Western Arrernte Pmere Kwetethe Spirits‪.‬

INTRODUCTION During fieldwork with Western Arrernte people over the past three years in Central Australia, I was made aware of the difference in the use and meaning of the term pmara kutata, (2) as described in TGH Strehlow's work, and pmere kwetethe (modern spelling) (3) in contemporary Western Arrernte society. Western Arrernte people use pmere kwetethe in a different way today, than TGH Strehlow used it in his work half a century ago. Initially it appeared to me that the people I was working with were talking about the ancestral dreaming beings, who are often referred to as tnengkarre (4) (or altyerre (5)) associated with a sacred site, or about particularly important sites, the context in which TGH Strehlow used the term. However, in the course of research it became evident that Western Arrernte people use the term pmere kwetethe in a different context. In contemporary Western Arrernte society the term pmere kwetethe, which literally means place (pmere) always (kwetethe), is used in daily life as a generic term for 'spirits of the land' who have many different characters and forms. The word pmere kwetethe is often accompanied by the word pmererenye' which means 'belonging to land/place'. Thus, the expression 'pmere kwetethe pmererenye' has the word 'pmere' twice in it, suggesting a strong attachment of these spirits to land.