ARRERNTE CULTURE

At contact there was no single, homogeneous Aboriginal society. Groups differed in aspects of their cultural and social organisation, and in the Northern Territory alone, over 100 different languages were spoken. These were separate languages, as unlike one another as French and Russian.

Existence of widespread social networks meant that people had to be multilingual to communicate. The Arrernte group could speak up to 10 languages / dialects.

Likewise, music and dance, kinship systems, art forms and ceremonies differed dramatically between regions. Yet these differences were probably less important than the underlying similarities which brought groups together for ceremonies, for trade, to intermarry, and which allowed the maintenance of myths, and song lines and exhange cycles that extended over hundreds of kilometres. Even today regional variations remain ; there is no one Aboriginal society and people in different regions tend to emphasise their own distinctness and identity.

1. ARRERNTE TRIBAL GROUP
2. OUR FAMILY SYSTEM
3. LANGUAGES
4. HUNTING / GATHERING / SHELTER
5. MUSIC / CEREMONY / RELIGION
6. WEAPONS / ART/TRADE
7. HISTORICAL PHOTOGRAPHS
8. ARRERNTE DICTIONARY
9. FURTHER READING

HUNTING / GATHERING

At contact, the Aboriginal economy was based on a stable, considered management of the environment and an effective organisation of labour. Males and females made different but complementary economic contributions. Women were primarily the gatherers of vegetables, roots, herbs, fruits and nuts, eggs and honey, and small land animals such as Snakes, Goannas. Men were the hunters of large land animals and birds and also co-operated to organise large-scale hunting drives to catch Emu's and Kangaroos.

The collection and preparation of this wide variety of bush food required the development of an efficient, multifunctional technology, considerable practical skills, and its seasonal changes. Some plant foods were easy to collect but required complex preparation before they could be eaten.

SHELTER

A combination of nomadic lifestyle and the regions sunny climate meant that there was no need to build substantial dwellings. The shelter was relatively used in permanent camps and was consisting in a frame work of saplings covered with a thatch of material locally available.

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RELIGION / CEREMONY

The Dreaming, the Dreamtime has become a handy phrase used to describe what is in fact a sophisticated and interconnected mosaic of knowledge, beliefs and practises concerning the creativity of Ancestral Beings, and the continuity and values of Aboriginal life.

The vibrant ceremonial and religious life of Northern Territory people generated a spectacular array of art forms, including body painting and personal ornamentation, ground sculpture, bark painting, wood carving, and rock painting and engraving. Artistic creativity and innovation were informed by religious belief. Designs and motifs embodied multiple sets of meanings about group ownership of lands and relationships to particular Ancestral Beings. These expressions along with the rich oral traditions, elaborate song and dance styles and personal performance of them, were all regarded as manifestations of the original ancestral creative power. Each generation accepted responsibility for passing on the economic, social and religious knowledge, beliefs and actions that ensured the reproduction of Aboriginal societies and cultures.

Before the dawn of the present age was "the Dreaming", or the Alchera of the Aranda, a time when the ancestors of the Aborigenes wandered over a featureless land. These ancestors were unlike people of today ; they possessed special powers and were so intimately associated with certain animals and plants that an ancestor of the kangaroo totem "many sometimes be spoken of either as a man-kangaroo or as a kangaroo-man. As the ancestors journeyed over the land, their actions gave if form, created the natural features such as rivers and ranges. The land they shaped is today occupied by their descendants.

During their travels the dreamtime ancestors carried one or more sacred tjurunga, each "intimately associated with the idea of a spirit part of some individual". Many tjurunga were buried, each burial site marked by a natural object such as a rock or a tree.

Other places of significance are where ancestors entered the earth, at which time they died, but their spirits remained within the buried tjurunga. These places were also marked by natural objects.

There are thus at the present day, dotted about all over the Arrernte country, a very large number of places associated with these Alcheringa spirits, one group of whom will be Kangaroo, another Emu, another Hakea plant, and so on. When a woman conceives it simply means that one of these spirits has gone inside her, and knowing where she first became aware that she was pregnant, the child, when born, is regarded as the reincarnation of one of the spirit ancestors associated with that spot, and therefore it belongs to that particular totemic group.

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TRADE / ART / MUSIC

Aboriginal group exchanged natural resources, such as ochres, and tools, such as stone axes and boomerangs, thus creating extensive trading networks. Goods travelled hundreds of kilometres from their original source.

For example, boomerangs made in Central Australians would find their way to Arhem Land and the surrounding islands. Didgeridoos from Arhem Land would find their way down to Central Australia. Pearl shells from the Kimberley were traded through Central Australia down into South Australia.

Trading networks were frequently incorporated into formal exchange systems. Large, gatherings of people came together for "exchange ceremonies" where regional specialities were traded. Ritual paraphernalia, sacred ceremonial objects , song verses and dance styles were also passed on from one group to the next at such gatherings.

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ARRERNTE TRIBAL GROUP

At the time of European contact there were about 126 "tribal" groups having all or most of their territories in the Northern Territory, with an estimated total population of 35,000.

These people were hunter-gatherers who lived in small family groups of 15, 30, called bands. Bands were the basic residential and economic unit. Groups of bands formed larger social units that anthropologists have called "communities", "tribes", or "culture blocs", depending on whether a political, linguistic or religious perspective is taken. People within such social networks frequently co-operated to exploit abundant resources during good seasons or to share scarce resources during drought or flood. The links between groups were based on kinship and marriage ties, common ceremonial affiliation and shared ownership of, or responsibility for, sacred sites and objects.

