AMSD - Message Stick MusV_X

MusV_X_25839

Title: A message stick held in the Museums Victoria

Description: Summary This object was donated to the museum by Gerald Freer Hill who was the photographer and botanist on the Barclay-Macpherson 1911 Expedition. Physical Description A neckband or headband made of glass beads possibly strung on European cotton/linen thread. A small wooden message stick is attached to one end. It is referred to by Lindy Allen et al. 2018. 'Finding the signatures of glass beads': "The choker form closely resembles the tightly looped string headbands or ‘head filets’ worn on the forehead during high order men’s ceremonies by groups around the western and central Arnhem Land region. They are similarly long thin rectangular shaped bands with ties of various materials attached to either end for securing around the head. Two chokers from Adelaide River (X25838 and X25839) have a tiny wooden message stick attached to the end of the ties, and could indicate these were worn by messengers who travelled across neighbouring territories to notify other groups to gather for funerals, ceremonies and so on (see Allen 2014)." p57

Date Created: 1911

Notes on date created: terminus ante quem

Item type: message stick in a collection

Subtype: traditional

Notes on linguistic areas: The origin of the message stick is given simply as "Adelaide River, North, Northern Territory, Australia". It therefore cannot be a associated with a linguistic area.

Cultural region: TopEnd_arnhem_west_unlocalisable

Dimension 1: 375mm Dimension 2: 30mm Dimension 3: 20mm

Materials: wood

Source types: museum collection

Date collected: c. 1911

Institution/Holder file: Museums Victoria object identifier: Item X 25839; MX25839

Collector: Mr Gerald F. Hill

Place collected: Australian Indigenous - Northern Australia and Queensland and Torres Strait Islands

URL institution: https://collections.museumsvictoria.com.au/items/181080

Notes: PK: It is difficult to establish the location and context in which this object and it's companion MX25838 was collected. The museum entry is ambiguous. The message sticks were either collected in Darwin or elsewhere on the Adelaide River. The museum cites the 1911 expedition but I think this might be wrong since Hill didn't get as far north as the Adelaide river in 1911 (or so I believe) and David Nash's account only mentions a handful of interactions with Aboriginal people on that particular trip. But see Strong, Bruce W, ed. [1911-1912]. Northern Territory Survey & Exploration Party 1911-12: Journals of Ronald H. MacPherson and John Joseph Waldron. Darwin: Museum & Art Gallery of the Northern Territory. This text includes more accounts of interactions. So if the location is correct I'm guessing the objects were collected later, perhaps when Hill government entomologist. The Royal Botanical Gardens Victoria lists specimens collected in that area in 1913, eg this one: https://avh.ala.org.au/occurrences/4c2777b2-3b5a-4ae6-88bc-b7302975c779 A text to review would be Strong, Bruce W. 2016. Gerald Freer Hill (1880-1954). Deniliquin: Deniliquin Newspapers. David Nash contacted Bruce Strong about this on 21 June 2020. Strong replied: "Piers is correct - the 1911 expedition were a fair distance from Adelaide River. If it was collected by Hill, in 1911, and if the origin of the items was Adelaide River, then they must have been traded/travelled from there. However, I would have thought that Hill would have mentioned them in his diary and I’m pretty sure I would have noted that. It is far more likely that Hill collected them while Economic Botanist in Darwin." He also attached an excel spreadsheet with metadata for item X25839 as follows: Accession Lot: (Collection Details): [X 25839] Hill, Mr Gerald Freer (Purchase) Collection Name: (Collection Details): G.F. Hill Collection Object/Medium: (Object Details): Ornament, unidentified; Message stick Object Description: A band made of glass beads possibly strung on European cotton/linen thread. A small wooden message stick is attached to one end. State/Province: (Locality Details): Northern Territory Specific Locality: (Locality Details): Darwin Circa: (Collection Details): 1918 Accession Date: (Accession Details): 17 Dec 1918 Nash subsequently wrote: "Well spotted Bruce. Accession by purchase in 1918... when did he first travel to Melbourne after the 1911 expedition? And I note that at the end of that expedition he took the train from Pine Creek to Darwin 15-17 April 1912, so would have had a chance to pick up something at Adelaide RIver? David" Strong replied: "According to his own account he "arrived in Melbourne in June or July, 1912…”. In a memo of his dated 23 October 1912 he noted that he had virtually finished processing all specimens. [Regarding Nash's query re journey from Pine Creek to Darwin] Possibly. According to a Departmental memo written late August 1912 ”...natural history specimens [I assume this includes those of Aborigial origins?] …left by Mr. Hill with Professor Spencer when Mr. Hill went to Hong Kong three months ago.” My gut feeling is that X25838 was collected while Hill was Entomologist. Bruce" PK wrote a blog post about this here: https://bravenewwords.info/2020/06/30/how-good-curatorial-decisions-can-end-up-distorting-a-collection/

Media Files:

Data Entry: Julia Bespamyatnykh, Piers Kelly