| Coordinates WGS84 | 34°37'S, 137°36'E -34.62, 137.60 |
AWH1889P330F9
Title: Sketch of a message stick from Yorke's Peninsula reproduced by A.W.Howitt, K.Weule, and M. Frank
Description: Several sketches of the same message stick: fig. 9 and fig. 10 in 'Notes on Australian message sticks and messengers' (Howitt 1889) and fig. 6 and fig. 7 in 'The native tribes of southeast Australia' (Howitt 1904, p. 704) Several sketches of the same message stick: fig. 25a and 25b on p. 345 in Maria Frank's "Botenstäbe in Australien". Several sketches of the same message stick:p.64 in Weule, Karl. 1915. Vom Kerbstock zum Alphabeth. Urform der Schrift. Stuttgart.
Message: The figs. 9 and 10 represent the two sides of a corroboree stick. In fig. 9 (a) represents the sender; the notches at (b) represents the singers; and at (e) the women, that is to say the women who perform the part of orchestra by drumming on their rolled up skin rugs; the other notches represent the men who will be present as dancers. In fig. 10 (a) represents the old men who are invited; (b) the women to accompany them, and (c) the men. (Howitt 1889, p. 328) "Figs. 9 and 10. Message stick for corroboree of the Adjadura tribe in South Australia. Fig. 9 (a) the sender of message, (b) the singers, (c) women; other notches the dancers. Fig. 10 (a) the old men invited, (b) women and, (c) the men with (a). One-fourth scale." (Howitt 1889, p. 332) "In 6, which is a message about a dancing corrobboree, the four notches on the upper part of the right-hand edge represent four old men who are invited to attend, those lower down are the women, and those on the left-hand edge represent the men who accompany the old men. In 7 the notch at the upper part of the right-hand edge is the sender of the message, the three at the bottom are singers, and the intermediate notches represent the women. The notches along the edge at the opposite side are the men of the tribe." (Howitt 1904, p. 703) "Der in Fig. 25a,b dargestellte Botenstab hat hinsichtlich seiner Kerben folgenden Inhalt: ,,Vier alte Manner (a) laden zur Teilnahme an einem Tanz ein, b) sind die eingeladenen Frauen, c) die eingeladenen Manner, d) der Absender der Botschaft, e) die drei Sanger, f) die Frauen des einladenden Stammes und g) die Manner des einladenden Stammes. Der Botenstab stammt von den Narranga am Spencer-Golf (103, S. 64). Diese Zeichen sind den Empfängern ohne weitere Erklärung verständlich." (Frank 1940, p.340-341) Translation JB: "The message stick depicted in Fig. 25a, b has the following content with regard to its notches: "Four old men (a) invite to participate in a dance, b) the invited women, c) the invited men, d) the sender of the message, e) the three singers, f) the women of the inviting tribe, and g) the men of the inviting tribe. The message stick comes from the Narranga on the Spencer Gulf (103, p. 64). These signs are understandable to the recipients without further explanation." "Stamm der Naranga (Ostküste des Spencer Golfs, Südaustralien). Inhalt der Botschaft: Einladung zu einem Korroborri. Erklärung: Kerbe (a) vier alte Männer, die zur Teilnahme am Tanz Angeladen werden. (b) die Frauen, die außer den vier alten Männern eingeladen sind. (c) die übrigen Männer, die noch eingeladen sind. (d) der Absender der Botschaft. (e) die drei Sänger, die den Tanz mit ihren Liedern begleiten werden. (f) die Frauen des einladenden Stammes. (g) die Männer des einladenden Starmes."(Weule 1915, p.64) Translation JB: "Tribe of the Naranga (East Coast of Spencer Gulf, South Australia). Content of the message: Invitation to a Korroborri. Explanation: Score (a) four old men who are being invited to take part in the dance. (B) women who are invited in addition to the four old men. (c) the other men who are still invited. (d) the sender of the message. (e) the three singers who will accompany the dance with their songs. (f) the women of the inviting tribe. (g) the men of the inviting tribe."
Date Created: 1889
Notes on date created: terminus ante quem
Item type: image of a message stick (artefact missing)
Subtype: traditional
State/Territory: SA
Linguistic area 1: Chirila: Narangga Austlang: L1 - Narungga Glottolog: naru1238
Notes on linguistic areas: The message stick is associated with the Yorke's Peninsula, Adjadura tibe in South Australia (Howitt 1889). Austlang equates this with Narungga. Interestingly Frank uses this term too, even though she (presumably)relied on Howitt.
Term for 'message stick' (or related) in language: mangk ('Mānk') (Howitt 1889)
Semantic domains: sd_ceremony, sd_person_dancer, sd_person_group, sd_person_man, sd_person_man_elder, sd_person_sender, sd_person_singer, sd_person_woman
Sources:
Source types: book chapter, journal article
Coordinates: 34°37'24.081600"S,137°36'12.204000"E (-34.623356, 137.60339)
Notes on coordinates: Chirila coordinates for Narangga
URL source 1: http://nla.gov.au/nla.obj-26171094
URL source 2: http://archive.org/stream/nativetribesofso00howiuoft#page/n7/mode/2up
Media Files:
Data Entry: Piers Kelly, Julia Bespamyatnykh