Kinship
An Indigenous family is usually made up of a man, his wife or wives and their children. Most areas men had only one wife but many areas such as Queensland polygamy1 was acceptable. A situation when men had more than one wife was when in the tribe had more women than men and these are some of the basic principles of kinship in Indigenous Australian families.
Marriage was orderly and was nearly always arranged but sometimes the couple had a say if they have a second marriage. Girls were promised to a man at a young age even occasionally at birth and it is the chosen man’s duty to ensure the girl grows up well and healthy. The marriage took place when the girl was in her early teens and the man was well in his twenties however, the ceremony was not usually very festive as the elders were forewarned about it.
It was a marriage rule for the groom to come from a different moiety to the bride. Moiety was the name of the two or more sections in a tribe or group was divided into and the term means one of two parts. The moieties were patrilineal2 or matrilineal3. An example is if a family in moiety 1 has a son and 2 daughters and was patrilineal. The son would automatically stay in moiety 1 but the daughters would be married off into moiety 2, 3 or 4 if 3 or 4 were established. If the daughters had any sons, the sons would stay in moiety 2 and if they had daughters they would get married to men in moiety 2, 3 or 4. This system worked successfully for generations.
Divorce was unknown in the Indigenous Australian culture. There were oral stories about two people who fell in love but were not promised to each other and they tried to run away but were severely punished by the elders. These stories were told to children to prevent it from happening but in an extremely rare case, the punishment was death if a marriage law was broken.
The childhood of an Indigenous Australian was very luxurious as they were free to roam to where ever they pleased until they were 9 years of age as this was when learning started. Babies were breast fed until they were 2 or 3 years of age because there weren’t any substitutes for milk. Toddlers would sit on their parent’s shoulders whilst they worked such as for the women food gathering or cooking food. Babies were always carried with their mothers and if the mother was doing chores, the baby would be held by the free hand or laid in a coolamon (a round wooden dish). Coolamon served as cradles and if the babies needed soothing, the mothers would rock the curved bed. Coolamon were made from bark and filled with sand for the child’s comfort and it could easily be changed when needed therefore bearing a contrasting kinship to today’s times.
Marriage was orderly and was nearly always arranged but sometimes the couple had a say if they have a second marriage. Girls were promised to a man at a young age even occasionally at birth and it is the chosen man’s duty to ensure the girl grows up well and healthy. The marriage took place when the girl was in her early teens and the man was well in his twenties however, the ceremony was not usually very festive as the elders were forewarned about it.
It was a marriage rule for the groom to come from a different moiety to the bride. Moiety was the name of the two or more sections in a tribe or group was divided into and the term means one of two parts. The moieties were patrilineal2 or matrilineal3. An example is if a family in moiety 1 has a son and 2 daughters and was patrilineal. The son would automatically stay in moiety 1 but the daughters would be married off into moiety 2, 3 or 4 if 3 or 4 were established. If the daughters had any sons, the sons would stay in moiety 2 and if they had daughters they would get married to men in moiety 2, 3 or 4. This system worked successfully for generations.
Divorce was unknown in the Indigenous Australian culture. There were oral stories about two people who fell in love but were not promised to each other and they tried to run away but were severely punished by the elders. These stories were told to children to prevent it from happening but in an extremely rare case, the punishment was death if a marriage law was broken.
The childhood of an Indigenous Australian was very luxurious as they were free to roam to where ever they pleased until they were 9 years of age as this was when learning started. Babies were breast fed until they were 2 or 3 years of age because there weren’t any substitutes for milk. Toddlers would sit on their parent’s shoulders whilst they worked such as for the women food gathering or cooking food. Babies were always carried with their mothers and if the mother was doing chores, the baby would be held by the free hand or laid in a coolamon (a round wooden dish). Coolamon served as cradles and if the babies needed soothing, the mothers would rock the curved bed. Coolamon were made from bark and filled with sand for the child’s comfort and it could easily be changed when needed therefore bearing a contrasting kinship to today’s times.
1Polgamy- the practice of having more than one spouse at the same time
2Patrilineal- kinship or title are inherited through the male line
3Matrilineal- kinship or title are inherited through the female line
2Patrilineal- kinship or title are inherited through the male line
3Matrilineal- kinship or title are inherited through the female line