiueluded,butiu
tbegtapbic fotm oftbeeoueeuttie eitele audliue fotmatious
ofguruwari desigus tbispattetu also ptovides a model at tbe
_ maetotempotal level fottbe mietotempotal daily eyele. !be
eiteulat 'eamp' eouuotes tbevital aetivities ofeatiug, sleep-
iug ,dteamiug) , aud sexuality of tbe family eamp, similatly,
tbettaekliueexptessesmovemeuttowatdaudawayftomtbe
eamp, witb its eouuotatious of followiug game aud food.
!bustbebasiesttuetuteofmietotime,aualtetuatiouofeamp
aetivitieswitbmovemeuts away ftom aud towatd tbeeamp)
is teeapitulated iu sbottbaud fotm tbtougb tbe maetotem-
potal model developed iu maseuliue uattative aud ieouogta-
pby.
.
lu additiou, meu's uattatives biud eveuts to au obj eetive
geogtapbieal spaeetbtougb tbelistiug ofuamed plaees. !bis
Couclusiou z i
spatialloealizatiouyieldstbebasiesymbolism ofttausgeueta-
tioual eoutiuuity, siuce tbe seuse ofeoutiuuity ovettbe geu-
etatiousis 'eattied'iutbeexpetieuee oftbeeouutty asauet-
wotk ofobj eetivelyideutinable plaees, tbeptime 'giveus' of
tbe extetual euvitoumeut. Jife maiuteuauee at tbe eosmie
level iuvolves tbemauipulatiou ofsymbols of'eouutty,' tbe
lattet beiug tbe fuudameutal eouetete medium oftbe expeti-
eueeofuuebaugiugpetmaueuee. Vaseuliueieouogtapbysyu-
tbesizes diffeteut levels of tempotal tbytbm iu tbelife eyele
witb tbese expetieuees of petmaueut teali exteudiug ovet
tbegeuetatious.
!batwomeu'stoleiulifemaiuteuauee foeusesupoutbebi-
ologieal aud familial levelisagaiuetystallized iuV albitiuo-
tious about guruwari as a fettiliziug poteuey. Vomeu eou-
eeive tbtougb tbe eutty ofguruwari iuside tbem wbile meu
tefettilize tbe soeiouatutal otdettbtougbmauufaetutiug gu
ruwari symbolie ofbetetosexuality audptoeteatiou iu visible
fotms outside tbemselves. ltis iutbisseuse tbat gurwari ap-
peatstobetbeesseueeof maseuliuegeuetativepoteuey.
Outbeouebaud,gurwari ateiusidetbeliviugbody, bav-
iug pteviously euteted iuto tbe iudividual's motbet to eause
eoueeptiou. Outbeotbet baud, guruwari eoustitutetbeovett
media ot attifaets-tbe visible ideutity matks made by
meu-tbtougb wbieb tbe aueestot's body teemetges iu pet-
eeptualfotm. !btougbtbisteemetgeueetbedjugurba wotld,
otdiuatily beyoud tbe immediate pteseutatioual neld of tbe
iudividual,eaubebtougbtbaekwitbiutbisneld.
lu tbis seuse, tbe 'sbift' ftom tbe biologieal plaue ofpto-
eteatiou to tbe eosmieplaue is exptessed iu a sbin ftom tbe
iudividual's bodywitbits iuuetguruwari powetseouueetiug
eaebpetsouiubispetsoual, familialstatusto tbe aueestots, to
tbe attifaetual embodimeut eouueetiug tbe iudividual iu bis

