When among the native tribes of that part of the state of Victoria through which the upper Murray, Mitta Mitta, Ovens, upper Goulburn and Yarra rivers flow, a member of a tribe was killed by anybody from a neighbouring tribe, the custom to avenge this wrong was known as Gurē. They believed that the soul of somebody whose death was not avenged would stray and bother relatives. In consequence of this superstition the punishment of the offender was carried out at the first opportunity presented.
The following is a short description of a Gurē expedition, as it was told to me by a native of the Mitta Mitta River in northeast Victoria.
The brothers and friends of the murdered person, accompanied by the older respected men, congregated at the Ngulubul or secret meeting place of the men and deliberated on the best way to retaliate against the guilty party. Some hair, or perhaps some skin taken previously from the body of the murdered person, was shown at this meeting to awaken in the souls of those present the desire for quick vengeance.
The population of a particular locality often consisted of a number of families who were sufficiently independent that they could be called sub-tribes. Sometimes there were feuds between these families, and occasionally murders. And when such injustice was done to a weak sub-tribe who were not able to take revenge, a messenger was sent with information concerning the incident to other familial groups, to ask for their assistance.
The messenger had a flat stick about 18 inches to two feet long and about one-and-a-half inches wide, decorated with lines and symbols inscribed with a marsupial tooth, and painted with red ochre. Instead of a wooden message stick, sometimes an emu tarsus or a kangaroo thighbone was used, decorated in the same way as the wooden one by use of a flint.
The neighbours so called upon usually answered because one day they might request similar help themselves. When the shared meeting ground assigned by the messenger was reached, a party of warriors was selected who had to advance into the territory of the offender. Then the spears were busily greased, straightened and sharpened; boomerangs, clubs, shields and other weapons were carefully checked, and all necessary preparations made for the planned attack.
Some of the most skilled sorcerers made ready with their magic decorations and deadly instruments. Every man took his beard into his mouth and bit on it making wild antics. When all these preparatory things had been finished, the chosen troop specially besmeared and painted left for their mission. The smaller details of the expedition are so similar to that of the ‘Pirrimbir’, which I have described elsewhere,[8] that I will only have to hint at the most important aspects here.
The party travelled on until evening and set up a night-camp with the fires covered in such a way that they were not noticeable from a distance. Early the next morning a tree was inscribed with zigzagging irregular lines and ovals of the usual native patterns from near the ground to as high up the trunk as the men could reach by standing on the shoulders of one another. The signs were carved into the bark with sharp sticks, stone splinters or axes. A gum tree, or especially a grey box, was preferred if available, because of its smooth bark.
Every man of the contingent participated in drawing on the tree in order to transmit as much magic as possible into it, until it was, so to speak, overloaded with harm. Another reason for the common participation in marking the tree was to strengthen the bond of unity between them so that no one felt any regrets or could give warning to the convicted man, so that he might be able to escape. While the work progressed, some of the prime sorcerers rubbed the signs with bullroarers, quartz crystals and human fat to enhance the effectiveness of the procedure.
When the marking of the tree is finished, the men dance or jump around it singing several times ‘wure bunnungandha dumballadha’. The purpose of the whole ceremony is to bewitch the victim so that he does not leave the resting place where he normally resides, but remains kept there by the magic until his pursuers reach it. At every camp place during the ensuing trip the very same procedure is repeated, and a fresh tree is marked every morning.
When they have reached their goal and discovered the place where the wanted tribe resides they get as close as they safely can and put up their camp at a somewhat distant spot where they are not likely to be observed. Two skilled men are now sent ahead as spies to undertake precise and careful observations of the enemy camp, to find out in which part of it the man they are seeking has his quarters, and in order to ascertain the numerical strength of the tribe, discover advantages, and so on.
While these spies are away on reconnaissance the remaining men mark a tree and clear the ground around it as usual. They paint their faces and chests white and make spots of the same colour on their upper arms. Furthermore, they erect around and over their small fire a shield of branches so it cannot be seen from a distance after the onset of darkness. This cover is made in the following way: some small trees are cut off and stuck into the ground with the cut end around the fire which is in the middle while the leafy ends lean against each other so that they form a pyramid or cone over the fire. Another leafy branch is then set on top with the end of the branch facing up.
As soon as the spies get a first look at the common camp of the enemy they hunch in a hole in the ground or hide behind bushes. Then they begin to quietly sing the words of a song called guggarga which is said to have the magic power of making smoke rise from the camp fire of the offender and thus show his whereabouts. While the men continue singing, they wait tensely until they see smoke come from any part of the camp. Then they creep closer to the camp towards the side indicated by the smoke until they can make out the man they are looking for and can locate the position of his camp fire. Should the real murderer not be present in the camp then the spies identify one of his elder brothers or his father; the respective person then has to endure the punishment instead of him.
After the messengers have identified the place of the convicted man, they return to their companions and report with the usual formalities about the state of the matter. After some refreshments have been distributed, some small pieces of wood are placed on the fire to give sufficient light so that the people can see what they are doing. All dance around the fire where the main sorcerers sit singing with quiet voices and executing some magic onto the enemy to destroy his chances of escape. After some time most get to sleep, but some of the older members keep watch continuously. A few hours before dawn everybody is woken and they move silently towards the enemy camp; the men hold small branches in front of themselves in order not to be discovered. The voice of the first bird greeting the new day is the sign for the attack. The attackers separate, one half marching on one side around the camp, the other taking the opposite direction, until they all unite at the opposite side of the camp in closest proximity to the prospective victim.
The details of the attacks are similar to those I described concerning the ‘Pirrimbir Expedition’ to which I refer readers. When the victim falls, the executors secure pieces of his skin, flesh and fat, and sometimes the hands are cut off and taken away. When one of the friends of the man tries to interfere in order to protect him he is subjected to the same punishment.
Then the attackers retreat to their camp of the previous night, where they dance around the marked tree and spit in order to drive out the magic power it had acquired through their earlier magic. After this they take all the food and luggage they had left there and begin their trip home. When they return to their tribe a detailed report is given concerning the events of the expedition.
Amongst the tribes described here, the Magellanic Clouds are taken for two native companions,[9] with the bigger cloud representing the male and the smaller the female. When the stars have their lowest culmination and therefore cannot be seen easily in the densely forested areas, the natives superstitiously believe that the neighbouring tribe might organise a Gurē expedition to avenge some real or imagined grievance. During such times the young men exercise an unusual vigilance in observing the movements of their enemies.