When the older men returned home after killing a man, the young men had to lie with their backs to the ground. The blood [still] adhering to the spears was washed off and allowed to trickle into their mouths. The purpose of this was that they should not be afraid of blood when they accompanied [their elders] into battle.
This is done in order to authenticate (ensure) Reuther: "zur Versicherung". the invitation to a vendetta.
When a vendetta group invades a camp in which no men are to be found, the women go and rip off the kabuluru from the heads of the vengeance-breathing men, saying [to them]: kabuluru deribanau, ninkida materi pani tear off the kabuluru; there are no men here Such a pinga [group] is shamefully abused and ridiculed as though it regarded lopped trees Felled trees are an indivisible feature around any Aboriginal camp. to be men. Women are not allowed to be assaulted by an enemy.
The witchdoctors see the blood then also, and the wounds of the soul. This is a sign that the soul demands vengeance for the killing of its body.
The latter were for [use by] the sorcerers, whose footprints were not allowed to be discovered; therefore they wore a type of shoe which left no footprints behind. kati also denotes the hair-covering of land animals and the plumage of birds people and fish are naked. All land animals Aboriginals classify as 'animals' all creatures that are confined to the ground, whether they have fur, feathers, or skin. Thus, even emus are classed as 'animals' because they cannot fly. such as snakes, lizards, etc. wear their own peculiar kati. Under no circumstances, however, is this to be confused with the skin, hence to be viewed not from without but from within, that is to say, from the point of view of the individual [creature's] warmth. Thus, an animal may have a beautiful or not-so-beautiful kati; notwithstanding, for that animal it is the essential warmth-giving cover for the preservation of life.
This head-decoration is worn by the leader (mudlakutja) of a troupe of blood-avengers. kiririamai naribilli widmaterina, ngaperi jinkani naribilli widmaterina wonti nari morlalu nandrala learn death-cap to put on (to put yourself inside), father your death-cap wore dead until certainly more to kill you learn now to wear the death-cap, for your father always wore it during a vendetta
The latter is so named because of the distinction given him by the feathers that are stuck into his head-decoration; ears of all the animals.
When a blood-avenging group has surrounded a camp and the person to be killed has been spotted, a gesture is made in his direction and he is pinned down with spears.
This the blood-avengers do on their homeward journey; it is the sign that they have killed a man.
people tainted with [human] flesh, who have often helped to kill a man. See Dictionary No. 848 Since they are regarded as unclean after a killing [incident], they are not allowed to eat any fish, wade through water, go down into a [soakage-]well, touch any seed or a millstone or child, approach any woman, contact anything at all that is edible, or be caught out in the bush during a rainstorm, lest they be struck by lightning. First their hands must be rubbed in by other folk with whatever they [intend to] eat, e.g. fish-fat, and their bodies be first smeared with fat and red ochre. Note: There is no hint [or suggestion] here of ngantirina meaning to turn into an animal.
to drink the blood that has been washed off a spear, wherewith a man has been killed. The young men have to do this, in order to become fearless.
The pinga does this.
when planning to help kill one's friend. Thereby one causes himself to become estranged, and wipes out (as it were) the friendship.
The witch-doctors wear these, so that their footprints cannot be detected.