BM_OC1947_06_1

Title: A message stick from Western Australia held in the British Museum

Description: British Museum catalogue: Message stick made of wood. Light brown with lines of shallow pits between incised lines, concentric diamonds etc.

Message: Instructions for the natives to attend a great tribal wedding at which 6000 were present in May 1903 near Kurnalpi.

Date Created: 1903

Notes on date created: terminus ante quem

Item type: message stick in a collection

Subtype: traditional

State/Territory: WA

Linguistic area 1: Chirila: Wangkathaa Austlang: A12 - Wangkatha

Notes on linguistic areas: Kurnalpi, Central Western Australia (According to the message content) According to BM online catalogue: "Associated places - Used in: Kurnalpi (near)"

Dimension 1: 410mm Dimension 2: 35mm Dimension 3: 31mm

Materials: wood

Techniques: incised

Source types: museum collection

Date collected: Acquisition date: 1947

Institution/Holder file: The British Museum object identifier: Oc1947,06.1

Collector: Donated by: Major Richard P Pollitt Field Collection by: T H Davies Curator's comments: Letter from Major Richard Pollitt, now in the BM's Centre for Anthropology Dept of Ethnography Archive, dated 16 May 1947: "I enclose a W. Australian native letter stick, which was given to me when I was in Australia in 1933."

Coordinates: 30°32'6.000000"S,122°13'36.001200"E  (-30.535, 122.226667)

Media copyright: The British Museum

Notes on coordinates: Absolute coordinates for Kurnalpi (ghost town)

URL institution: http://www.britishmuseum.org/research/collection_online/collection_object_details.aspx?objectId=494797&partId=1&searchText=message+stick&page=1

IRN: EOC21050

Notes: Exhibition history: 1972-1982 23 Jun-28 Feb, London, BM, Museum of Mankind, The Aborigines of Australia 1.12.23 NR: checked against BM online catalogue.

Media Files:

Data Entry: Julia Bespamyatnykh, Nitzan Rotman