ABSTRACT
In the foregoing pages the first-hand accounts of the procreative as well as the related beliefs of the various tribes of Australia have been given in the words of the investigators themselves. From these accounts, I think, it is evident that what has been reported in the majority of instances represents the orthodox doctrine of each tribe, and, with the exception of the aberrant tribes to the north and northeast, it is held according to this doctrine that children are the result of the immigration into a woman of a spirit-child which is of an origin going back into the far distant mythological past. From the variety of contexts in which we have seen these beliefs to function it is clear that their chief sociological purpose is to associate a child with a definite pater, actual or classificatory, that is, with the mother's husband, whether or not he is the actual genitor. Thus it is that by means of this belief in the immigration of spirit-children into women the proper totemic and moiety membership of the child is secured. More importantly, an individual is by this means always associated with a definite locality regardless of where he may have been born, especially, as we have seen, is this the case where the individual is linked to the patrilineal group. There are, of course, local variations in the manner in which these beliefs function, but it is clear that they are essentially similar in nature wherever they occur.
