Kurdaitcha
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Kurdaitcha (or kurdaitcha man) is a ritual "executioner" in Australian Aboriginal culture. The word is from the Arrernte people and specifically refers to the shoes worn by the man, woven of human hair and feathers and treated with blood. Other spellings are Cadiche and Kadaitcha.
The following story is related about the role of kurdaitcha (Sources: John Godwin, Unsolved: The World of the Unknown, pp. 163-76; Ronald Rose, Living Magic, pp. 30-36):
- In 1953, a dying Aborigine named Kinjika was flown from Arnhem Land in Australia's Northern Territory to a hospital in Darwin. Tests revealed he had not been poisoned, injured, nor was he suffering from any sort of injury. Yet, the man was most definitely dying. After four days of agony spent in the hospital, Kinjika died on the fifth. It was said he died of bone pointing.
- "Bone pointing" is a method of execution used by the Aborigines. It is said to leave no trace, and never fails to kill its victim. The bone used in this curse either made of either human, kangaroo, emu or even wood. The shape of the killing-bone, or kundela, varies from tribe to tribe. The lengths can be from six to nine inches. They look like a long needle. At the rounded end, a piece of hair is attached through the hole, and glued into place with a gummy resin from the spinifex bush. Before it can be used, the kundela is charged with a powerful psychic energy in a ritual that is kept secret from women and those who are not tribe members. To be effective, the ritual must be performed faultlessly. The bone is then given to the kurdaitcha, who are the tribe's ritual killers.
- These killers then go and hunt (if the person has fled) the condemned. The name, kurdaitcha comes from the slippers they wear while on the hunt. The slippers are made of cockatoo (or emu) feathers and human hair - they virtually leave no footprints. Also, they wear kangaroo hair, which is stuck to their bodies after they coat themselves in human blood and they also don masks of emu feathers. They hunt in pairs or threes and will pursue their quarry for years if necessary, never giving up until the person has been cursed.
- Once the man is caught, one of the kurdaitcha goes down onto one knee and points the kundela. The victim is said to be frozen with fear and stays to hear the curse, a brief piercing chant, that the kurdaitcha chants. Then, he and his fellow hunters return to the village and the kundela is ritually burned.
- The condemned man may live for several days or even weeks. But, he believes so strongly in the curse that has been uttered, that he will surely die. It is said that the ritual loading of the kundela creates a “spear of thought” which pierces the victim when the bone is pointed at him. It is as if an actual spear has been thrust at him and his death is certain.
- Kinjika had been accused of an incestuous relationship. Instead of going to his trial, he fled the village. The hunters found him and cursed him. It is said that is why he died.
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- Sources: John Godwin, Unsolved: The World of the Unknown, pp. 163-76; Ronald Rose, Living Magic, pp. 30-36)
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