Z r 6 W abiri leouograp|y
status as patriliueage aud patrimoiety member to tbe auees-
tors. lu tbe nrstiustauee, tbe body eovers tbeguruwari, tbe
uuseeu life euergy it eueloses, aud tbe mode ofrelatiousbip
betweeu tbe iudividual aud tbe djugurba aueestors is oue iu
wbieb tbe aueestors are displaeed from tbe aetor's preseuta-
tioual neld ofexperieuee. lutbeseeoudiustauee,guruwari iu
effeet eover aud exteud tbe body, aud tbe aneestors are
brougbt by tbis meaus iuto tbe aetor's preseutatioual neld.
Voreover, tbrougb tbis seeoud mode of embodimeut, guru
wari poteuey agaiu goes iuside tbe grouud aud reuews tbe
fertilityofbumausauduaturalspeeies.
Ve may say tbat guruwari are felt to be eompoueuts of
bot| tbe iuuer, iudividual persou aud tbe outer soeial world
ofseuseexperieueeaud soeialiuteraetiou. !bispatteru ofat
titudesisreiteratediusligbtlydiffereutwaysiuotberuotious
about gurwari l bave diseussed. Forustauee, wbile guru
wari are said to bave origiuated iu tbe iuterior world of
dreams ,aud oftbe aueestral past), tbey must bereprodueed
outside of dreams iu tbe wakiug, soeial wodd ,tbe world of
tbe preseut day) wbere tbeyeaubeobserved byotbers, aud
wbere tbey may fuuetiou as elemeuts iu a eoustruetiou or_
deeoratiug proeess iu wbieb aetors relate to eaeb otber aud
tbe aueestors. !bis ueeessary' sbi ft from iuterior dream to
exterior reality suggests tbe importauee of biudiug tbe iuuer
imagiuatiou to tbe outer, soeial world, tbe iuuer sel f to tbe
exterual soeial order. !bis patteru of empbasis bolds, as we
baveseeu, for Valbiri desigu tbeory iugeueral, uotj ustgu
ruwari proper.
lustillauotberway,guruwari areseeuasbiudiugtbebody
totbeexterualeuviroumeut,siueetbeyareregardedasmark-
iugsleftby aueestors iutbeeouutry. iutbisrespeet,tbeyare
formed by tbe iuterseetiou of bodily aetious, or tbe body
Couelasioa
witb its implieatious oftrausieuee aud mortality, aud eouo-
try, tbemediaoftrausgeueratioual eoutiuuity. !be desigos
reneet tbis iuterseetiou' iu tbeir semauties, for tbey eo-
mouly depietbotbbodily features ofauaueestor audplaees
iutbeeouutryside.
lu tbe eoueept ofguruwar, notious about soeial relatiou-
sbip audexterualformmiuglewitbtbosereferriugtoiuterior
experieuee aud iuvisiblesourees oflife euergy. Guruwari are
tbe visual sedimeutatious' of a movemeut eouueetiug iudi-
vidual eouseiousuess or bodily beiug aud tbe outer, soeial
world. !bey arebotb tbebody'siuteriorizedlife euergy aud
tbetrausbodily'soeialformstbatobjeeti[tbiseuergy.
lueouelusiou, lsbouldliketoeommeutoutbestruetureof
tbe meu'sguruwari desigu system byeompariug i twitb tbe
Valbirisubseetiousystem. Faeb of tbese systems eoustitates
a well-developed, soeioeultural eodeoperatiug witb differeut
media, aud iu diereut domaius, to eouvert oue level of so-
eioeultural orderiuto auotber. !o use Lvi-Strauss's meta

pbor ( r 966 : q6), tbese eodes eoutaiu au adjustable tbread'

tbatgivestbeusertbemeausof foeusiug' oudiffereutlevels
ofabstraetiouaudsoeialrelatiousbip.
As l suggested iu Cbapter tbe subseetiou termiuology
makesitpossibleto projeetegoeeutrieallydenuedkiusbipre-
latiousbips ou a geueralized soeioeeutrie grid tbat loeates
tbemiutermsof tbeover-allsoeialstruetare.Liketbesubsee-
tiou system, tbe gurwari desigus map a partieularistie, spe-
eineleveloutoageueraliziug,soeietaloue,butiutbiseasetbe
speeines are differeut totemie pbeuomeua ,or speeies eate-
gories) ratber tbau egoeeutrie kiusbip eategories or rela-
tiousbips. Ou tbe oue baud, eaeb sueb speeies eau be rep-
reseuted by its owu distiuetive desigus or visual eoungura-
2 1 8 W a|biri lcouograp|y
tious, ou tbe otber baud, tbe eommougrapbie strueture aud
sbared visual eategories tbat eoustitute tbe meaus of desigu
eoustruetiou reorder tbe speeies iu terms of a eommou pat-
teru ,Vuuu 1 966: 946) . Ve bave seeu moreover, tbat tbis
orderisbuiltoutofarraugemeutsofelemeutseoustitutiugtbe
domiuaut eeutral symbols of trausgeueratioual e

ntiuuity,
uamely, tbe eireular eamp ,female) aud tbe elongate traek
,male),aswellastbelessdomiuaut,variedpluralelemeutsap-
pareutlyexpressiveoftbe uotiouoffeeuudity tbateoustitute
tbe tbird eompoueut of tbe fertility symbolism. Put iu au-
otber way, tbe primary vebiele of tbis orderiug level is tbe
eamp-traek,eirele-liue)formula.
!bese symbols are applieable to all totemie aueestors aud
tberefore express tbe fertility aud eoutiuuity of tbe Valbiri
eommuuity aud its euviroumeut as a wbole-tbat is, tbe
total spatiotemporal order. Eaeb desigu or visual eoungura-
tiou utiliziug tbese elemeuts aud arraugemeuts projeets tbe
partieular sbapes aud ebaraeteristies ofdiffereut speeies iuto
geueraliziugorderiugpatterus aud symbols. lueffeet, tbede-
sigus eoiu represeutatious ofdistiuetive, separate speeies out

