AWH1904P704F44_1

Title: Sketch of a message stick from A.W. Howitt's "The native tribes of southeast Australia" (1904)

Description: Sketches of two facets of message stick (fig. 1 and 2) on p. 704 of Howitt's 1904 "The native tribes of southeast Australia".

Interpretation of a message stick on p.341 in Maria Frank's "Botenstäbe in Australien".

Message: The numbers 1 and 2 in Fig. 44 represent a message-stick sent to inform the Kongait tribe that the Tongaranka intended holding an initiation ceremony, and inviting their attendance. The notches on No. 1 have the following explanation, counting from the top :

1. Jumba = make young men.

2. Yantoru = sticks for knocking out teeth.

3. Purtali = small bull-roarer.

4. Bungumbelli = large bull-roarer.

5. Not explained.

6. (Large notch) Tallyera = marking with red ochre.



On No. 2 the notches refer to different localities from which the blacks are to come to Yancannia, which is the larger notch. (p. 692)



"Obwohl hier fast nur Gegenstände angegeben sind, kann man doch deutlich sehen, daß es sich hier um eine Vorbereitung für eine Initiation handelt. Die Empfänger werden dadurch aufgefordert, die Initiation zu schicken und alles was zu dieser Zeremonie notwendig ist, mitzubringen." (Frank 1940, p.341) Translation JB: "Although here are indicated almost only objects, one can clearly see that this is a preparation for an initiation. The recipients are asked to send the initiators and bring along whatever is needed for the ceremony."

Creator of Object: Sender: Tongaranka tribe Recipient: Kongait tribe

Date Created: 1904

Notes on date created: terminus ante quem

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

Subtype: traditional

State/Territory: NSW

Linguistic area 1: Chirila: Danggali Austlang: D14 - Thangkaali

Linguistic area 2: Chirila: Wanyiwalku Austlang: D21 - Wanyiwalku Glottolog: bagu1250

Notes on linguistic areas: The message stick is associated with "the country through which the Darling River flows"; "the tribes of the Itchumundi nation" (p. 691)

Tongaranka would be AUSTLANG D14: Thangkaali; Kongait would be AUSTLANG D21: Wanyiwalku [see commentary from Harald on bagu1250]

Semantic domains: sd_activity_initiate, sd_activity_markwithochre, sd_ceremony_law, sd_item, sd_item_bullroarer, sd_place, sd_request_invitation_ceremony_law

Sources:

Frank, Maria. 1940. "Botenstäbe in Australien."

Howitt, A. W. 1904. The native tribes of southeast Australia. London: Macmillan and Co., Limited.

Zeitschrift für Ethnologie 72 (4/6): 328-352.

Coordinates: 32°42'36.338400"S,141°19'23.127600"E  (-32.710094, 141.323091)

Notes on coordinates: Centroid coordinates for Danggali

URL source 1: https://archive.org/details/nativetribesofso00howiuoft/page/704

Notes: This looks like a new message stick (not included in Howitt 1889). PK to check. In the meantime, this record should not be merged or deleted.

This is also mentioned on p.46 of Danzel, Theodore Wilhelm. 1912. Die Anfänge der Schrift. Leipzig: R. Voigtländer Verlag.

Media Files:

Data Entry: Olena Tykhostup