Howitt to Fison 26 January 1880

Transcription - Page 4

--"At first sight the Kurnai appear to
answer +c."

I seems to me that the Kurnai are
in fact an Endogemous community
qua tribe but exogemous qua division
- can we say therefore thus "it forbids
marriage everywhere within its limits."?
It forbids marriage "everywhere within its
limits as to the divisions but not
as to the tribe.
Now as to [Capture- crossed out] Marriage by Capture. Should we
not consider this. M. by C. existed between the Brajerak
and the Kurnai - see what Tūlaba says. It would
have existed or did exist between the Kurnai and the
Brajerak - [for -crossed out] that is of the latter had been strong
enough in their familiar tribe. See also the case
of the slaughter of the Brajerak by the Briakalūng
who took the wives of the slain - the case of the Tatungulung
men who crossed Lake Wellington and stole women
from the Bunjil Nellung, the case of Tommy Doughboy
and Boljan and finally the case of the Brit Britta
woman who was captured in the Bushy Park battle
and alloted to Bundahwaal on the ground
that the captors were "too near" - ie. of a forbidden
class. I think McLennan will have reason to
say that M. by C. existed among the Kurnai.
It did - but the rule was marriage by elopements
and M. by C. was an incident of warfare with the
Brajerak and where an incident of warfare
[in -crossed out] within the Kurnai community was regulated
by the "class rules." Have you thought of this? I must
see to it or else McLennan willl have handle