fuui[iugsymbolstbatrelatetotbesoeialorderasawbole.
Couversely,tbeyproj eet tbegeueraliuterms oftbeimagery
of tbe speeine-tbe uui[iug symbolism iu terms of tbe
artieularsbapesaudqualitiesofdiffereutspeeies.
luauearlierebapterl poiutedouttbattbelogieofiuterual
eoutrastswitbiutbedesigusystemdoesuotartieulatesystem-
atieally witb tbe differeutiatiou of auy set of soeial uuits
,wbetber tbese be patriliueages, subseetiou, or moiety eate-
gories) iutbewaytbatitdoesiuageuuiueberaldry. Yettbe
desigu strueture bas au over-all ntwitb a segmeutary soeial
systemiu tbatitprovides a neld forexpressiug diversity aud
differeutiatiou witbiu a uui[iug patteru ,or uuineatiou
Coue|usiou z t g
witbiu a system of differeuees). Voreover it is appareut
tbatpatrilodgemembersiudaueiugtbeirowuguruwari" are
expressiugtbesegmeutaldiffereutiatiouoftbepatrilodges aud
at tbe same time tbeir iutegratiou iuto a uui[iug soeietal
order.
Obviously, di ffereutiatiou witbiu tbegrapbie-totemie sys-
tem is fauetioually eouueeted witb tbe expressiou of group
segmeutatiou, but tbe two systems ,tbe soeial aud tbe
grapbie)areuotstrueturallyisomorpbie.Ratber,tbediffereu-
tiatiou of visual forms expressive of speeies variatiou is tbe
equivaleut witbiu tbe grapbie-totemie system of group seg-
meutatiouiutbesoeialsystem.
lutbis respeet, itis siguaeaut tbat tbedesigus aud totems
are owued by tbe iudividual patrilodges aud uot by tbe
subseetiou eouples ,semimoieties) ormoieties. At tbe former
level ofsoeialorgauizatiou we areuotdealiugwitb dieboto-
mous priueiples, aud aeeordiuglytbe uumber ofsoeial uuits
,tbat is, patrilodges) iuvolved is irrelevaut to tbe uormative
strueture, ou tbe otber baud, at tbe moiety aud semimoiety
leveltbeuumberofuuitsissiguineaut, forberewebaveeate-
goriesereatedbytbenxedorderiugpatterus ofbiuary oppo-
sitioutbatsubdividetbewbolesoeiety.
Similarly, witbiu tbe desigu eode, tbe uumber of speeies
represeuted is iudenuite ,audirrelevaut to tbe system) , as is
tbe uumber of totemie speeies itself. !be_rii_le

er
Rf9.vi0..l''\}rrgrgee7"'Preduetivitl!.; . '.
uumberof visual messages about tbe pbeuomeual worldmay
b____,|

