| Coordinates WGS84 | 28°57'S, 146°37'E -28.95, 146.62 |
AMus_E032199
Title: A message stick sent from Kubbi to Yarri summoning the Angledool mob to Goodooga for ceremony
Description: Summary: This message stick was sent for a ceremony that took place some time between 1893 and 1897. The man who made and possibly carried the object is today remembered by his skin name Kubbi. Kubbi's totem was the goanna ("ground iguana" probably a Gould's goanna, blackheaded monitor or lace monitor, awaiting clarification from the Herpetology team contacted on 18.08.25), and according to the practice of the time, message sticks were delivered between men of the same totem. In this case, Kubbi sent the message stick to a man of the goanna totem named Yarri, an owner of Nebine Creek in Muruwari Country. At that time, Yarri was actually staying in Angledool on Yuwaalaraay Country. The message stick is a summons for Yarri's people to attend a ceremony that would soon take place at Goodooga. We don't know the nature of the ceremony but it appears to have been relatively small, involving only a few mobs. On one side of the message stick is a depiction of a man dressed up for the impending ceremony with a head-dress, nested V-shaped chest designs, a girdle, and garters around his knees. He also appears to have tassels on his arms and legs. The reverse side does not carry any specific meaning but the straight lines and curves are an example of local artistic style known as yammunyamun which is associated with tree carvings (dendroglyphs) as well as ground drawings for ceremony. According to Kubbi, the regularly spaced side notches and the crosses on both flat surfaces are also designed to increase the aesthetic appeal of the message stick. The term yammunyamun does not show up in Muruwari or Yuwaalaraay dictionaries, however yamun, in Dhangatti, means 'pretty' and this may be the root of yamunyamun. Kubbi was not the maker's birth name but the name of his 'skin', one of four local social categories that determines who you cab and can't marry. It also aligns with a social and ceremonial division of the world into two parts, each with its own set of totems. Referring to somebody by their skin name, rather than their birth name, is often done out of respect, especially if somebody with the same or a similar name has recently passed away. It is possible that Kubbi's name was under a period of restriction in the 1890s. This object was collected by James E Miller, a police officer and a court clerk, stationed in Goodooga from 1893 until early 1897 when he was transferred to Bourke. Miller employed local men as police trackers and took an interest in Aboriginal society, especially kinship systems. He collaborated with a number of mostly Muruwari men whose names he recorded: Nanee, Kubbi, Yari/Yarri, Belay, Kunganooey, George (employed also as a tracker), Taballah, Kunbitalah, Enutbeakah, Boomee, Noondoorayah and Imball. These spellings are left as Miller wrote them. Miller occasionally wrote to other police in NSW towns asking for information about local kinship and was frustrated at how little interest his colleagues took. He also expressed resentment at his police work because it prevented him from learning more about First Nations people and culture. Unusually for this time he seems to have maintained respectful relationships with First Nations people in this region. He found a willing correspondent in the surveyor and anthropologist R. H. Mathews how eventually acquired this message stick from him and later met with the men in question, including Kubbi, to check details. This is why it is possible to know so much about this object and to be secure about the recorded knowledge.
Message: «Bring mob to Godooga for ceremony» "This message-stick was sent [...] by a black fellow named Kubbi Iguana to his friend Yarri, Murri Iguana [...] inviting the latter to bring his tribe to Goodooga to a corroboree which was shortly to take place." (p. 293)
"The front side, figure 3, has a rude drawing of a man, about four inches long, apparently decorated for the dance. At each side of and below the human figure are a number of crosses, 34 in all, and below these are some straight and curved lines. There are ten notches, five on each side, nearly opposite to each other. The native stated that the stripes on the human figure mean that it is "got up" or painted for the corroboree. On the other side of the stick, figure 4, there are two groups of crosses, one containing four, the other six, or ten in all, similar to those on the front side. The remainder of the carving on this side consists of a number of devices of the yammunyamun pattern, made up of straight lines and curves. The notches[fn:1] and crosses on the stick are merely added for ornament." (p. 294) [fn:1: 1 Having heard white men say that these notches indicate a certain number of blacks. I asked Mr J. E. Miller, the police officer at Goodooga, New South Wales, to make the fullest inquiries he could from the various tribes in his district. He writes: ”As requested by you, I hare made strict and careful inquiries in reference to the ‘nicks’ on the edges of the message-sticks, and as far as I can learn, they do not mean anything. All the blacks in this district say the ‘nicks ’ have no meaning, but are merely put on the sticks to ornament them, or, to use their own words. ’to make them look pretty.’” (p. 294)
Creator of Object: Sender: "a black fellow named Kubbi Iguana" (p. 293) Recipient: "his friend Yarri, Murri Iguana" (p.294)
Date Created: 1897
Notes on date created: terminus ante quem
Item type: message stick in a collection
Subtype: traditional
State/Territory: NSW
Linguistic area 1: Chirila: Muruwari Austlang: D32 - MURUWARI / MURRAWARRI Glottolog: muru1266
Linguistic area 2: Chirila: Yuwaalaraay Austlang: D27 - Yuwaalaraay Glottolog: yuwa1242
Notes on linguistic areas: The message stick is associated with the "Goodooga, on the Bokhara river", sent to "Angledool, on the Narran river" (p.294) Goodooga is within the Muruwari area and Angledool is in the Yuwaalaraay area. Thus it is possible that the sender is Muruwari and recipient is Yuwaalaraay.
Semantic domains: sd_ceremony, sd_request_invitation_ceremony
Sources:
Source types: museum collection
Date collected: Registration Date: 25-01-1929
Institution/Holder file: The Australian Museum object identifier: E032199
Collector: I obtained the message-sticks and all the details respecting them from Mr James E. Miller, a police trooper stationed at Goodooga township. He has been traveling through that district in the discharge of his official duties for some years past and is well acquainted with the numerous aboriginal population, who still preserve their ancient customs. (p.292)
Coordinates: 28°56'52.332000"S,146°37'9.804000"E (-28.94787, 146.61939)
Media copyright: The Australian Museum
Notes on coordinates: Chirila coordinates for Muruwari
URL institution: http://nla.gov.au/nla.obj-52785381
Notes: REGISTER
Date: 25 January 1929
Name or description: Carved tablet, "message stick"
Locality: Queensland?
How acquired: Old coll. (R.H. Mathews, ...
Reference to papers: see E02566 etc.) [Pres. Miss G. Mathews being the collection of the late R. H. Mathews]
Destination or remarks: cf. J.A.L XXVII, pl 6. f.14.
OTHER NOTES
Previous ID: RHM1897P292F3 13.09.2025 PK: The small ornamental X signs on this object or almost identical to the same designs on the boomerang at E085879 from the same region
Media Files:
Data Entry: Olena Tykhostup