IDRIESS1930

Title: Message stick originally listed in Lot 1912 and then Lot 41, Australian Firsts and the Idriess Estate | Sydney Rare Book Auctions

Description: Invaluable description: "Four Aboriginal Message Sticks. Given to Ion Idriess in the 1930s. These are genuine artefacts and not the tourist items that float around today. They come from the estate of Ion Idriess and have been wrapped in tissue paper for the last 80 years. They have intricate carving on them. See photographs" Note that three of the four were tjurungas. PK contacted auction house for correction and they removed tjurungas for sale. The message stick shown in this entry was then relisted for auction for 13 February 2021 in Lot 41.

Message: Transcript of 20210213-Invaluable-H3247-L242175196.jpg: [Obverse:] "Whisky wanted to leave the man but Momandu said he is very strong and is going to kill him. [Arrow pointing to long transverse line:] The spot at Grace's Knob where Worachi was killed. [Arrow pointing to three short parallel vertical lines:] These 3 men, Moby + Frank told Warachi the hunted man that the mob are after him and advise him to hide. [Arrow pointing to small transverse line:] He did so, in Parriwarri Creek." [Reverse:] "The killers Oolyal Momandu Dungat Oomagun Oombali. These men have big trouble with Sam's mates who want to come from up Turkey Creek. [Arrow pointing to slightly longer transverse line:] Jack wanted to kill him but George stopped him. [Arrow pointing to smaller transverse line:] Jack Conitons old station. [Arrow pointing to stippled parallel lines in centre:] Turkey Creek blacks, mates with the man killed (Woorachi)" See pages 176-185 of 'Over the Range' for an account of this. p181, Over the Range: "The very next stick gave details of the killing of Worachi by Oomagun's people. Nipper eagerly volunteered to decipher it. Oomagun smiled broadly; he was now to have his turn in the headlines. The markings on this stick told that Whisky (I use their [181] white-feller names where they have one, as the aboriginal name may be confusing) advised the conspirators to leave the man alone. But Donkey (a powerful man) insisted that Worachi was very strong and he was going to kill him. (The killer believes that he absorbs some of the strength and cunning of the slain man, should he eat portions of his kidney fat.) Jack, for the same reason that moved Donkey, also wished to kill Worachi. But George prevented him at the critical moment. Three men, Moby, Wornerun and Ardgat warned the now hunted W orachi that the killers were close on his heels, and ad- vised him to hide in Parrywarri Creek. He did so. Eventually, reconciliation took place and Worachi re- turned to camp. Later, he was treacherously slain, just as told by Oombali and the witnesses. Grace's Knob, and the place where Worachi was killed, were marked on the stick. The reverse side of the stick told that the slayers and their associates (Oomagun, Donkey, Marmadu, Dun- gat and Oombali) were now threatened by Worachi's tribal relations, who threatened to come from their camp at Turkey Creek (East Kimberley) and attack them. The marks of these coming avengers, the locality where Jack first attempted to kill Worachi, and other localities were also given. Yet another stick, an old message this, gave details of two previous killings by Oomagun of a man and a woman, in which killings Big Paddy, Duncan and Donkey were implicated. Unfortunately the animals were packed and the troops were moving off before I could jot down all the markings on this stick. It was a slow job, to draw the stick on paper, get the certain interpretation of each mark,and jot it down mark after mark" 182 Transcript of 20210213-Invaluable-H3247-L242175187.jpg: "Tracker Bull Bul's message stick to me. 'Marmuk.' Good Luck. Nemarluk. crocodile teeth + eggs. Turtles Crossing P.O P.S. Headbands, etc. knitted for me in Fanny Bay gaol" [PK: This is quite possible a separate message stick and should have a separate entry with image missing. Detail and Nemarluk and Tracker Bull Bull can be found in Ivory, Bill. 2009. Kunmanggur, legend and leadership: A study of Indigenous leadership and succession focussing on the northwest region of the Northern Territory of Australia. Darwin: Charles Darwin University PhD dissertation.] Document in bottom right hand corner of 20210213-Invaluable-H3247-L242175177.jpg refers to the message stick with the AMSD ID: ILI1948P102F2

Date Created: 1930

Notes on date created: terminus ante quem; 1930s

Item type: message stick from a private sale

Subtype: traditional

State/Territory: WA

Linguistic area 1: Chirila: Ngarinyin Austlang: K18 - Ngarinyin Glottolog: ngar1284

Cultural region: wa_kimberley

Coordinates: 16°36'55.900800"S,125°44'14.200800"E  (-16.615528, 125.737278)

Notes on coordinates: Approximate location of the upper Charnley and Isdell rivers, traditional country of the men who received the message stick

URL institution: https://web.archive.org/web/20201211015647/https://www.invaluable.com/auction-lot/aboriginal-message-sticks-912-c-17b4f38a03

Notes: Note that of the four objects sold in this Lot, only one (recorded in this entry) is a message stick. The rest are tjurungas.

Media Files:

Data Entry: Piers Kelly