Wild at Heart (WA)

While trying to understand the mythology of Australia’s First Peoples, I came across a vivid description of part of an initiation ritual. This rite is still practised today, though not by all. This “manhood graduation” can last several weeks and includes many stages. Anyone who doesn’t go through the initiation loses respect and is openly shamed. One element of the initiation is circumcision. A boy’s foreskin was traditionally cut using a fish bone or a piece of shell.

This small but ceremonially significant piece of skin also had a life after its removal. For example, it was sometimes eaten in a ritual meal, mixed with minced kangaroo meat. In some cases, it was given to the circumcised boy’s sister, who painted it with ochre and wore it around her neck. Sometimes, the foreskin was passed from hand to hand in a ritually determined order before returning—like a boomerang—to its original owner, who then gave it a symbolic burial, as described in the mythological tradition.*

Life for Aboriginal people is hard, and their customs and behaviours may be unsettling from our perspective. I heard a story about a girl who had one leg shorter than the other. She had a dream that was well known to her family: she wanted to fly, to soar like an eagle, and to have feathers as vibrant as the most colourful parrots. The mobility disability she was born with meant she was destined for death. She lived only as long as her people did not need to travel far. But eventually, the time came for the whole group to undertake a long journey. According to tribal law, her parents were required to end her life. When her siblings later asked where their sister had gone, the father replied:

“See that big tree? High above it, our little one is soaring. Last night, she fulfilled her dream and turned into a bird. From now on, she will travel with us as a cockatoo.”