| Coordinates WGS84 | 15°28'S, 145°15'E -15.47, 145.25 |
AMus_E013402
Title: A message stick made by a Morehead River woman to inform Roth that her brother was sick
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: REGISTER
Date: March 24, 1905
Name or Description: Message or letter stick given me by a Morehead R. gin at the 8 mile Cooktown whose brother "by these presents" had sent in word to say that he was sick (35+36) are probably portions of 1 stick, Cooktown 1898
Locality: Morehead river
How Acquired: Purch.
Name of Donor or Seller: Dr. W. E. Roth
Estimated or Market Value: S. 35
Destination: Fig. 5 Bull. 8 Pl. 3 f4 reg. 2341
Remarks:
LARGE CARD
Australian Museum Aboriginal Ethnographic Collection
E1.13402 24 Mar. 1905 Message Stick
Pl of Coll: The 8 Mile, Cooktown, Queensland
Purch: Walter Edmund Roth
S. 35
History: Purch by A. M. 25 Feb. 1905. "Message stick given me by a Morehead River gin, at the 8 mile C/twn, whose brother 'by these presents' had sent in word to say that he was sick. S.35-36 are prob portions of 1 stick" (Reg. Reg. 1/2 a stick (Bull. 8, p12)
Collector: W. E. Roth
Coll. Date: 1898
DescriptioN; Wooden, flat, oblong shpaed stick with squared off ends. Irregular cross-hatched incised design, both surfaces. One side, hating and zig-zag infilled with cross-hatching: other side, herringbone, hatching and two sets of parallel lines, which evnetually meet in a cross-hatching pattern.
Condition: Complete. Crack 4.7cm long, one end pitted.
Dimensions Length: 7.7cm; Width: 2.2cm
File/Archives Letters R.2., R.6/1905: Purch. Sch 6/1905.
Name Index: Roth, W.E.
User: Trusted adult male always carries message never femaile (Ethno. Stud. p. 137)
Other information: Pub. Descr: W. E. Roth, "Nth. Q'ld Ethnography" Bull. 8 Govt. Printer, Brisbane, 1906. Fig'd Pl. 3, fig. 4. W. E. Roth "Ethno stud. among NWCQ. Aborigines," Sects 255-6. Govt.
Printer. Brisbane, 1897.
Compiler: Kate Khan
Date: 1 Feb 1985
Entered Date 18/12/95
OTHER 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)
Roth Bulletin 8 (1905):
Fig. 4.—Oblong, flat, compressed, square ended, cut down at one end to form a “tenon.” Obverse—A triangular figure the base of which is formed by one lateral edge of the stick, the sides of the triangle by four lines meeting on the opposite edge of the implement; within the triangle is a small branch or tree shoot. Reverse—The incisions are confused and consist of notches and lines at different angles, with a central longitudinal, roughly-outlined, zigzag figure. On this aspect the end opposite to the “tenon” is cut out as a triangle similar to that seen at the bottom of Fig. 5. Length, 3 in.: breadth 7/8 -in.
Half a stick given by a Morehead River gin at the Eight-mile, Cooktown
Media Files:
Data Entry: Julia Bespamyatnykh, Nitzan Rotman