The geographic distribution, density and mobility of the Aboriginal population were closely related to the availability or water, food and other resources. Generally, the size of the bands did not vary as much as the extent of the tract of land (called the range) needed by each group for its survival. In the desert regions of the Centre population densities as low as one person per 100 sq km reflected Aboriginal adaptation to a far harsher environment. The Walpiri, for example, inhabited an area of nearly 40 000 sq km, while the Wangkanguru even successfully adapted to the Simpson Desert. In arid regions large territories allowed groups to survive by foraging in a seasonal and systematic manner over vast areas.

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OUR FAMILY SYSTEM / SKIN NAMES

In our family, or kinship systems, we recognise our relations "by blood" and by marriage as in other societies. We also regard ourselves as being related (although not biologically or by marriage) to all the people within our cultural or linguistic region. Our kinship system group various categories of relations together as a sort of "mental map" so we know who we are related to , and how we should behave towards each other. The whole cultural group may be divided into two, four, six or eight sections.

ARRERNTE LANGUAGE

The Arrernte region is large and traditionally, there are many different family areas within it, each with their own dialect. Language is strongly connected with family membership and the relationships to land and Dreamings that go with this. Identifying as a speaker of a particular language or dialect can be very important for Arrernte people in a way that goes beyond just the actual language. It is a way of expressing membership in a particular family, or association to particular country. The differences between dialects, even when they are only small differences, are often very significant to speakers.

The coming together of speakers of different dialects of Arrernte in Alice Springs, in government and mission settlements, and on cattle stations, has also resulted in some confusion about the traditional dialect distinctions within the area. There have been quite large changes in some dialects form older generations to younger, and there are many words that only the oldest speakers now know. Arrernte people still know the different family areas, but it is sometimes less clear which ones a particular word belongs in. Rather than trying to identify exactly which family dialect a word belongs to in this dictionary, we identify the part of the Eastern and Central Arrernte region where is from using the following codes :

View regional map (163KB) showing language areas
of Central Australia

From time immemorial - that is, as far back as traditions go - the boundaries of the tribes have been where they are now fixed. Within them their ancestors roamed about, hunting and performing their ceremonies just as their living descendants do at the present day. There has never apparently been the least attempt made by one tribe to encroach upon the territory of another.

ARRERNTE DICTIONNARY

RED KANGAROO Aherre	You see red kangaroo in flat country or mulga country (type of tree). Kangaroo are cut up in a special way (according to Aboriginal law)
BOOMERANG Alye, Ilye	Boomerang are used to beat the rhythm to accompany singing, and were also used for hunting. They are not of the returning type.
SAND GOANNA Alewatyerre	A common Goanna can grow up to 1.5 metre in length . It is a popular source of food and is hunted by women and children.
WOODEN SHIELD Alkwerte	A shield is to protect you if someone is throwing a boomerang at you, or spearing you with a spear, or hitting you with a nulla-nulla.
THE DREAMTIME Altyerre	is the creation of the world and the things in it, and its eternal existence. Everyone has a dreaming which has its place, where its come from. It is visual and spiritual.
STONE KNIFE Alyekwe
WOOMERA Amirre	A wooden implement used as a spear thrower but has a sharp flake of stone attached to be used to scrap and carve and glued with beefwood tree resin or spinifex wax.
COOLAMON Urtne	a wooden dish for carrying things and made in light wood like" bean " Tree. Also used to carry water or a young baby.
SPEAR Irrtyarte	Taken from a branch (spear bush) to hunt and punish among Aboriginal law. The stick is heated in hot sand and ash and straighten out with the hands.
HEAD PAD Akarnte	A ring shaped pad placed on the head to carry a coolamon on. Traditionally made out of twisted grass and / or hairstring.
EMU Arleye	Non flying Native Bird. The belly feathers are used for decoration, and the sinews can be used in making tools and weapons.
DINGO Artnwere	Wild Dingos live out in the bush and live on Kangaroo, Euro, Goannas, Birds and Mice. They were sometimes adopted by Aborigines.
DIGGING STICK atneme	A solid piece of wood out of "Mulga" sharpened at the end, and used by women for digging roots, small animals and as a walking stick.
WITCHETTY GRUB Atnyematye	A grub is the larval stage of a type of moth.This one is find in the root system of Mulga, "Witchetty grub". The flesh is a delicacy for Aborigines.
SPINIFEX Aywerte	A plant which grow on very poor and sandy soils. Aborigenes were using the resin to assemble things together.
BELT STRING Alyepe	Belt or strap made of hairstring. The hair was spinned and strong and was used to attach things together.
OVAL WOODEN SCOOP Arleye	Used for scooping water out of rockholes. Also to dig out soakages with these scoops and use them to clean the (first dirty) water. People also dig holes to catch Goannas, rabbits, Perenties .
HONEY ANT Yerrampe	This is a type of ant that stores honey like food in their abdomens. The worker ants collect the sweet and is sacred food.

* Institute for Aboriginal Development (IAD) Copy Rights

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FURTHER READING / ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

Aboriginal Artists of the Western Desert
Vivien Johnson - Craftmen House

Institute for Aboriginal Development
I.A.D. Press

The little Red, Yellow and Black book
Council for Aboriginal Reconciliation

Eastern and Central Arrernte to English Dictionary
I.A.D. Press

Arrernte Foods from Central Australia
Margaret Mary Turner - I.A.D. Press

A learners Wordlist of Pertame
Chritobel Swan / Marlene Cousens - I.A.D. Press

I.A.D. Press, the publishing arm of the Institute for Aboriginal Development, publishes a range of titles on the languages and cultures of Central Australia. Some of these titles relating to Arandic languages are listed above. We recommend that you contact the book sales section of I.A.D. Press before ordering, to confirm price and availability.

I.A.D. Press
PO BOX 2531
Alice Springs NT
AUSTRALIA
Tel : (08) 89 51 13 34
Fax : (08) 89 52 25 27

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