ANON1896P10F2

Title: Photo of a Queensland message stick from "The message sticks" (1896)

Description: Photo of two facets of one message stick (2) on pp. 10-11 of “The message sticks” (1896)

Message: It is placed in a prominent place in the king's camp to show that warriors have left the camp on a fighting expedition. (p. 11)

Date Created: 1870

Notes on date created: terminus ante quem

Item type: image of a message stick (artefact missing)

Subtype: traditional

State/Territory: QLD

Linguistic area 1: Chirila: Gabalbara Austlang: E45 - Gabulbarra

Notes on linguistic areas: The message stick is associated with "the country watered by the Conner's River, on the eastern coast of Queensland" (p. 10) This artefact, among the others from the same source, was obtained from "a tribe of aborigines inhabiting the country watered by the Conner's River, on the eastern coast of Queensland" (p. 10). We assume that "Conner's River" is intended to be "Connors River". The Connors River basin coincides with Gabalbara. Other groups, such as Mambura are on tributaries of Connors River.

Term for 'message stick' (or related) in language: mirimpa ('Mirimbah')

Semantic domains: sd_war

Sources:

Anonymous. 1896. “The message sticks.” The Australasian Anthropological Journal 1 (1):10-11.

Collector: Mr. A. H. Fox, of the Bank of New South Wales, Taralga, brother of the gentleman who obtained them [sticks] from the aborigines (p. 10)

Coordinates: 22°33'41.605200"S,149°02'38.457600"E  (-22.561557, 149.044016)

Notes on coordinates: Chirila centroid coordinates for Gabalbara

Notes: Judging by interpretation from the text, this stick seems to be functionally different (OT)

Media Files:

Data Entry: Olena Tykhostup, Piers Kelly