The methods of obtaining wives may be classified under four heads, so far as the Arunta and Ilpirra tribes are concerned. These are: (1) charming by means of magic; (2) capture; (3) elopement; and (4) the custom of Tualcha mura, by means of which a man secures a wife for his son by making an arrangement with some other man with regard to the latter's daughter.

Taking these in order we may pass over the method of charming by means of magic, as this has been already dealt with under the head of magic in connection with the description of the use of the Louka-lonka, Chilara, Ulpmira, and Namatwinna. The use of these objects is a well recognised method of obtaining wives, as is shown by the fact that a man's right to a woman, secured by means of one or other of them, is supported by the men of his own local group, provided always that the woman stands to the man in the relationship of Unawa or lawful wife.

The second method, that of capture, is of much rarer occurrence, a fact which is to be associated with the existence of the custom of Tualcha mura, according to which practically every man in the tribe is provided with at least one woman, to whom he is lawfully entitled. Indeed, the method of capture which has been so frequently described as characteristic of Australian tribes, is the very rarest way in which a Central Australian secures a wife.