AMus_E013386

Title: A message stick summons for ceremony, from Boulia district

Description: Message or letter stick [ref reg]; Message stick (ref LC) Flat, oblong, lateral notch one end. Both sides decorated; opposed wavy lines. One side cross, wavy lines, horizontal and diagonal lines [ref LC]; Condition: Complete. Mould [ref LC].

Message: "Fig. 336. Made by a Kalkadoon. Obv. and Rev. similar. Coloured with a black band.

Fig. 336a. Sent by a Kalkadoon boy from Gunpowder Creek to his gin (in the service of Mr. E. McDonnell) at Normanton, 1894. Note the unusual bifurcate shape. Message not known." AMus pdf from 24.01.2023 [INCORRECT]: "Function: Obv: "Come up for a corroboree". Rev: Quick! hurry up" (Ethn. Stud. Sect. 236). Message obt. from transmitter by Roth (Eth. Stud. Sect. 235) [ref LC];" Note this is probably a confusion with AMus_E013375. See notes for AMus_E013375.

Creator of Object: Sender: a Kalkadoon AMus pdf from 24.01.2023: "Maker; Made by pitta pitta (Boulia district) (Ethno. Stud. Sect. 236) [ref LC];" PK: INCORRECT. Note this is probably a confusion with AMus_E013375. See notes for AMus_E013375. Correct text (Roth 1897): "Fig. 336 [ie 326 in the sketch]. Made by a Kalkadoon. Obv. and Rev. similar. Coloured with a black band."

Date Created: 1897

Notes on date created: terminus ante quem

Item type: message stick in a collection

Subtype: traditional

State/Territory: QLD

Linguistic area 1: Chirila: Kalkatungu Austlang: G13 - Kalkatungu / Kalkadoon Glottolog: kalk1246

Notes on linguistic areas: The origin of the message stick is Boulia, Channel Country, Queensland. AMus pdf from 24.01.2023: "REGION: Channel Country; Boulia or Caloola (see spec & Ethno. Stud.) [ref reg]; Ethno.Stud. states object made by Pitta-Pitta (Boulia district) (Sect.236), [ref L CJ; Message or letter stick, pitta pitta tribe Soulia, or kalkadoon tribe Caloola (see specimens and Eth. Studies)" The message stick is associated with Leichhardt-Selwyn District

Cultural region: Channel Country

Dimension 1: 164mm Dimension 2: 27mm Dimension 3: 10mm

Sources:

Roth, Walter Edmund. 1897. Ethnological studies among the north-west-central Queensland Aborigines. Brisbane: Edmund Gregory.

Source types: museum collection

Date collected: Acquisition date: not mentioned Accession date: 23 March 1905

Institution/Holder file: The Australian Museum object identifier: E013386

Collector: Purchased by: Roth, Dr Walter Edmund

Coordinates: 22°54'38.498400"S,139°54'38.401200"E  (-22.910694, 139.910667)

Media copyright: The Australian Museum

Notes on coordinates: Absolute coordinates for Boulia, Queensland, per Google maps. Wikipedia: Boulia is an outback town and locality in the Shire of Boulia, Queensland, Australia.

URL institution: http://collections.australianmuseum.net.au/amweb/pages/am/Display.php?irn=5595&QueryPage=%2Famweb%2Fpages%2Fam%2FQuery.php&highlight_term=message+stick

URL source 1: https://archive.org/stream/cu31924029890328#page/n257

URL source 2: https://archive.org/stream/cu31924029890328#page/n161

Notes: REGISTER

Date: 23 March 1905

Name or Description: Message or letter stick, Pitta Pitta in Boulia or Kalkadoon in Caloola

Locality: see specimen in Eth. Studies

How Acquired: Purch.

Name of Donor or Seller: Dr. W. E. Roth

Estimated or Market Value: S.19

Destination: Figs. Ethn. Studies. Pl. XVIII f 326. Text sections 235-6

Remarks:

OTHER NOTES

OT: In the text, this figure is actually numbered 326 but the number appears twice, and number 336 is missing. Hence the picture name is 336. PK: I think this should actually be 326, based on the AMus record, but AMus is sometimes wrong and bases itself on Roth 1897. So this is all a bit uncertain. 12.12.23 NR: the following was included under the description field prior to going over the AMus pdf from 24.01.2023: This is visibly fig no 326 in Roth and should be merged. 11.07.2024 PK merged with fig 326 21.02.2025: PK CONCLUDING SUMMARY: This is the object labelled 326 in Plate 18 of Roth, and the correct text associated with the image is the text against Fig. 336 and Fig 336a on p138 of Roth:

"Fig. 336. Made by a Kalkadoon. Obv. and Rev. similar. Coloured with a black band.

Fig. 336a. Sent by a Kalkadoon boy from Gunpowder Creek to his gin (in the service of Mr. E. McDonnell) at Normanton, 1894. Note the unusual bifurcate shape. Message not known."

The evidence for this is the Australian Museum's photograph: note the faded black band though the 'bifurcate shape' is a little ambiguous.

Media Files:

Data Entry: Julia Bespamyatnykh, Piers Kelly, Nitzan Rotman