| Coordinates WGS84 | 15°28'S, 145°15'E -15.47, 145.25 |
AMus_E013402
Title: A message stick informing of one being sick, held in the Australian Museum
Description: Message or letter stick [ref reg]; Message stick [ref LC] Wooden, flat, oblong shaped stick with squared off ends. Irregular cross-hatched incised design on both surfaces. One side, hatching and zig-zag infilled with cross-hatching: other side, herringbone, hatching and two sets of parallel lines, which eventually meet in a cross-hatching pattern [ref LC]; Condition: Complete. Crack 4.7cm long, one end pitted [ref LC]. Part of an illustration to a fictional series in the Brisbane Telegraph featuring the adventures of Captain Coldweather, Tom Barnacle, Mrs Noah and Bosun Bill. It is likely that this artefact is from the collection of WE Roth, who is cited. Two other artefacts in the same photograph can be positively traced to Roth's collection as illustrated in Roth's 'Ethnological studies among the north-west-central Queensland Aborigines' (1897). The images two artefacts have been merged with the records derived from Roth (1897).
Message: AMus pdf from 24.01.2023: "Message or letter stick given me by a Morehead R. gin, at the 8 Mile, Cooktown, whose brother "by these presents" had sent word to say that he was sick (35 & 36) are probably portions of 1 stick [ref reg]; Half a stick (Bull 8, p. 12) [ref LC]; Message stick [ref LC];"
Creator of Object: AMus pdf from 24.01.2023: Sender: brother Messenger: "Message or letter stick given me by a Morehead R. gin"
Date Created: 1898
Notes on date created: terminus ante quem
Item type: message stick in a collection
Subtype: traditional
State/Territory: QLD
Linguistic area 1: Chirila: Lamalama Austlang: Y136 - Mbarrumbathama Glottolog: lamu1254
Notes on linguistic areas: The origin of the message stick is Cooktown, Cape York, Queensland, Australia. AMus pdf from 24.01.2023: "REGION: Cape York; ...at the 8 mile, Cooktown [ref reg]; The 8 mile, Cooktown, Queensland [ref LC]"
Dimension 1: 77mm Dimension 2: 22mm
Source types: museum collection
Date collected: Acquisition date: 1898 Accession date: 24 March 1905
Institution/Holder file: The Australian Museum object identifier: E013402
Collector: Purchased by: Roth, Dr Walter Edmund
Coordinates: 15°28'19.898400"S,145°15'7.898400"E (-15.472194, 145.252194)
Media copyright: The Australian Museum
Notes on coordinates: Absolute coordinates for Cooktown, Queensland, per Google maps.
URL institution: http://collections.australianmuseum.net.au/amweb/pages/am/Display.php?irn=3429&QueryPage=%2Famweb%2Fpages%2Fam%2FAdvQuery.php&highlight_term=
URL source 1: http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article180628845
Notes: 14.12.23 NR: this msg stick is similar in shape/design to AMus_E013403. 12.07.24 PK: Merged with image from Brisbane Telegraph (1935)
Media Files:
Data Entry: Julia Bespamyatnykh, Nitzan Rotman