Coordinates WGS84 | 19°05'S, 142°03'E -19.08, 142.04 |
Title: A Mayi-Kulan message stick held in the Ethnologisches Museum Berlin
Description: This message stick is held in the Ethnologisches Museum in Berlin but it is described simply as "Botenstab" and is not associated with a catalogue entry. The 'NLS' on the tag means nummernlos or 'unnumbered'. Nonetheless it is identical to a sketch published as Figure 5 in A. W. Howitt's 'Notes on Australian message sticks and messengers'. It is not clear how it made its way to the EMB.
Message: The one shown by fig 5, Plate XIV, is a friendly reminder or greeting, carried without any message excepting the sender's name by Mr. Palmer from a man of the Maikulon tribe, to a man of the Maiapi tribe. (Howitt 1889, p. 327) "Fig. 5. Message stick sent by a man of the Maikulon tribe, to a man of the Maiapi tribe in Northern Queensland, as a friendly reminder. Half scale." (p. 331)
Date Created: 1883
Notes on date created: terminus ante quem; 1883-08
Item type: message stick in a collection
Subtype: traditional
Linguistic area 1: Chirila: Mayi-Kulan Austlang: G25 - Mayi-Kulan Glottolog: mayk1239
Linguistic area 2: Chirila: Mayi-Yapi Austlang: G20 - Mayi-Yapi Glottolog: mayi1235
Notes on linguistic areas: The message stick is associated with the “Maikulon tribe": "a man of the Maikulon tribe, to a man of the Maiapi tribe." (Howitt 1889, p.327) "Message stick sent by a man of the Maikulon tribe, to a man of the Maiapi tribe in Northern Queensland" (p. 331) Maikulon is a synonym of Mayi-Kulan. Maiapi is a synonym of Mayi-Yapi. In the Ethnologisches Museum catalogue it is described simply as being from Queensland.
Cultural region: Queensland
Semantic domains: sd_reminder
Dimension 1: 142mm Dimension 2: 16mm Dimension 3: 13mm
Materials: wood plant
Techniques: carved, notched
Sources:
Source types: book article, museum collection
Date collected: August 1883
Institution/Holder file: Ethnologisches Museum Berlin object identifier: VI NLS 4370
Collector: Franz Reuleaux
Coordinates: 19°05'1.060800"S,142°02'30.771600"E (-19.083628, 142.041881)
Media copyright: Ethnologisches Museum Berlin
Notes on coordinates: Chirila coordinates for Mayi-Kulan
URL source 1: http://nla.gov.au/nla.obj-26171094
Notes: PK: Still more data to enter from EMB computer file print-out
Media Files:
Data Entry: Piers Kelly