kurdaitchan.

1886 E. M. Curr Austral. Race I. v. 148 It was discovered in 1882..that the Blacks..wear a sort of shoe when they attack their enemies by stealth at night. Some of the tribes call these shoes Kooditcha, their name for an invisible spirit... The soles were made of the feathers of the emu, stuck together with a little human blood... The uppers were nets made of human hair.

1896 Proc. Royal Soc. Victoria 8 66 The wearing of the Urtathurta and going Kũrdaitcha lũma appears to have been the medium for a form of vendetta.

1909 Cent. Dict. Suppl. 693 Kurdaitcha. 1. Among the tribes of central Australia, a man chosen to avenge the death of one who had died, every death being supposed to be due to the magic influence of some enemy. 2. A kind of shoe, made of emu-feathers matted together with human blood, worn by the kurdaitcha when on his errand.

1932 Times Lit. Suppl. 28 Jan. 52/2 The Kurdaitcha among the tribes of Central Australia goes forth against his enemy with a medicine-man skilled in this sinister art.

1940 A. Upfield Bushranger of Skies (1963) xvi. 156 You ought to make us Kurdaitcha shoes.

1940 A. Upfield Bushranger of Skies (1963) xix. 183 A Kurdaitcha man is an evil spirit—always wandering about the poor blackfellows' camp at night.

1953 A. Upfield Murder must Wait xxii. 146 All good aborigines should be fast asleep..safe from the dread Kurdaitcha.

1959 S. H. Courtier Death in Dream Time ii. 19 The bewildering display of aboriginal weapons and implements...death-bones and kurdaitcha shoes.

1962 A. Upfield Will of Tribe vi. 57 The fear of the Kurdaitcha Man and the Great Snake.