| Coordinates WGS84 | 32°43'S, 141°19'E -32.71, 141.32 |
PRM1989_46_10
Title: A message stick held in the Pitt Rivers Museum, reproduced by A.W. Howitt (1889, 1904), K. Weule (1915), M. Frank (1940).
Description: Message stick holder: Pitt Rivers Museum, "Message stick, wrapped in fur string. The stick is just visible at one end. The fur string is light red and twisted. There is also brown fur with white hairs."; Several sketches of two facets of message stick (fig. 3 and 4) in 'Notes on Australian message sticks and messengers' (Howitt 1889), and 'The native tribes of southeast Australia' (Howitt 1904, p. 704)
Message: The message was to tell him that the sender and his two brothers,and also two old men were at a certain water hole, and wished him to bring down his son to be initiated (made a man), as there were two other boys ready for the same ceremony. The notches (a) (b) (c) in fig. 3 represent the sender and his two brothers; the notches (d) (e) represent the two old men. The notches in fig. 2 are as follows: (d) represents the recipient of the message;(c) is his son, and (a) and (b) the two boys ready to be initiated. This message stick is made of part of the small branch of a tree, and is wrapped round with a few strands of the man's kilt" with which article of man's attire a boy is invested after initiation. The whole is tied up by means of about two feet in length of the cord made of twisted opossum fur for which the novice wears for a time after his initiation, as evidence of being a "young man." [327] In this instance, the " emblematic tokens " are made part of the message, and are not, as in some tribes already referred to, carried separately by the messenger." (Howitt 1889, pp.327-328)
"Nos. 3 and 4 represent another Tongaranka stick, from the son of the Headman to a man at Tarella. The message was to tell him that the sender, his brothers, and two old men were at a certain water-hole, and wished him to bring his son to be initiated, as there were two other boys ready for the ceremony. In 3 the large notch is the recipient of the message, and the three smaller ones his son and the other boys. The group of three notches in No. 4 represent the sender of the stick and his two brothers, while the two small cuts are the old men." (Howitt 1904, p. 692)
Weule 1915, p.64: “Stamm der Tongaranka (westl. Neu-Südwales). Inhalt der Botschaft: Ein Mann A, seine zwei Brüder und zwei andere alte Männer haben ihr Lager an einer Wasserstelle aufgeschlagen. Sie lassen einem Manne B sagen, er möge seinen Sohn zur Jünglingsweihe zu ihnen schicken. Zwei andere Knaben seien bereits zur Stelle. Erklärung: Kerbe (a) der Empfänger der Botschaft, B. (b-d) Sohn von B und die zwei Knaben, die initiiert werden sollen. (e-g) der Absender A und seine zwei Brüder. (h-i) die beiden anderen alten Männer.”
Translation JB:"Tribe of Tongaranka (west. New South Wales). Content of the message: a man A, his two brothers and two other old men have camped at a waterhole. They told a man B that he may send his son to the initiation. Two other boys are already there. Explanation: Notch (a) the recipient of the message, B. (b-d) son of B and the two boys to be initiated. (e-g) the sender A and his two brothers. (h-i) the other two old men"
Frank 1940, p.341: a) Er (der Empfänger) möge seinen Sohn
b) zur Jünglingsweihe schicken.
c) und d) zwei andere Knaben seien bereits zur Stelle.
e) Ist der Sender der Botschaft,
f) und g) seine zwei Bruder,
h) und i) zwei alte Manner, welche an einer Wasserstelle ein Lager aufgeschlagenen haben.
PRM print-out (2019):
"KEYWORD: Message-bearer / CLASS: Writing / ?.
Object description: Message stick, wrapped ni fur string. The stick si just visible at one end. The fur string is light red and twisted. There s also brown fur with white hairs. [MJD 19/04/2013] Found unentered 1989.
Message stick sent by the son of the headman of the Tongaranka ot aman at Tarela, teling hmi hte sender, his two brothers and two old men were at a certain water hole and wished him ot bring his son ot be initiated as there were two other boys ready for the ceremony. Al these are indicated by notches. Wrapped ni fur string: this si symbolic as ti consists of portions of the fur kilt and cord worn by a young man after initiation.
