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THE JOKING RELATIONSHIP AND ORGANIZED
OBSCENITY IN NORTH QUEENSLAND' By DONALD F. THOMSON
1 The expedition to North Queensland in 1932-33, on which this work was carried
financed by a grant from the University of Melbourne.
2See Donald F. Thomson, The Hero Cult, Initiation and Totemism on C
(Journal, Royal Anthropological Institute, Vol. 63, 1933, pp. 453-537), and Notes
Cult from the Gulf of Carpentaria, North Queensland (Journal, Royal Anthropolo
tute, in press).
460
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THOMSON] JOKING RELATIONSHIP IN NORTH QUEENSLAND 461
these canoes they hunt turtle and dugong, which they capture with
poons. The natives of these fishing and canoe-making tribes are mu
strongly nomadic than the tribes of the interior of the continent,
S B AMNKS I 4LJMD
TORR9-S STRAIT
CORAL 'SEA
(Pnl6MKOus TUPPATHIOQI
- DCAELn N PC
CO LLOYDrB
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462 AMERICAN ANTHROPOLOGIST [N. s., 37, 1935
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THOMSON] JOKING RELATIONSHIP IN NORTH QUEENSLAND 463
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464 AMERICAN ANTHROPOLOGIST [N. s., 37, 1935
6 See The Hero Cult, Initiation and Totemism on Cape York Peninsula, pp. 505-10; this
paper also contains an account of the rite of tooth avulsion and the belief in a life after death.
"I The Father in the Wjk Monkan Tribe, ms.
7 E.g.
whose the Wik
territories lie Tinda
to the of the Archer
northward Baymouth
of the district andArcher
of the the Addedin',Oit
River. and LatUm',qit
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THOMSON] JOKING RELATIONSHIP IN NORTH QUEENSLAND 465
8 In the Wik Monkan tribe however, there is a special expression, which is regarded as
a stigma, for one who habitually uses foul or obscene language, as against the ordinary word
used for swearing, and in the Wik Monkan tribe a child is corrected for using bad language;
see page 470.
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466 AMERICAN ANTHROPOLOGIST [N. s., 37, 1935
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THOMSON] JOKING RELATIONSHIP IN NORTH QUEENSLAND 467
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468 AMERICAN ANTHROPOLOGIST [N. s., 37, 1935
10 Pim kdimpdin, literally "man friend," "friend person," is a phrase meaning something
like "one's own people" as applied to the closer relations within the kinship system.
n1 Kakul is idiomatic; the etymology is interesting. The usual word for face is qurp, but
the word ka, properly "nose," is frequently used idiomatically for the face, especially in com-
pound words. Hence, the literal translation of the words would be nose (ka) angry (kul):
7iurp kul ("face angry") does not appear to be used in this idiomatic sense.
12 Kat (kiitta of Ompela and Koko Ya'o) means "bad, putrid, stinking, decayed," but
it may, as in this instance be used simply for "old, dead." Hence yuk kit, a dead or dry tree.
(A dead man, however, is pim mul, he would be pim kit, or pim mul kit, only if stinking.)
13 In the Wik Monkan language a poor hunter is spoken of contemptuously as ma'a
yapen, but a good hunter, one who shows special prowess, particularly in killing emu (Dromaius
novae-hollandiae); native companion (Megaglornis rubicundus); jabiru (Xenorhynchus asiaticus)
and other large and wary birds, is distinguished by the name ma'a tup, a title that is much
coveted. Tup may be applied also to a woman, as for example, a woman who excells at the task
of gathering vegetable food (mai), etc. Such a woman is mai'tup, or wdintj (woman) mai tup,
not wdintj tup (vide infra). A man renowned for his fighting prowess is kek (spear) tup, and a
"woman hunter," a man celebrated for his conquests, is wlintj tup, a title that most men would
deem it politic to disavow in public.
