ABORIGINAL CUSTOMS
WHEN LAWS CONFLICT
MA krt AC E OB id CATIONS
Aboriginal tribal law came into contact with the white man's law in the Kimberlcy (N.W. Australia)
Woonyumben, a young gin who lived ■ at. the Kimberley Mission Station, was pledged bv totem law to marry a young buck named Doorgoo, a bush black. The third side of the- triangle was a young mission native named Noombcrt. Woonyumben and Noombcrt asked the mission priests to marry them.
According to tribal law the fact that Doorgoo was already married did not release the lady from her obligation, but the priests held otheiwise and. Noombcrt and Woonj'umben were wed. Doorgoo gathered together the. lads of his tribe and they set out on the warpath. When the light ended lour of tiie Xoorbert party were sprawling on the ground and the. others had run. Checking up on the jY'«incied, en<>. 0 f the attackers bit their thumbs. All groaned ex. ccpt one, who. was pronounced dead, so the party, knowing the. foibles oi tli.c. white man when someone gets, killed, went bush. It took the police four months and GOO miles of travelling in rough country to round them up. \
Permanent link to this item
Hononga pūmau ki tēnei tūemi
https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/BPB19430525.2.24
Bibliographic details
Ngā taipitopito pukapuka
Bay of Plenty Beacon, Volume 6, Issue 75, 25 May 1943, Page 5
Word count
Tapeke kupu
197ABORIGINAL CUSTOMS Bay of Plenty Beacon, Volume 6, Issue 75, 25 May 1943, Page 5
Using this item
Te whakamahi i tēnei tūemi
Beacon Printing and Publishing Company is the copyright owner for the Bay of Plenty Beacon. You can reproduce in-copyright material from this newspaper for non-commercial use under a Creative Commons BY-NC-SA 3.0 New Zealand licence. This newspaper is not available for commercial use without the consent of Beacon Printing and Publishing Company. For advice on reproduction of out-of-copyright material from this newspaper, please refer to the Copyright guide.
Log in