Tiwi

1. Tiwi Australia and Indigenous Culture

2. Geography • Off the coast of Northern Australia • Melville and Bathurst Islands • Very flat landscape • Punctuated only by a relatively low ridge running from west to east across Melville Island • Rivers run perpendicular to this ridge and flow north and south into large marshlands along the coast • Rest of the islands are densely forested • Mostly mangroves • Monsoons between the months of November and April • Animals!!: • Opossum • Bandicoot • Wallaby • Snakes, Lizards, Crocs, Bats

3. Contact! • Interaction occurred between native groups and groups from Indonesian for many centuries before European contact • The islands were first named by the Dutch • First instance of slavery occurred when Portuguese kidnapped indigenous people from the north • Contact with Malaysian and Japanese traders as well • The British were the first foreign power to actually settle on Australia • Eventually abandoned • 75 years later Missionaries settled on Bathurst Island

4. Living Areas • The traditional form of housing for the Tiwi consisted of: • A cleared area with a fire pit in the center • Shelter: • Dry Season • Just needed shade • Leaned leafy branches together • Wet Season • Bark strips supported on poles provided cover from the torrential rains • Today the Tiwi live in modern houses with all the utilities we have

5. Importance of Land • The Tiwi refer to each other by a name that is derived from the land that their family traditionally owns • Each of these landowning groups is called a ‘Country’ • Today there are 7 officially recognized Tiwi countries

6. How They Makes a Livin’ • Hunting and Gathering! • Very diverse diet • Hunting (men): • Geese (honk), turtles, wallabies, and fish • No shortage of game animals • Gathering (women): • This, as always, provides most of the nutrition during the day • Fruits, vegetables, plants

7. How They Makes a Livin’ • With increased European contact this became less necessary • The Tiwi began to adopt Western jobs and goods • However, even today there is a great deal of importance placed upon keeping this traditional way of life alive • Still taught to children • Much of the modern diet of the Tiwi consists of locally gathered resources

8. Organization • The isolation of the Tiwi should be kept in mind, particularly when discussing their relationship with outsiders • Oftentimes foreigners received a violent reception • Mainly because the outsiders were not regarded as truly human by the Tiwi • Operated in a Band society of about a hundred individuals • Very flexible groups with people coming and going all the time • Each household was autonomous and each Big Man did his own thing when and how he wanted

9. Marriage!! • Vast changes from the traditional system because of the influence of Missionaries • Traditionally: • Every woman HAD to be married ALL the time • Even before she was born • Women are only referred to as ‘Married’ in the Tiwi culture • This is rather interesting…so WHY is it like this?

10. Marriage • The Tiwi believed that women got pregnant through the actions of a spirit • Man had no physical role • These spirits are unpredictable • Thus a woman could become pregnant at any time • Ensuring that the woman was married at all times made sure that every child would have a father • Widows immediately married a new man

11. Daughter Bestowal • New born girls were regarded as assets by fathers • Used to secure the fathers future • Would be promised as a wife to a man who was either wealthy or showed the promise to become wealthy • Meant the male could be many decades older • The daughter would only start to live with her promised husband around the age of 14

12. Daughter Bestowal • Most men had multiple wives or promised wives • Not all of a mans wives actually lived with him • Just a status symbol • Less successful men relied on marrying older widowed females • This polygynous system of marriage ended when missionaries arrived

13. Wives • Older successful men typically had as many as twenty wives • Younger men (less than 30) typically had no wives • Middle aged men had wives who were older widows • These larger households were excellent for the type of subsistence strategy the Tiwi employed • More people to gather for food

14. Wives • However, younger men and older men typically regarded one another with suspicion • Younger men may be having affairs with one of an older mans wives • Younger men were jealous of the number of wives older men had and the resources that they were able to gather as a result

15. Women and Power!!! • Women also benefited from this marriage system • As she married different men throughout her life she gained prestige and connections • More senior wives had authority over the younger wives • Had a great deal of influence over their sons as well • Success for both men and women was related not to the amount of stuff you had, but rather the amount of respect and influence you could wield

16. Women and Power!!! • Older, more prestigious women, could not be forced into a marriage • They had as much control over their fate as older men did • With regard to younger men marrying older women: • Younger men gained prestige, influence, and the crucial surplus of food (because of the greater experience of the older woman) that allowed them to get closer and closer to being a Big Man

17. Kinship • Matrilineal system of descent • Your mothers descent group is referred to as your “Skin” • The descent of their group is drawn back to a common group of unborn spirits living around a certain body of water • However, each individual recognizes membership in both his mother and fathers clan • Mothers Clan = your own clan • Fathers Clan = the clan you will marry someone from

18. Kinship • Everyone is related somehow • Relatives are divided in two ways based upon geographic location: • Close Kin • Far-Away Kin

19. Traditional Religion • More of an emphasis is placed upon interpersonal relationships among the Tiwi rather than on their relationship with supernatural deities • The world is separated into three different levels: • Unborn • Living • Dead

20. Traditional Religion • Each person has a separate life in each level • During death the relationships that you have cultivated during your life continue on • Your life in Death does not change at all • Very static

21. Traditional Religion • Because of the isolation of the Tiwi there were very few threats • This meant that they felt no need to explain misfortune or ‘bad luck’ through supernatural causes • Because it rarely occurred • Misfortune was caused by a persons own actions and nothing else

22. Traditional Religion • Taboos • Pukamani • Means a forbidden or distasteful action • Also refers to a funeral ritual • Most of these actions or circumstances are related to death in some manner • Following the rules of Pukamani was not mandatory • Done out of ones own desire • Just seen as an obligation, not a way to please some supernatural force

23. Ritual Activity • Kulama Ceremony • Occurs annually and lasts several days • Largest gathering of Tiwi groups that occurs during the year • It is an initiation ceremony that marks a transition into adulthood • Adult individuals also participate • Yams (of a special variety) are a common symbol throughout the ceremony • Represent reproduction and health • Ritually consumed by the participants

24. Death • When someone dies their spirit leaves the body and stays around the grave • Offerings are left in order to make sure that the spirit stays by the grave, rather than coming back to the village • Sometimes seen by the living

25. Death • Pukamani Funeral Ceremony • Most important ritual activity of your life • Still in the world of the living until the ceremony is completed • Large gathering • Singing and dancing figure prominently • Only through dance can the 3 separate levels of the spirit world interact • White clay is smeared all over the bodies of relatives

26. Pukamani Funeral Ceremony • Pandanus leaves are worn over the arms and are also painted with clay • This painting with clay is done so that the recently deceased relatives will not recognize their family and come back to claim them • Also associated with several months of stringently ritualized behavior • Long list of taboo behaviors • At the end of the mourning period the family washes the clay off and leaves the pandanus arm bands on top of the grave

27. Modern Issues • WWII affected the Tiwi significantly • Japanese bombing was common • The Tiwi became dependent upon the resources given to them by the military and Catholic missionaries • Very different settlements that followed a more European organizational standard • Highly centralized • In 1976 the Tiwi were once again recognized as the owners of their islands • Tiwi art has become a very productive industry • Tourism popular as well • Still very active in their traditional way of life