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THOMSON] JOKING RELATIONSHIP IN NORTH QUEENSLAND 469
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470 AMERICAN ANTHROPOLOGIST [N. s., 37, 1935
can be expressed by an aboriginal. In the KQkQ Ya'o tribe a man may say pipi, father; pipi
nidtano, father mine, or pipi tilli, father distant or "outside;" tiilli is literally leg (in anatomical
sense) and is employed to express "distant" only in kinship; distant (of place) is kditji.
15 This symbol indicates reciprocal usage of the kinship terms.
is Tjilbo, "the grey one," is a term of veneration in the Koko Ya'o and neighboring tribes.
It is used as a noun as well as an adjective and may be employed as a term of address. To say
Tjilbo! is in the Koko Ya'o tribe a term of respect and is very different from the ordinary
use of the equivalent in English. Tjilbobinda,-binda a suffix meaning "the bearer of," i.e.,
"the bearer of the grey hair," may also be used.
17 Auwa appearing after a name, except in idiomatic expressions, always signifies a totem
center, e.g., ka1'ka1 is the white-bellied sea eagle; ka1'kai1 auwa the totem center of this bird.
Similarly pitj is a shooting star; piitjauwa the shooting star totem center.
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THOMSON] JOKING RELATIONSHIP IN NORTH QUEENSLAND 471
Wik Monkan tribe these are generally associated with the genitalia,
the Tjuqnundji, the two most serious insults are to accuse a man in p
on the one hand, of having ea en food bitten by a dog, and on the ot
reflect upon the chastity of his mother. These expressions are insul
no man could endure and are therefore goads that invariably resu
fight.
In all the tribes referred to in the present communication, humorous, or
even ribald, remarks on parts of the body are used in a jocular fashion, and
most of these are innocuous unless they are addressed to a person who
stands in a forbidden relationship. Thus, in the Wik Monkan tribe, while
these terms may be used freely between father's father and son's son (pQla
and poliaii), a fight would almost certainly result if they were used by an
elder sister's son (tuwa) to his mother's younger brother (kala). A series
of expressions from the Wik Monkan language, relating chiefly to parts of
the body, are set out below, showing a gradation from merely jocular ref-
erences to the hands, face, and legs, to obscene references to the pudenda,
that constitute the grossest insults in the language.
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472 AMERICAN ANTHROPOLOGIST [N. s., 37, 1935
To a man:
po'Qo wntj wenta vagina woman mad; lit. po'o, female pudend
wantj, woman, wenta, mad
kuntjitti big penis; kuntj, penis (-itti suffix, see fn. 18)
kuntj onk long penis
kuntj tantitti penis fatty; kuntj, penis; tint, fat
kuntj mankatti penis root big
untitti big scrotum; unt, scrotum
otjumti plenty urine
To a woman:
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THOMSON] JOKING RELATIONSHIP IN NORTH QUEENSLAND 473
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474 AMERICAN ANTHROPOLOGIST [N. s., 37, 1935
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THOMSON] JOKING RELATIONSHIP IN NORTH QUEENSLAND 475
and in the Wik Monkan, honk wonka tonn, which may be used o
directly, that is at, and not to, the person addressed. In the apt ph
my informant, they may talk "one side." I shall have occasion to speak
fully of this "one side" talk when discussing the joking relationship
Ompela and Wik Monkan tribes. The joking relationship of the firs
between members of the grandparent's and grandchildren's generat
the more widely distributed type, and the one in which the greatest li
is permitted. It is only in this relationship between individuals two
tions removed, e.g., between the father's father and the son's son
tain of the tribes of this area), that organized obscenity and behav
sexual type, is permitted, and even becomes the norm of behavior
Ompela and Koko Ya'o tribes the relation of the father's fathe
and his classificatory son's son (poladu) is an extraordinary one, a
characterized by extreme freedom and license both of speech and b
in the presence of other members of the horde, that is permissible wit
other individual. It is the pola and poladu who pursue one anothe
snatch at one another's genitalia.
