Post #568493 by TikiTacky on Sun, Dec 12, 2010 9:22 AM

Here's the pointing bone I talked about.

This is an aboriginal killing bone, collected from a Walpiri tribe member, G. Jabanadi, in Yuendumu area, 300 km west of Alice Springs in the 1960s by a Danish geologist, Jan Splitt. He was in the country between 1965 and 1969. In 1979, his collection has been presented in the Esbjerg Museum, and the items have been referenced.

Amongst the Australian native peoples, there is no such thing as a"natural death." This is a rather common belief among the Pacific islanders, including the Sepik in Papua New Guinea. It is generally believed that death is caused by a with doctor or sorcerer. In ART OF THE FIRST AUSTRALIANS, John Carrick relates that, "Australian aboriginal sorcerers were universally feared; they could cause death or injury to a victim by projecting an evil spirit into him with a 'pointing bone.' Bone pointing was practised by many groups. Among the Aranda of central Australia, the bone was cursed and pointed secretly at the victim with chants. Unless some medicine man could remove the evil magic, the boned person would die."