Tiwi Elder (Copyright Featherstone Productions)

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A Brief Look at the Tiwi

     The Tiwi have historically inhabited Bathurst Island and Melville Island in Northern Australia, "about 45 miles north of Darwin, capital of the Northern Territory" (Pilling 309). These proud people now number less than 1,000 full- blooded members, but have such a rich history and interesting tale to share with us of their lives. I encourage you to read "The Tiwi of North Australia" for a deeper understanding of the material presented below.

     They were anthropologically significant in that their marriage practice is the only one known to require the marriage of all females at all times. This practice stemmed from the "belief that babies came from spirits" (Hart, et al 85). If a woman was always married, there would always be a stable family and father-figure to care for her children. After many decades of contact with non-islanders, the Tiwi now are generally monogamous. The majority of this influence stems from the influence of the Catholic missionaries beginning in the early twentieth century (Hart,et al 109). According to Jane Goodale, "the first step in undertanding Tiwi social organization is an understandingof Tiwi marriage customs" (Goodale 452). Perhaps it is for this reason that "The Tiwi of North Australia" begins chapter one with the title "Tiwi Marriage." Young girls were often promised to men at least 40 years their senior even before they were conceived. These unions solidified their father's standing in the group and worked much as we view the exchange of political favors in the United States today. Once widowed, a female was married off again at her husband's burial. Men did not often marry before the age of 40 as they needed to have enough years behind them to have proved themselves to the elders of the community as having potential as a future ally in this political give and take. Once a man was looked upon favorably, he might quickly receive multiple wives as the other elders soon took notice of him, as well. I, personally, find the Tiwi practice of marriage to be one of the most interesting areas in which one might study the Tiwi distinctiveness.

     It is also interesting to note that, regardless of repeated contact with outsiders, the Tiwi have viewed themselves as "The People." We have learned in our study of cultural anthropology that any successfully functioning society tends to have an ethnocentric worldview, viewing their own society as the most efficient. Through the years of colonization and domination, "it may appear that Tiwi would feel dominated by whites. However, this was not the Tiwi view" (Pilling 311). Early contact with outsiders painted a picture of Tiwi violence. Early invaders were speared, either to death or until they ran away. To the Tiwi's, this was an example of their dominance. It was not until about 1900 that the Tiwi began to become integrated with the outside world of the mainland, as well as missionaries and foreign traders (Hart, et al 105). Even the "missionaries, in the view of many Tiwi - both past and present, came for the exclusive purpose of serving the Tiwi" (Pilling 312-313). This view of internal dominance has likely been the common thread that has allowed the Tiwi to produce individuals who have excelled in sports, art, entertainment, and government, attaining national acclaim, despite years of minority status and treatment by the Australian government. I encourage you to visit the links above to get a brief glimpse into the success of today's Tiwi community.

     Differences between the Tiwi and other aboriginal peoples of Australia "are probably due to a prolonged period of isolation, beginning when the Tiwi Islands [of Melville and Bathurst] became separated from the mainland during Holocene sea-level rise" (Frederickson 291). These differences include language, art, and social customs. The Tiwi are notable for their dance and song compositions and graveposts. "Burial poles are traditionally erected beside the grave of the deceased as the final act in a pukumani ceremony. This ceremony, the most important event in traditional Tiwi ceremonial life, is carried out over many days and is a mixture of dance and song and an outpouring of grief" (Fredericksen 294-296).  Songs and dances are often composed and performed by relatives of the deceased to express their emotions over the death and their feelings of loss. graveposts must be constructed and painted by male non-family members (Hart 18). The most interesting aspect of the Tiwi song and dance culture is found in the attempt to explain it according to English vocabulary. According to the Tiwi, one can dance a song and sing a dance (Grau 32).

     I found the Tiwi Islanders to be an extremely interesting people to study. From marriage customs to gender-based division of labor, these Australian natives have much to teach us about the importance of customs within a group no matter how different they may be from our own. This study exemplifies the process of change within a population as they are integrated with outsiders. It is unfortunate that the world has lost the solidarity once established within the unadulterated Tiwi community.