In all these tribes-the Koko Ya'o, Ompela, and Kanju-the name
is applied not only to the father's father but also to the clan totems.
In the joking relationship of the second type, while a great deal of f
dom is permitted, this generally takes the form of bad language rather
of obscene expressions, and references and behavior of a sexual nat
excluded.
In each case greater freedom is permitted between relations that a man
calls ttlli (distant) than with ylntju (close) relations, and as a rule restraint
must be exercised with blood relations, to whom a man applies the term
,iqtaqo, "my own."
When I asked two men of the Koko Ya'o tribe who stood in a joking
relationship and who were perpetually exchanging terms of abuse,why they
swore, one of the men replied "Yor'yor (nothing), ati (friend), make happy
little bit, no swear proper!"
It has been noted that all this organized swearing and obscenity in the
joking relationship, that is, all the swearing that falls under a social sanc-
tion, is carried on in camp in the presence of other members of the horde,
and it fulfils a definite function. Just as the proper observance of the tabus
governing behavior towards the wife's mother and certain other relations,
maintains a condition of euphoria, the joking relationship induces a state
of ritual well-being; in the words of the natives themselves it "makes
everybody happy." For it must be remembered that the proper observance
of the formal pattern of behavior under the kinship system is not a matter
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476 AMERICAN ANTHROPOLOGIST [N. S., 37, 1935
The joking relationship in the Koko Ya'o tribe is well developed, and
plays an important part in social life. It falls into the two main types noted
above, but as it is inseparably linked with the kinship organization, som
knowledge of this system, especially of the type set up by marriage, is e
sential to an understanding of it.
In the Koko Ya'o tribe two types of marriage are permitted, with a
classificatory cross-cousin, that is with a mother's brother's or father
sister's daughter, and with a classificatory sister's son's daughter. Marriag
with the actual mother's brother's or father's sister's daughter, that is with
an actual cross cousin, is prohibited; the relationship must be tilli (dis-
tant) not yintju (close or actual). Swearing and obscenity, whether used
within the privileged relationships or as taunts or goads during quarrels
resemble in import those in the Wik Monkan language. Among the most
common are tono wikkin ontan, "you scrotum burned;" tUll'al woipa or
tall'al, "(your) semen (is) close." To a woman the most deadly insults are
pinygi! (pinyu, "vagina," -oi, a suffix used in hailing a person from a di
tance), hence the expression is equivalent to "Hey! vagina!" and yini muk
kin, "enlarged clitoris:" as in quarrels between men, references to the genit-
alia are frequent, especially such expressions as yono yini ontain, "you vagina
(is) burned." The men, especially the single men, are ashamed when they hear
these words exchanged between the women in public, and bow their head
The three principal joking relationships in this tribe are:
(1) Pola (father's father) and poladu (son's son);
(2) Yami4-yami, a joking relationship that is set up between two in-
dividuals who stood at first in the relationship of elder brother (yapu) an
younger brother (ya'adu), after one has married a classificatory sister's
daughter (mampa) of the other.
The term yami, applied to the actual mother-in-law and to her brother
and sisters, is thenceforth used reciprocally, with a pattern of behavior
strong contrast with the extreme tabu of the usual yami relationship.
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THOMSON] JOKING RELATIONSHIP IN NORTH QUEENSLAND 477
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478 AMERICAN ANTHROPOLOGIST [N. s., 37, 1935
(2) yami-?yami.
tionship Although the
is here considerably extreme license oft
restricted-references
crement alone being permitted-the obligatory b
strongest contrast with the usual behavior to the wife's
the sisters and brothers of this woman. For not only is
he should swear at or in the presence of any one of.thes
never speak directly to them nor even approach th
which they are standing.
The relationship that was set up when a Koko Ya'o ma
mampa (sister's daughter) of his yapu (elder brother) is as
I I
ATAPARRADI YUTOMO - MA'ATJINTJAL
Ya'a Moryu
Ya'adu Piloba
KULLIKULLIGOBI ANARRA
Mampa Ya'adu Yami
Kala Yapu Yami
foreAnarra applied
betrothal, inthe
theterm yami
case of to Yutom
a classificato
extended the same terminology to her broth
of a woman to whom he applied the term
his yapu.
