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The Northern Tribes of Central Australia
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Historical SummaryInjunctions laid on widows following the death of husbands are always particularly severe, and in some AuStralian tribes they are not permitted to speak at all, either out of respect to the dead or because their voices would recall them. This prohibition may last for years, during which these women communicate in a sign language, and, becoming habituated to this, never speak again:
Amongst the Warramunga especially, it is no uncommon thing to find that the greater number of women in any camp are prohibited from speaking. In the case of the widows, mothers, and mothers-in-law, this ban extends over the whole period of mourning, and even at the expiration of this the women will sometimes voluntarily remain silent, preferring to use the gesture language, in which they become most remarkably proficient. At the present moment there is a very old woman in the camp at Tennant Creek who has not spoken for more than twenty-five years, and who will probably, before very long, pass to her grave without ever uttering another word.2
2Spencer, B.n/an/an/an/an/a, and F.J.Gillenn/an/an/an/a, , 525–526 (The Macmillan Company. By permission).
Chicago: The Northern Tribes of Central Australia in Primitive Behavior: An Introduction to the Social Sciences, ed. Thomas, William I. (New York: McGraw-Hill Book Company, Inc., 1937), Original Sources, accessed May 16, 2024, http://www.originalsources.com/Document.aspx?DocID=1ECYDGJJYK7PEE5.
MLA: . The Northern Tribes of Central Australia, in Primitive Behavior: An Introduction to the Social Sciences, edited by Thomas, William I., New York, McGraw-Hill Book Company, Inc., 1937, Original Sources. 16 May. 2024. http://www.originalsources.com/Document.aspx?DocID=1ECYDGJJYK7PEE5.
Harvard: , The Northern Tribes of Central Australia. cited in 1937, Primitive Behavior: An Introduction to the Social Sciences, ed. , McGraw-Hill Book Company, Inc., New York. Original Sources, retrieved 16 May 2024, from http://www.originalsources.com/Document.aspx?DocID=1ECYDGJJYK7PEE5.
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