According to the work of Baldwin Spencer and F.J. Gillen on the Aboriginal tribes of central Australia, the Engwura—or Urumpilla, as it is called among some groups—is a long series of ceremonies concerned with totems. These ceremonies terminate in ordeals by fire, which serve as the final initiatory rites. After a native has passed through them, he becomes what is called Uriljara—a fully developed member of the tribe.

The authors note that the natives themselves say the ceremony strengthens all who undergo it. It imparts courage and wisdom, makes the men more kindly natured and less apt to quarrel; in short, it makes them ertwa murra oknirra—words meaning “man, good, great,” with “good” being used in the sense understood by the natives.

Evidently, the ceremony’s main objectives are, first, to bring the young men under the control of the old men, whose commands they must obey implicitly; second, to teach them habits of self-restraint and hardihood; and third, to reveal the tribe’s sacred secrets, which are concerned with the Churinga and their associated totems, to the men who have reached maturity.

Spencer and Gillen recorded that in the Northern Arunta tribe, the Engwura began in mid-September and continued until the middle of the following January. During October, November, and most of December, ceremonies were performed daily, with as many as five or six sometimes occurring within a twenty-four-hour period. Within the Arunta, sunrise and sunset were particularly favoured times for these rituals.

Furthermore, “during the Engwura ceremony in the Arunta, the women not only take part in the fire ordeals, but, in addition, during its performance they really see more of the sacred objects than at any other time.”