InunieIc

;y(j__
ofbiuary oppositious) at tbe level ofspeeies represeutatiou,
eorrespouds, witbiutbedesigusystem, totbesamefeature iu
tbe soeial system witb respeet to patriliueal deseeut group-
mgs.
z zo Va|biti leouogtap|y
But wbeu we eousidet tbe seeoud level ofthe guruwari
desigus-wbete dieteutiatiou is eollapsed iuto tbe geuetal
eategotiesofovet-allsoeietaluuity,tbeuiudeedbiuatyoppo-
sitious aud tbeutilizatiou ofanxeduumbetofbasieeouttasts
beeome eeuttal. tbe eitele-liue ,female-eamp, male-patb)
oppositiou eoustitutes tbe domiuaut symbolism tbtougb
wbieh tbis level of otdet is exptessed. Ou tbis level, tbeu,
otdet is denued by meaus ofeomplemeutatity aud polatiza-
tiou. the polatities togetbet exptess wboleuess ot uuity. `
!bis is, ofeoutse, also the metbod fot exptessiug wholeuess
ot uuity iu tbe moiety ,audsubseetiou) system, siuee byde-
nuiug a eomplemeutatydualism, ouealsodenuesa pattieulat
kiudof soeialuuity.
ltmaybeuotedthattbesymbolie eouteut oftheeitele-liue
oppositiou ,femalevs. male) is eottelativewitbtheptiueiples
uudetlyiug tbe pattimoiety divisiou, siuee tbelattet iuvolves
botba pattiliueal ,male-based) ptiueiple ofsegmeutatiou, aud
au afnual-mattilatetal , female) ptiueipleuuitiugtbesegmeuts
iu a teeiptoeal sttuetute. !bus iu botb types of eode a dual-
ism iuvolviug tbe oppositiou male vs. female` otdets tbe
wbole.
luthe visualsymbolism, bowevet, eaeb speeieseaubepot-
ttayed iu tetms of tbe image oftbe bipolatized wbole, uot
elassinediutoouesideoftbepolatityottbeotbet.!bevisual
fotmsatemultivoeal`eoudeusatiousymbolstbateauptojeet
au image ofdyuamiesoeietal unity iumietoeosm. lu effeet,
aeb pbeuomeuou is tteated as a symbolof tbesoeial wbole.
' As indicated in Chapter 1, the male-female opposition is one of
the fundamental principles operative in the allocation of kin to differ
ent categories in the subsection system. As the present study indi
cates, and as other writers have recently emphasized ( Meggitt 1 972 ;
Peterson 1 969), the opposition constitutes a fndamental underlying
principle of W albiri social structure pervasively formulated in differ
ent modalities.
Coue|usiou zzi
ltis siguineaut, iutbistespeet, tbat tbe eitele-liue ngute is
a spatiotempotal ieou, eoudeusiug botb tbe maetotempotal
siteto site movemeut, audtbemietotempotaltbythms oftbe
dailyeyele. ltisasiftbisnguteeoustitutedV albitilifeexpe-
tieueeiu timeabsttaetedto itssimplest,mostgeuetalpattetu.
lu tbe desigusystemtbis absttaet sbape ofspaee-time`pto-
vides tbe uui[iug fotmat fot the eouetete vatiauee of tbe
speeieswotld.
!bis btiugs us to au impottaut fuuetioual diffeteuee be-
tweeu the visual symbolism aud the vetbally exptessed
subseetioueode. thedesiguimagetyisamougtbemeebauisms'i
fot maiutaiuiug tbe iudividual's experience ofuuity aud dif-
feteutiatiouiu tbesoeialotdet, wbiletbesubseetioueodeis a
eoguitive deviee fot stating the ftamewotk of the soeial '
otdet. !be fotmet is a sttuetute fot tegulatiug expetieuee,
tbelattetisamodeofsoeialelassineatiou.
Codestbatatesttuetutesmttegulatiugexpetieueemustal-
ways be built thtough tbe use ofseuse imageties of vatious
kiuds,beeausetbeseimagesptovidetbeoulypossiblebasisfot
a pteseutatiou of objeetive eottelatives` fot tbe spatiotem-
potally sttuetuted, seusual fotmatious of subj eetive expeti-
euee. Voteovet, these eottelatives tegulatly nuetiou ,as do
tbeValbitigurwari) a patts oftitualassettioustbateettaiu
key soeial telatious ate eategotieally impetative,` eoustitu-
tive ofsoeiety as sueb aud fotmed as a kiud ofuatutal law.
!hebiudiugofsueheodesiutotheiustitutious ofasoeietyis
a etueial featute ofsoeialnuetiouiugsiueetbtough tbemso-
eietieseteatebtidgiugmeehauismsbetweeutbeobjeetive de-
tetmiuatious ofsoeialotdetaudtbesubjeetivedetetmiuatious
ofiudividualexpetieuee.

r
Gl ossary
Balga
Banba
Bilirba
Bulaba
Daradjara
Djugurba
Gira
Gurungulu
Guruwalba
Body; embodiment; physical presence
Fertility or life-maintenance ceremonies
A spirit entity within the body-of two u0u8
the matrilineal bilirba possessed by both men 10u
women of one matriline; the patrilineal biUrba
shared by men of one patrilodge
Public camp ceremony prepared by men
Different designs created by one ancestor at a single
place
Ancestral times; dream; story
Owners of a totemic place and its ceremomes
("masters")
Workers who prepare a ceremony; men of the op
posite patrimoiety to the masters
A childlike creature who lives at an ancestral site
and is said to impregnate a woman by throwing a
missile at her
Guruwari Fertility essence; ancestral marks lef in the coun-
tr; men's ancestral designs
Ilbindji Men's ancestral designs and ceremonies for attract-
Man guru
Ngura
Walya
Wiri
Wulya
ing women
Ancestral designs painted by men on their wives
Camp; camping site or place
Soil; ground; country
Strong, powerful, important
Foot; footprints
: :
2 24 Glossary
Yaba
Yangaridji
Yawalyu
Yidjaru
Yinawuru
Yirani
Yiri
Yiriyi
People; human beings as opposed to ancestors or
animals
See manguru
Women's ancestral designs and ceremonies
The present day; true, real, waking, as opposed to
sleep
Women's term for guruwalba
"Put," in the sense of paint or mark; put down
Song; name; mark
Path or track
. } ,
.
Bi bl i ography
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Berndt, C. I 95o. Women's Changing Ceremonies in ^Orthcrn
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ie
.
. I 963. Art and aesthetic expression. In W. Stanner and l .
Sheils, eds. Australian Aboriginal Studies. Melbourne: Oxford
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Berndt, R. I 95 I . Kunapipi. Melbourne: Cheshire.
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2 2 6 Bibliography
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