People, Mythical Beings, and Religious Terms

Apart from terms for the various Australian animals daily encountered by the Dieri, another interesting semantic field is, in the context of missionary work, concerned with terms for people and mythical beings. Reuther gives a number of terms for „white‟ and „black‟ people.

Some of these are spelt in capital letters suggesting use as a proper noun. Examples include

Dorothea Hoffmann Page 106 of 164 Tilpirini: „white‟ (Reuther 1901: 649), Pilpantana: compounded to pilpa (= „cheek‟) and –na (= ‟he‟), denotes „one that has white cheeks‟ (Reuther 1901: 719). Kutjani: from kutja (=‟feathers‟, i.e. white) and –ni (=‟she‟), means, „the white one‟ (as white as feathers) (Reuther 1901: 732), interestingly, Schoknecht included in his dictionary the term Ketjani, which means „Dieri‟. (Schoknecht 1873D) If the two terms are identical, there could have been a change in meaning. Ketjani, then, was possibly the term for a person of special importance for the tribe – maybe a kunki (witch doctor) (Reuther 1901:812) who used white feathers to perform his rituals (such as contacting spirits of the deceased or to influence the weather). The meaning of Kutjani was reduced and, meaning „the white one‟, could have possibly been used to refer to the white settlers. What makes this assumption even more likely, are my observations in chapter II pertaining to one of the biggest mistakes of Aboriginal Australians in mistaking the white Europeans for spirits of their deceased ancestors, because they believed them to be white.

Wiljaruna: from wiljaru (=‟black‟) means „the black one‟ (Reuther 1901:704), kana: „man‟, the plural denoting „people‟. Kana means as much as „black man‟ [i.e. Aboriginal] (Reuther 1901:298), kana wolara: „people, tribe‟ (wolara actually means „mob, multitude, host, crowd‟). (Reuther 1901:300) For the latter Schoknecht states karna, meaning „man (native) (Schoknecht 1873D) and Austin kana, meaning „Aboriginal person‟. (Austin 1981) Here, the original meaning „man‟ or „people‟ has been specialized. Before they encountered the first Europeans, the Dieri had probably no need for a specialized term for „Aboriginal‟ person.

The Dieri term for „soul‟ is (almost) the same in all dictionaries and wordlists I consulted.

Interesting about the expression are the explanations Reuther gives for mungara: „the soul‟.

The word is a compound of Mura (=‟deity‟) and ngara (=‟heart‟), i.e. „heart of the deity‟, or of Mura and ngararina (= „to turn into a heart‟) (Reuther 1901:1634), mungara: „soul‟.

Mungara is only used with reference to the human soul – kana mungara: „a man‟s soul‟

(Reuther 1901:813), mura: „the deity‟ (absolute supernatural being) (in the beginning, only milis ‘servants‟ (Reuther 1901:1452) and muramuras: „demi-gods‟ Untergötter (Reuther 1901:1522) existed on the earth (Reuther 1901:1520)). It is possible that the missionaries introduced the term to refer to the „soul‟ of people. Reuther‟s explanation suggests this reading. The addition of the term kana mungara and the explanation that it is only used for human beings also support this claim. Schoknecht included mungara: spirit, soul (Schoknecht 1873D) in his dictionary and Austin yawula „soul‟ and mungara „soul‟ (Austin 1981). I was not able to find a corresponding term for yawula in any other dictionary or wordlist.

Dorothea Hoffmann Page 107 of 164 Another very interesting term is kutji or kuchi. Schoknecht translates the word: kuchi with

„spirits, evil, appearing mostly in birds and animals‟, kuchi kuchi means „bird‟. kuchi madlanchi is then translated with „devil, Satan‟ (Schoknecht 1873D) Reuther, on the other hand, gives the following explanations kutji: ‚[evil] spirit; devil.‟ (Reuther 1901:973), kutji 808: „[evil] spirit; devil (Reuther: „Menschengeist‟ also translated by „nature, disposition‟).

(Reuther 1901:808)

Kutji ngumu is „the benevolent spirit of a deceased person‟ (Reuther 1901:976) or „a noble human spirit‟ (Reuther: „Menschengeist‟ also translated by „nature, disposition‟) (Reuther 1901:808.3). In opposition to that, kutji madlentji is translated as ‟the malevolent spirit of a dead person‟, just as kutji, in the sense of „devil‟, permits of no attributive [qualities], except for „good‟ (nulia) and „bad‟ (nauja). Even the spirit of a deceased person is described in a general way as kutji, (Reuther 1901:977). Other translations of kutji madlentji are „an evil human spirit‟ (Reuther 1901:808.2) or „the [malevolent] spirit of a dead man which oppresses the living‟ (Reuther 1901:1368A). Finally, Austin states kutji – „devil‟. (Austin 1981)

The word kutji has clearly undergone a change in meaning. Schoknecht recorded the term as evil spirits (note the plural), whereas Reuther described them as „evil spirit, devil‟ or even

„Menschengeist‟. It has been noted that the term, the missionaries used for „devil‟ was much easier to find than those for God, Jesus, or Saviour. The term was kuchi madlanchi, using the adjective for „bad, ugly, evil‟ to undermine the wicked nature of the Christian devil. In Reuther‟s time, the word had already an addition in the meaning of the word kutji. The phrase kutji madlentji interestingly is not translated as „devil‟, but „evil spirit‟. There is even an antonym for it kutji ngumu, meaning „benevolent spirit‟. This also adds to my theory. Austin gives the least „satisfactory‟ translation for kutji - „devil‟.

In correspondence to that, one finds the phrase madlanxi ankana for „to sin‟, which literally means „to make evil‟. (Kneebone 2005:150)

Another noteworthy term is associated with Jesus and the related connotation as „saviour‟.

Homann and Koch introduced the term kulkanipirna as the mission term for Jesus (Saviour).

(Kneebone 2005:138) Schoknecht translates the term kulkaninpirna as saviour (pirna is greater, more exalted than echa) – Jesus, kulkaniecha then means „helper, protector‟ and kulkuna is „to help, protect, defend‟. (Schoknecht 1873D) Reuther, on the contrary, gives the following explanation kulkanipirna: „protector, guardian (in respect to property)‟. (Reuther 1901:888) This term was probably not used in pre-mission times by the Dieri. Thus, it can be

Dorothea Hoffmann Page 108 of 164 analyzed as a loan translation, using already existing words to explain new concepts. Why Reuther translated the term the way he did, is not clear. Once again, it would have been very useful to consult his bible translation to find out how he described Jesus. It seems clear, however, that he agrees neither with Homann and Koch nor with Schoknecht on the translation in a religious sense. A reason for this could lie in the attempt to include only

„original‟ Dieri words into his dictionary. This theory is also supported by the fact that no other loans or loan translations seem to be included in the manuscript. In a similar fashion, the term aperipirna became the mission term for „God the Father‟ – from aperi - „father‟ and again pirna - „great‟. (Kneebone 2005:139)