Aborigines of Victoria Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
- LANGUAGE
- APPENDICES
- A Notes and Anecdotes of the Aborigines of Australia, by Philip Chauncy, J.P., District Surveyor at Ballarat
- B Traditions of the Australian Aborigines on the Namoi, Barwan, and other Tributaries of the Darling, communicated by the Rev. William Ridley, M.A., &c.
- C Notes on the Natives of Australia, by Albert A. C. Le Souëf
- D Notes on the Aborigines of Cooper's Creek, by Alfred W. Howitt, F.G.S., P.M. and Warden, Bairnsdale
- E Notes relating to the Aborigines of Australia, by the late John Moore Davis
- F Notes on the System of Consanguinity and Kinship of the Brabrolong Tribe, North Gippsland, by A. W. Howitt, F.G.S., P.M. and Warden, Bairnsdale
- G Notes on the Language and Customs of the Tribe inhabiting the country known as Kotoopna, by William Locke
- H Hunting the Blacks, by the late A. F. A. Greeves
- I The Crania of the Natives, by Professor Halford, of the Melbourne University
- THE ABORIGINES OF TASMANIA
- INDEX
- Plate section
B - Traditions of the Australian Aborigines on the Namoi, Barwan, and other Tributaries of the Darling, communicated by the Rev. William Ridley, M.A., &c.
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 05 August 2011
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
- LANGUAGE
- APPENDICES
- A Notes and Anecdotes of the Aborigines of Australia, by Philip Chauncy, J.P., District Surveyor at Ballarat
- B Traditions of the Australian Aborigines on the Namoi, Barwan, and other Tributaries of the Darling, communicated by the Rev. William Ridley, M.A., &c.
- C Notes on the Natives of Australia, by Albert A. C. Le Souëf
- D Notes on the Aborigines of Cooper's Creek, by Alfred W. Howitt, F.G.S., P.M. and Warden, Bairnsdale
- E Notes relating to the Aborigines of Australia, by the late John Moore Davis
- F Notes on the System of Consanguinity and Kinship of the Brabrolong Tribe, North Gippsland, by A. W. Howitt, F.G.S., P.M. and Warden, Bairnsdale
- G Notes on the Language and Customs of the Tribe inhabiting the country known as Kotoopna, by William Locke
- H Hunting the Blacks, by the late A. F. A. Greeves
- I The Crania of the Natives, by Professor Halford, of the Melbourne University
- THE ABORIGINES OF TASMANIA
- INDEX
- Plate section
Summary
“Baiame” (pronounced like the three words “By-a-me,” and in the Wellington district south of the Namoi “By-a-my”) is the name by which tribes scattered over a great portion of the north-west and west of New South Wales designate the Supreme Being. The blacks there who are acquainted with English, if asked what “Baiame” is, reply, “Carbon-massa,” i.e., the Great Master; and to further enquiry as to what they and their fathers know of Baiame, they reply that He made earth, and water, and sky, animals and men; that He makes the rain come down, and the grass grow; that He has delivered their fathers from evil demons; that He welcomes good people to the great “Warrambool” (watercourse and grove) in the sky–the Milky Way–a paradise of peace and plenty; and that He destroys the bad.
The Rev. James Günther, of Mudgee, long a Missionary in the Wellington district, has recorded in his grammar of the “Wiradhurri” language that the thoughtful blackfellows ascribe to “Baiamai” these three attributes–immortality, power, and goodness. They say that Baiame is present at their Cora–the periodical assembly at which young men are initiated into the privileges of manhood. Among the ceremonies of the Cora is the exhibition of a sacred wand, which they say was given to their people by Baiame, the sight of which is essential to impart manhood.
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- Aborigines of VictoriaWith Notes Relating to the Habits of the Natives of Other Parts of Australia and Tasmania Compiled from Various Sources for the Government of Victoria, pp. 285 - 288Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2010First published in: 1878