Chapter 31

“There are caves. Several caves. Who among you knows of the caves?” asked Osprey.

“I know there are at least three. I have visited two: one is empty. Another has a painted wall. I was told the third was ‘evil’ and was not taken there.”

“Can you find it?”

“I think so.”

“Take us. Bunjil observes all.”

Sam nodded and walked towards the cliffs, but when he was approaching the slope that led to the cave in which he and Tessa had twice ‘slept,’ he noticed a path leading south-east and upward.

“Here.” They walked for a few minutes and, suddenly, the vista changed. There was a wide cave, the mouth was several meters wide and over two meters high. There was a spring to one side. There was a fire circle and an arc of eight large stones.

“Jos,” said Sam. “Let us gather some brush and we can make fire, if we wish. We can each drink and then we will confer.”

When they were all seated, Osprey said: “It was Frogmouth who brought this about. Let us begin with him.”

So Frogmouth told how the Springs had been violated by tourists and how whitefellas drove through the land, despite signs and knocked down barricades. Sam nodded, for this was what had brought him (and Tessa) to the Kimberley. Frogmouth then told of how the state had ‘improved’ Galjiba, building whitefella houses and setting up a generator and how young people moved away and that there were now only a few dozen. Frogmouth concluded with a description of his conversations with Sam and Jos and Boobook concerning a move to Gabbaitch.

“I think I must speak next,” said Masked Owl, and he summarized what he had related to Sam and Boobook about the Tiwi. “For the People to survive, they must mate outside our vanishing islands,” he concluded.

“I understand that,” said Wallaby. “I had a dream that there would be several matings outside our group at Timber Creek. And Bunjil was told to visit our band. He did so, and two of my maidens are now with child. But were all the new children to stem from Bunjil, my group would be in the danger that the Tiwi prevent through skins.”

“I think I need more information,” Frogmouth interjected.

“My group believe pregnancy comes from spirits. The Tiwi believe these spirits are unborn, they originate from bodies of water. This explains how the man has no physical role in birth, but a his role is to find a spirit and uncover it, so that it is sent to the wife. The kin clan must be the same for the spirit as the wife. All Tiwi members share a general kinship. This is separated into “close” and “far away” kinship. A band unit which is smaller only rely on somebody’s gender or marriage. This means people such as mother, father, or husband are considered your close kin. Smaller units of bands that are dependent through one gender or one marriage only. But acceptance into Tiwi society is often very loose, with traditional Tiwi members naming newcomers in the society as ‘son’ or ‘daughter’. This is known as ‘far away’ kinship where others were often considered as outsiders to traditional Tiwi.

“Marriage roles of the Tiwi plays an important role for economic, social and political status. The Tiwi consider marriage as a very important aspect of their livelihoods, as almost all people get married, especially women. As both the men and women come from a matrilineal descent group, the wife’s descent group is important. Remarriage of a widow is common, as that allows the lesser men to be married. This is because widows have to remarry quickly, immediately after the husband dies. A marriage occurs at a gravesite of the previous husband. Since the more promising husbands are usually claimed, older women often end up with younger, less experienced men.”

“That’s you, Sam!” Boobook exclaimed.”

“No more!” Sam retorted. “A wife, two widows and two maidens have made me more experienced!”

The men all laughed.

“Close breeding is a weakness; exogamy yields strength,” said Josiah. “And in the Old Testament, if a man died, his wife was wed to a younger brother. Gabbaitch has whitefella, Japanese and Afghan blood as well as blackfella. I don’t know the bands, the groups, the tribes. Not even all the mobs.”