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[Page 176]
161
LAWS OF MARRIAGE AND DESCENT.
The relative position of brothers and of sisters is marked by a singular nomenclature. There is no word in Kamilaroi meaning simply "brother," but one for " elder brother," another for "younger brother." Daiādi is elder brother; gullami is younger brother. Of six brothers the eldest has five gullami and no daiadi; the youngest has five daiadi and no gullami; the fourth has three daiadi and two gullami. Of eight sisters the eldest (who is boādi to all the rest) has seven būri and no boādi; the youngest has seven boadi and no būrī; the third has two boadi and five buri.
The Rev. Lorimer Fison, Missionary of the Wesleyan Church in Fiji, on seeing these rules of marriage, descent, and relationship, said they contained the principles of the "Tamil," a system which prevails among the Tamil tribes of India, among the Fijians, and among the North American Indians.
Subjoined are the eight characteristics of "Tamil," compared severally with illustrations of the Australian system.
I. In Tamil, A being a male, his brother's children are considered as his own children, his sister's children are his nephews and nieces; his sister's grandchildren, as well as his brothers, are considered as his grandchildren. So in the above system, Kumbo Nurai's brother is also Kumbo nurai. They marry women of the same name. Each marries a Matha; each Matha's children are Kubbi and Kubbotha; so that each man's brother's sons and daughters have the same names as his own sons and daughters. But Kumbo's sisters are Butha, and their children are Ippai and Ippatha. And, as seen in the genealogy, the grandchildren of Kumbo and Butha, brothers and sisters, have the same names.
II. In Tamil, A being a female, her sister's children are her sons and daughters. Her brother's children are her nephews and nieces. Her brother's grandchildren, as well as her sister's grandchildren, are her grandchildren. Taking Butha nurai, instead
of Kumbo nurai, in the above rule I, it will be seen that her sister's children have the same names as her own, while her brother's children have different names, and the same names return in the grandchildren.
III. All A's father's brothers are A's fathers. All A's mother's sisters are A's mothers. So Kumbo's father's brothers are, like his father, Kubbi; and Kumbo's mother's sisters, like his mother herself, are all Ippatha.
IV. All A's father's sisters are A's aunts, and A's mother's brothers are his uncles. So Kumbo's father's sisters are Kubbotha, while his mother is Ippatha. His mother's brothers are Ippai, his father is Kubbi.