Politics in the Conduct of a Secret Male Ceremony

Abstract

The secret male cults encapsulate Aboriginal religion and politics. The present paper describes the competition surrounding the performance of a ceremony of one such cult, which took place on a Government Aboriginal Settlement in Australia's Northern Territory in 1970. The competition is situated in the context of contemporary Aboriginal life on the Settlement, and consideration is given to the Aborigines' position as an oppressed minority in Australian society. The ideological and political importance of traditional religion is established by examining the historical development of cult ownership in the locality. The description of competition in the present ceremony revolves around the ownership of ideological property (totemic estates, ritual paraphernalia, ritual positions, and the ceremony itself). The relevance of the competition is restricted to the context of cult life, though cult performance carries prestige for the men which is outside of, and a denial of, the external situation of oppression.

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