One Australian hunter named Irin was famous for his light sleep. If enemies were creeping up to the camp, he woke everyone up shouting: “Mil! Nice! Nice! - Look! Look! But Irin died, and the group plunged into grief: who will now warn them of the danger?
The deceased was placed in a coffin made of bark, painted with red paint; the healer-virinun drew a cross on the coffin with his fingernail (the missionaries had already introduced the Australians to Christian symbols). Then the sacred dances began - the corroboree ceremony around the coffin. Branches were laid at the bottom of the grave and all the belongings of the deceased were brought into it. Meanwhile, his elder relative stood at the grave and guarded it from evil spirits. While the grave was covered with earth, the mourners sang lamentations, remembering Irina. Then the men made another offering that they had never made: they cut themselves with stone weapons, and the blood began to flow into the grave. Finally, a fire was lit and people began to fumigate themselves to get rid of the evil spirits surrounding the grave. Here women and children had to leave the ceremony and the camp, because it became a place of death, a taboo for the living. Only the men, led by Virinun, remained at the filled-in grave. Turning to the east, Virinun called on the creator Baiame to allow the spirit of Irin into the heavenly afterlife. The grave was covered with branches, but the space around was left free: in the morning traces could be found there - the animal that came to the grave was considered a totem of the group from which the culprit of death, Irina, came.
The widow Irina smeared her body with mud, smeared her head with white clay and spent the whole night near the cleansing fire. She had to observe mourning and remain silent. Only on the third day, having washed herself in the river, she let out a cry, and someone’s voice answered her: her late husband was giving a sign that she could start talking. She had to fumigate herself in thick smoke until her husband's relative took her as his wife. Funeral songs should have been sung for several months after Irin's death. One day one of the enemies of the clan died and became an evil spirit: he returned from the other world to attack the living, but they were awakened by a cry:
“Mil! Nice! Nice!” It was a little gray owl screaming. The evil spirit tried to negotiate with the bird, promising it a share of the spoils if he killed the enemy. The owl promised to remain silent, but as soon as the evil spirit entered the camp, it screamed again. The spirit was indignant, but the owl replied that she would always protect her tribe, as in those days when she was a man: after all, her fellow tribesmen honored her with special rituals.
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru