Roni Langley

LBST 2102
Aboriginal Initiation Ceremonies
Among the many tribes in central Australia there are the Aboriginal Warlpiri people,
located on the edge of the Tanami Desert, about 550 kilometers southwest of Katherine. When
boys reach the age of initiation anywhere from twelve to sixteen years old they are gather
together to begin their initiation ceremony.
The ceremonies begin with the mothers of the boys painting their sons with red ochre to
signify the beginning of their transformation and next a belt woven from the human hair of other
tribe members is tied around their waists. Beginning the separation phase of the ritual, unless
specifically chosen to enter their initiation to begin training for a specific vocation in the tribe
such as a healer or shaman, the boys are sent on a journey to travel to other communities
surrounding the village where they will participate in rituals and learning there while continuing
their journey. Back in the tribe the women will dance and participate in mourning ceremonies
because to them they have sent their sons into the world to die and the man who returns will not
be the same as their son but a new person. Separate from the women and children, the men
participate in sacred and secret ceremonial dances detailing dreams that correspond with the
journey the boys are taking.
When the boys return from their wandering journey they are taken into the bush to be
taught the secret-sacred ceremonies and rituals that the tribe participates in. They must also learn
and memorize the stories of their ancestors and their tribes spirits. Between their wandering
journey and their time of learning and initiation they are kept away from the community in a
secluded camp, this place can only be visited by other men in the tribe and is forbidden to

women and young children. Approaching the end of their time in seclusion, several all-night
ceremonies are held in which the boys are not permitted to sleep and spend time fasting. This is
in hopes that they will experience the spirits and have visions that will guide them into the new
man they will become. These ceremonies are occasionally witnessed by the tribe and participated
in. The elder men will paint white clay on the boys skin and the boys will jump across fire to
gather strength. The men of the tribe will hold and throw the boys into the air signifying a
transfer of their own strength to the boys. As the ceremony goes on, women and children are told
to cover their heads so they cannot see and only hear and then the boys are adorned in vegetable
decorations and will rest on their knees and elbows on the ground around the fire, only allowed
to get up when they are taken to be shown sacred rituals or when the men singing the ritual songs
begin a slower rhythm which is a signal that the boys are permitted to get up and stretch their
legs.
On the final day of the ritual the boys mothers cover them with white ocre, washing
away any remaining red, and then the boys must demonstrate and prove themselves to their
mothers and to the tribe to put on display what they have learned. Demonstrations include
kangaroo hops attributing respect to their lands, Witi dances in which long leafy poles are tied
to the mens legs and they must balance and dance around the ceremonial grounds. The whole
community watches these demonstrations until the circumciser appears and all the women and
children must leave as the witi poles are set on fire. Before leaving the women will get up to
touch their children a last time before leaving, often crying loudly in mourning while doing so,
this is the last time they will see their sons as they have been. The next time they see them they
will have been circumcised and become new men.

The circumcision is the physical representation of the Transition phrase of the ritual. The
circumcision is done in seclusion and privacy only with the other initiates there and the
circumciser. Following this they are moved back to the initiate camp to heal and finish learning
about the tribes rituals and history. To begin the last phase, Incorporation, and to welcome the
men back from the Bush the women will paint themselves in red ochre on their skin and in their
hair and dress up in ceremonial garb. The men will surround the returning initiates to hide them
from their mothers, they enter the community singing tribal songs and describing the boys
having long whiskers and hair strings. The mothers sit on the ground before them waving white
feathers, then then place tea and damper at the feet on the group, the tribe members move, and
the initiated men are allowed to take the gifts. Their mothers remove the fluff and hair strings
from them and begin healing massages so that their children may reenter daily life in the tribe.
This ritual is a Salvation ritual which all men of the tribe are required to endure when
they come of age. It falls under the Initiation type and is completed in three phases. Some
ceremonies can last only a few days some weeks or months. The majority of the time is spend in
journey, learning, and later healing. The portions of the ceremony that require physical
exhaustion are usually no longer than a full day or two at the most. If a boy does not go through
the ceremony he is lost to his family and his community. They believe the death that occurs to
the old self when you become of age still happens whether you do the rituals or not but if you do
not participate in the ceremonies your new self can never be born so you remain in a state of
death.

Work Cited:

Primary informational source: https://openresearchrepository.anu.edu.au/bitstream/1885/9784/2/02Whole_Curran.pdf

Secondary informational source: http://ozoutback.com.au/Australia/abinitca/index.html#more
Initial research source: https://newint.org/features/1984/08/05/rites/