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THOMSON] JOKING RELATIONSHIP IN NORTH QUEENSLAND 479
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480 AMERICAN ANTHROPOLOGIST [N. S., 37, 1935
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THOMSON] JOKING RELATIONSHIP IN NORTH QUEENSLAND 481
Englishpi'I
water koko_ ornki
tulnkin
meat minya yantai'yi
(animal food in general; also
for any animal, game, or fis
vegetable food mai'yi mampaindji
(food in general; also generic term for
vegetable food or food of vegetable
origin)
fire (also firewood) yuma minto
26 In these tribes a dog has a place in the kinship system; it is p
speaking) to a man, and mampa (son or daughter, woman speaking)
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482 AMERICAN ANTHROPOLOGIST [N. s., 37, 1935
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THOMSON] JOKING RELATIONSHIP IN NORTH QUEENSLAND 483
The joking relationship is also found in the Kanju tribe of the central
highlands of Cape York Peninsula. It differs in no important respects from
the relationship in the Ompela and Koko Ya'o tribes that occupy the terri-
tory to the eastward, and to which it is culturally and linguistically much
more closely allied than to the tribes of the west coast.
THE JOKING RELATIONSHIP IN THE WIK MONKAN TRIBE
It has been shown above (p. 469) that in the Wik Monkan tribe swearin
is of two distinct types. Apart, however, from the swearing of the ku
kentanak type that has already been discussed in some detail, a well de-
fined joking relationship, resembling closely in all essential features thos
that have been described from the Koko Ya'o and Ompela tribes, als
exists in the Wik Monkan. The marriage system in the Wik Monkan tribe
differs from that of any of the tribes hitherto discussed and is of a second
cousin type.
Ak is the Wik Monkan term for an oath, and organized swearing of
the type found in the joking relationship is akwunak ke'dtnak, "swear-fo
play-for," or pam kampan akwunak ke'atnik"7 "man friend swear-for play-
for," i.e., "swearing for play among relatives."
Again in this tribe, the greatest license is permitted between members
of the grandparent-grandchildren generations, usually distant, and called
by the Wik Monkan mall tonn (mall, "right hand," tonn "another"). For
a man the principal joking relations are:
1) mukka
be observed in(,-mukkaiya),
the behavior toa the
mother's elder mukka;
actual (own) brother. Some
and decorum
to the mu
mother's
younger brother (kala), own or classificatory, extreme deference must be
shown. A kala is qaintja taiyin, my informants stated (tjaintja, "tabu,"
taiyin, "hard" or "severe"). Considerable interest attaches to this rela-
tionship and to the unusually sharp distinction in behavior between th
mother's elder brother (mukka) and the mother's younger brother (kala)
2) tlatjaw=?qtjiydq
father's mukka and kala. (mother's father,-daughter's son or daughter), also
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484 AMERICAN ANTHROPOLOGIST [N. s., 37, 1935
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THOMSON] JOKING RELATIONSHIP IN NORTH QUEENSLAND 485
are generally but not always restricted to times of real anger. The s
type of joking, usually of a coarse, rather than of an obscene
otjamti (otjam, "urine"), hence, "plenty urine."
Nevertheless, just as extreme license is permitted between a t
his raiitjiiir, between a raiitjiait and his riitjii waiyo (father's mothe
sister) a great deal of license is permitted, and references of sex
acter, which, as was noted above, are usually excluded from the
lationship between individuals of opposite sex, are sometimes e
Thus a tiitj'waiyo may say to her rtitjiart, kuintj many', "little p
he may retort pq'o many', "little vagina," a type of jest that is u
in any other relationship.