Pitt Rivers Museum label - AUSTRALIA NEW SOUTH WALES TONGARANKA PEOPLE Message stick, wrapped ni fur string. Don. A.W. Howitt 1888 [MJD 19/04/2013]
Related Documents File - Article written by A.W. Howit entitled: 'Notes on Australian Message Sticks and Messengers' from JAI Volume XVIII 1889 [See file for ful text.] [ZM 6/1/2016]
Display history: Possibly displayed at the PRM from as early as 1888 with other examples from the Howit collection of message-sticks (1989.46) (see photograph A23.F11.1, taken ni 1995). CJ[ 1 12006] Publications history, trails &websites: Illustrated as figures 2and 3ni Plate XVI (entitled 'Australian Message Sticks') opposite page 31 of N' otes on Australian Message Sticks and Messengers', by A. W. Howit, ni Journal of the Anthropological Institute, Vol XVI, 1889, p. 314-332. (Copy ni RDF). NB The original pencil drawings by Alfred Robinson used ot produce hte figures ni Plate XVI are held in the PRM Manuscript Colections: Pit Rivers Museum Papers / Box 2/ 1-3. [JC 20 92000, 17 62008]"
Creator of Object: Sender: Tongaranka tribe (Howitt 1904)
Date Created: 1883
Notes on date created: terminus ante quem
Item type: message stick in a collection
Subtype: traditional
State/Territory: NSW
Linguistic area 1: Chirila: Danggali Austlang: D14 - Thangkaali
Notes on linguistic areas: The message stick is associated with Tongaranka tribe: "Figs. 2 and 3 represent the two sides of another stick belonging to a message sent from the son of the headman of the Tongaranka tribe to a man at Tarella." (Howitt 1889, p. 327).
Tongaranka is AUSTLANG D14: Thangkaali
If Tarella is in the same place as modern day Tarella tank, this would place it in the vicinity of Paakintyi country
Semantic domains: sd_ceremony_law, sd_person_boy, sd_person_brother, sd_person_man_elder, sd_person_recipient, sd_person_sender, sd_person_son, sd_place_waterhole
Dimension 1: 80mm Dimension 2: 42mm
Materials: animal fur skin, string, wood plant
Techniques: bound, carved, incised, notched, twisted
Sources:
Source types: book chapter, journal article, museum collection
Date collected: 1883
Institution/Holder file: Pitt Rivers Museum object identifier: 1989.46.10
Collector: Field Collector: Alfred William Howitt PRM Source: Alfred William Howitt via Edward Burnett Tylor? Acquired: Found unentered 1989, Donated 1888
Coordinates: 32°42'36.338400"S,141°19'23.127600"E (-32.710094, 141.323091)
Media copyright: Pitt Rivers Museum
Notes on coordinates: Chirila centroid coordinates for Danggali
URL source 2: https://archive.org/stream/vomkerbstockzuma1915weul#page/64/mode/2up
Notes: Note that this message stick is also mentioned in Danzel, Theodore Wilhelm. 1912. Die Anfänge der Schrift. Leipzig: R. Voigtländer Verlag. p.46
PRM: "Display history: Possibly displayed at the PRM from as early as 1888 with other examples from the Howitt collection of message-sticks (1989.46) (see photograph A23.F11.1, taken in 1995). [JC 11 1 2006]
Publications history, trails & websites: Illustrated as figures 2 and 3 in Plate XIV (entitled 'Australian Message Sticks') opposite page 331 of 'Notes on Australian Message Sticks and Messengers', by A. W. Howitt, in Journal of the Anthropological Institute, Vol XVIII, 1889, pp. 314-332. (Copy in RDF). NB The original pencil drawings by Alfred Robinson used to produce the figures in Plate XIV are held in the PRM Manuscript Collections: Pitt Rivers Museum Papers / Box 2 / 1-3. [JC 20 9 2000, 17 6 2008]"
JB: Not sure if this is actually a PRM message stick.
PK: Compare PRM1989_46_9
PK: This is mentioned in Anne Best (2003): "The remaining two examples are from the Howitt collection and are each unique in the set. One is a bundle of feathers (PR 1989.46.10), tied with human hair, possibly with a wood rod message stick inside. The label reads “Made by Old Man Plongreen and carried by a messenger to collect the tribe for ceremonial purposes. It may not be shewn (sic) to women or children”. p113
Media Files:
Data Entry: Olena Tykhostup, Julia Bespamyatnykh