AMSD - Message Stick CPM1956P468F65

Coordinates WGS84

12°15'S, 136°54'E
-12.25, 136.89

CPM1956P468F65_EF

Title: A message stick from Yirrkala reproduced in Mountford's "Art, myth and symbolism" (1956)

Description: Ceremonial message stick from Yirrkala depicting Buma-Buma, "the man", related to circumcision.

Message: Sent to a group of aborigines who have a boy ready for circumcision

Date Created: 1948

Notes on date created: terminus ante quem. American-Australian Scientific Expedition to Arnhem Land

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

Subtype: traditional

Linguistic area 1: Chirila: Dhangu Austlang: N192 - Dhangu Glottolog: dhan1270

Notes on linguistic areas: The origin of the message stick is Yirrkala

Motif transcription: Figure 65E is the obverse side and Fig. 65F the reverse. On Fig. 65E the dead body of Buma-buma, wrapped for burial, occupies the central position. The spears, which had been thrust into his side, are at a, b, c, d. The group of lines, e, are dua men and f, jiritja men, who are taking part in the burial rituals. teh short lines, g, at the top of the message stick are the jiritja and h, at the bottom, the dua men, who are chanting the songs of burial. All these men have since been changed into water-birds. The designs on panel j refer to the paper-bark wrapping of the corpse. The reverse side, Fig. 65F, shows Buma-buma when the decomposition is complete and the people ahve assembled to transfer his bones to the temporary bark coffin. The main lozenge-shaped design is the paper-bark wrapping round the corpse, which is now a skeleton. On the left at a is a dua man, Biribirit, with a bark coffin at his feet, and at b a jiritja man, also standing on a bark coffin. The short lines around the skeleton are the maggots deserting the body and burying themselves in the ground to pupate. The two men are now waterbirds; the coffins, the paper-bark wrappings of the corpse and the body of Buma-buma are natural features at Wialpa. P. 473.

Sources:

Charles P Mountford, 'Records of the American-Australian Scientific Expedition to Arnhem Land, 1, Art, Myth and Symbolism' (Carlton: Melbourne University Press, 1956).

Source types: book

Date collected: 1948

Collector: Charles P Mountford and AASEAL

Place collected: Yirrkala

Coordinates: 12°15'10.000800"S,136°53'30.001200"E (-12.252778, 136.891667)

Notes on coordinates: Absolute coordinates for Yirrkala

Notes: At Wialpa, Trial Bay, during mythical times, an old dua man, Boukabaluwuru, instructed his son, Buma-buma, to go to an adjacent group of aborigines and bring back with him two boys who were due to be circumcised. When Buma-buma reached the distant camp he demanded, in the name of his father, two girls instead of two boys. Though the old men agreed to the demand, they were somewhat suspicious of the unusual request. On nearing Wialpa, Buma-buma, hiding the girls in the jungle, told his father that the old men of the distant people wanted at least another year before their youths were ready for circumcision. The father, who did not believe that story, demanded more and further more details, until Buma-buma was forced to admit he had brought girls instead of boys. The men, and especially the father, were so enraged over Buma-buma's disobedience and its consequent disgrace that they speared the young man to death. After the burial rituals of Buma-buma, the men at Wialpa were so ashamed of his actions that they changed themselves into water-birds, which still live in the nearby fresh-water swamps. At the present time the ceremonial message stick on which the figure of Buma-buma is engraved, is sent to a group of aborigines who have a boy ready for circumcision. Although the designs on the stick refer specifically to the death and burial of Buma-buma, and not to circumcision, the myth of Buma-buma's disobedience and punishment is so well known that the significance of the message stick is understood. p. 471. MOTIF DESCRIPTION FOLLOWS" Figure designed by Rosemary Dunnett

Media Files:

Data Entry: Alexandra Roginski, Piers Kelly