Behavior within the kinship system of the Wik Monkan tri
tremely complex, and here again as in the Ompela and allied
special vocabulary is employed for talk "one side" between indivi
stand in certain relationships within the kinship system. The word f
or speech, corresponding with koko of the east coast, is wik, and
in that area the word for "speech" appears as a prefix to the names
tribes, e.g. Wik Monkan, Wik Tinda, Wik Alkan, Wik rtjatirra
speech is wik koi'um, which means literally "talk straight," wh
side talk" is tronk wonk tonn "speech side another," so that th
distinction between "straight talk" and "one side talk" are almo
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486 AMERICAN ANTHROPOLOGIST [N. s., 37, 1935
The Tjuyundji tribe of the lower Batavia River area on the Gulf of
Carpentaria differs greatly both culturally and linguistically from the
31 It is of interest to note the occurrence of certain at least of these words where euphe-
misms are required. Hence a pregnant woman is spoken of, and even addressed as, imprinti,
obviously derived from the 7onk tonn (impin "belly," -in, "with"). Thus while it is quite
proper and correct to address a pregnant woman as jmpanta, to speak of her as tippiti, "big
belly," would be an insult, or at the least a phrase in very bad taste (wik waiya, "bad talk").
3 This word again occurs in the name Ankallamwet, given during mourning to a man or
woman who has lost a relation of a certain order, and is related to the fact that the hair must
not be cut by an A*nklllimwet except on certain set ceremonial occasions.
3 A preliminary account of these people appears in a paper on A Hero Cult from the Gulf
of Carpentaria (Journal, Royal Anthropological Institute, in press).
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TBOMSON] JOKING RELATIONSHIP IN NORTH QUEENSLAND 487
tribes of the south and east, and is very distinct from the Koko Ya'o,
Kanju, or Wik Monkan tribes. Nevertheless the use of swearing, and the
existence of a joking relationship, characterized by license in behavior and
the organized use of obscenity, is well developed.
Swearing in the Tjuqiundji tribe is again readily classified under three
main headings.
(1) Mild oaths or exclamations, in which the personal name of a person
long deceased is called when a weapon or implement breaks or when a man
strikes his foot against an object on the ground (see p. 467).
(2) Unorganized swearing, i.e., swearing used in times of anger to goad
enemies to fight; falling under no social sanction.
(3) Organized swearing and license in behavior permissible between
relatives of a certain restricted class, and taking the form of a joking re-
lationship.
Within the second class of swearing, used in times of anger to goad to
fight the strongest and most offensive expressions are used, since here there
is no restriction except that imposed by fear of goading an enemy too far.
A great number of expressions used only as taunts may never be employed
even within the grades of the joking relationship in which the greatest
license is allowed.
Thus there is one term which, although it would appear to a white man
to be quite innocuous, must never be used playfully since this would in-
variably lead to a fight. No man who is tjirrita and no woman who is
n'dju'upatti or mwdpranna may eat the flesh of any animal that has been
killed or even bitten by a dog, nor any man who is agimmathiggi'oti
(father of an infant). But old people-a man who is waitgiimbwitti (just
turning grey) or wegipwa (old man), and a woman who is ndupriggai (old
woman)-may however, eat food that dogs have hunted and killed. When
a man who is still tjirrita eats flesh killed by a dog, even by his own dog, he
is aithwamaitgwatti, i.e., one who has eaten the spittle (tthwa) of a dog.
This is regarded as a dreadful thing: nevertheless, none but the elder brother
of the man, whose special privilege it is, dare apply this term to him, for
athwamimagwatti is one of the worst and deadliest of fighting taunts. My
informant remembered an actual instance in which the use of this word re-
sulted in the death of the user, who was killed instantly, his neck transfixed
by a spear before he could even rise to his feet.
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488 AMERICAN ANTHROPOLOGIST [N. S., 37, 1935
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THOMSON] JOKING RELATIONSHIP IN NORTH QUEENSLAND 489
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490 AMERICAN ANTHROPOLOGIST [N. s., 37, 1935
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