NMVW_RV_642_9

Title: A message stick held in the National Museum of World Cultures, Netherlands (Nationaal Museum van Wereldculturen - NMVW)

Description: NMVW online catalogue (Google translate): "Letter stick cut from a single piece of yellow-colored wood covered with red dye. Decorated with parallel incised vertical grooves and transverse grooves that cross each other. The incised figures have their meaning, they convey certain messages. The incised figures have their meaning, they convey certain messages." Additional info NMVW online catalogue (listed in English): "A short stick of light colored wood, pair to 642.8, also with short 'tally grooves' or notches cut along the margins and sides, the longer and shorter cuts made on opposite margins. There are fourteen long grooves opposed to sixteen, and fourteen short ones opposed to fifteen. The longer cuts, steeper in section are across the width of the stick in both examples, the shorter cuts ('V'-shaped in section) produce a dentated edge down the side of the stick. It measures 8.5 x 1.1 x 0.9 cm. In both these examples the notches suggest that they were made with a metal tool rather than a stone adze or shell tool. The pair of message sticks is a unique specimen. No other examples from this ara are known, and there is only one reference to their use in the local literature. Bray (1923:7) mentions that 'messages from tribe to tribe were carried verbally except very important ones. These [sic] were marked on a stick by means of notches'. To the south we have records of their use at Port Stephens (Scott 1929:33-4), but unfortunately no description of their features. To the north in Queensland such stick were used, and there are surviving examples in the Queensland Museum's collections. Some of these bear notches, as do the Richmond River specimens, though the particular examples do not come from south-east Queensland (see Hamlyn-Harris 1918:19, 20, 26, 27). Such message sticks apparently served a double purpose; they were 'memory sticks' for the bearer, and guarantees of his good faith as he traveled through the territory of different tribal groups. There seems to be little information on their use in eastern New South Wales, although they are reasonably well documented for other areas such as the Darling basin and central Australia (Hamlyn-Harris 1918; Howitt 1904:678-710). PK: All these references are in McBryde (1978) Rijksmuseum voor Volkenkunde (RMV): "A message stick was intended to convey messages: the incised characters were legible for initiates. At the same time they were also a reminder to the wearer and they served as a certificate of good conduct as he traveled through the territory of another clan" Description from original RMV card file in Dutch (RMV642_9-IK_642-9.JPG): "kort rood gekleurd houten staafje (messagestick of kerfstok). De ingesneden figuren hebben hun betekenis, men brengt daardoor bepaalde med dedelingen over. Ovaal op doorsnede, langs beide kanten met insnijdingen,, waardoor een soort spiraalvorm is onstaan. Minder shuinse insnijdingen dan bij nö. 8. " [...] Verwerving: geschenk Miss Mary Bundock te Casino, N. S. Wales maart 1888. "

Date Created: 1888

Notes on date created: terminus ante quem

Item type: message stick in a collection

Subtype: traditional_context

State/Territory: New South Wales

Linguistic area 1: Chirila: Arakwal Austlang: E13 - Arakwal Glottolog: arak1254

Notes on linguistic areas: The origin of the message stick is given simply as “Casino, New South Wales, Australien”. It therefore cannot be associated with a linguistic area. Linguistic area is a rough estimation based on the presumptive language of Casino, NSW

Dimension 1: 85mm Dimension 2: 11mm Dimension 3: 9mm

Materials: wood; dye; pigment

Source types: museum collection

Date collected: Donated: 1.3.1888

Institution/Holder file: National Museum of World Cultures (Nationaal Museum van Wereldculturen - NMVW) object identifier: RV-642-9

Collector: Mary Bundock

Place collected: Casino, NSW

Coordinates: 28°52'0.098400"S,153°03'0.000000"E  (-28.866694, 153.05)

Media copyright: National Museum of World Cultures (Nationaal Museum van Wereldculturen - NMVW)

Notes on coordinates: Absolute coordinates for Casino, NSW

URL institution: https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11840/665769

Notes: 20.3.24 NR: Previously held in the Rijksmuseum voor Volkenkunde. This is a merged file with the previous RMV record. All additional data has been added here. RMV Institution/Holder: object identifier: RMV 642-9. publications on the subject: "Isabel McBryde, Museum collections from the Richmond River District. In: Records of times past: Ethnohistorical essays on the culture and ecology of the New England tribes, edited by Isabel McBryde, Australian Institute of Aboriginal Studies, Canberra 1978, pp. 135-210, (Ethnohistorical Series No. 3)."

Media Files:

Data Entry: Nitzan Rotman, Julia Bespamyatnykh, Piers Kelly

Related Entries: NMVW_RV_642_8