Tenamet-javolich, before mentioned, carried stone from the quarry at Charlotte Plains to be made into axe-heads. The same was the case with the meetings of the Jupagalk tribe.
The same practice of barter occurred when there were great tribal meetings in the Kulin nation. Such a meeting was held about the year 1840 at the Merri Creek near Melbourne; at which people came from the Lower Goulburn River, from its upper waters, and even from as far as the Buffalo River. Not only was barter carried on, but, as Berak said, people made presents to others from distant parts "to make friends."[1]
Buckley mentions that a messenger (bihar) came from the Wudthaurung to propose that the latter should exchange eels for roots. The place of meeting was about fourteen days' distance to travel. The exchange was made by two men of each party delivering the eels and roots on long sheets of bark, carrying them on their heads from one party to the other until the bargain was concluded. When the tribes separated an agreement was made to meet again for barter.
The Yuin ceremonies of initiation were attended by people from a district included by Shoalhaven River, Braidwood, the southern part of Manero, and Twofold Bay. At the termination of these ceremonies, when the novices had gone away into the bush for their time of probation, and when the people were about to separate, there was held a kind of market, at which those articles which they had brought with them for exchange were bartered. It was held at some clear place near the camp, and a man would say, "I have brought such and such things," and some other man would bargain for them. A complete set of articles is one Ngulia or belt of opossum-fur string, four Burrain or men's kilts, one Gumbrum or bone nose-peg, and a complete set of corrobboree ornaments. It was the rule that a complete set went together. Weapons might be given in exchange, and a complete set of these is "two hands," that is ten, fighting boomerangs (Warangun),
- ↑ Morgan, op. cit. p. 49.
