to the brother of the deceased. If a Headman became incapacitated, or for some other reason did not fill his office satisfactorily, the old men would set him aside, and select some one of the above mentioned in his place, but the medicine-man did not necessarily become a Headman.[1]
These instances extend over a great part of the south-eastern quarter of Australia, and they have been recorded either from my own observation or from that of competent correspondents. I have also as in former chapters quoted from certain authors, either because their remarks have a special bearing on the subject-matter in question, or to complete more fully the details of my subject. But in those cases I have exercised my judgment as to the individual value of their evidence, when compared with that of others.
I have shown that there are, and were, men recognised as having control over the tribes-people, and whose directions are obeyed. Such men receive designations which, in some cases, may be translated "Elder" or "Great One." This evidence justifies the conclusion that in other tribes within the area which my evidence covers there were also such Headmen. No doubt, in some tribes, their power and authority have been better established than in others, while in certain of them there is a tendency for the office of Headman to be transmitted from father to son, if the latter be found worthy. But the area to which my evidence refers is but one quarter of the continent, and the investigations of Spencer and Gillen show that, in the Arunta and others of the same group of tribes, there is not such a marked authority attaching to certain leading men as I have found to be especially the case in the coast tribes of south-eastern Australia.
Simply as a question of terminology, it is well to avoid the use of the word Chief, because it inevitably suggests by its associations the hereditary chieftainship, with which we are familiar in some of the South Sea tribes. But the statement of some authors is most certainly erroneous that there are no men who have controlling powers, and that each man may do what is right in his own eyes, without
- ↑ J. Gibson.
