| Coordinates WGS84 | 18°04'S, 139°24'E -18.06, 139.39 |
QM_QE9378
Title: Photograph of a message stick from Gregory River district, reproduced by Hamlyn-Harris (1918), mentioned by Frank (1940)
Description: Sketch of message stick on p.22, Fig.9, of "On messages and "Message Sticks" employed among the Queensland Aborigines" by R. Hamlyn-Harris. "A rare form of message stick from the Gregory River District. Native name: "Muranda"" (p.22) "This interesting stick is made of the wood of the bean-tree, and its whole surface is marked with a faintly incised pattern, heterogeneous to a great extent. The work has been accomplished with a marsupial incisor, and is extremely faint in places. The obverse side shows two notches at that portion of the stick [p.22] where the message is reputed to commence. At the other extreme end there is a small ring in the centre of a blank, and a distinct "track" is visible extending over half the length of the stick; diamond-shaped or irregular triangular figures predominate." (p.23) Interpretation of a message stick on p. 340 in Maria Frank's "Botenstäbe in Australien"
Message: «Bring the two women as agreed. We bring nine woomeras, six spears, and the women's relatives. There will be a fight» From: unknown To: unknown Hamlyn-Harris, p.23: "Its message is reputed to be somewhat as follows: -The bearer of the message is sent with another man for two gins (two notches: first notch, single virgin; second notch, widow would suffice), and intimates a big fight which is to take place as a display of dexterity (not tribal fight). Nine wommeras represented by diamonds, and six spears by lines, are sent together with relatives of girls in payment for the two gins. The track indicates the distance to be traversed." Frank, p.340: "Von einem anderen interessanten Botenstab berichtet Hamlyn-Harris (42, S. 22-23). Derselbe stammt aus dem Gregory-Flußgebiet (nach A. Merton) und führt den eingeborenen Namen ,,Muranda". Er ist auf der ganzen Oberflache mit fein eingeritzten Zeichen bedeckt, die in Mustern angeordnet sind. Der Trager der Botschaft wurde mit einem anderen Mann um zwei Frauen gesandt, die durch zwei Kerben gekennzeichnet wurden. Die erste Kerbe bedeutete eine Jungfrau, die zweite eine Witwe. Die weiteren Zeichen deuten einen großen Scheinkampf an, der stattfinden sollte. Neun Keulen werden durch Rauten, 6 Speere durch gerade Linien dargestellt. Diese Waffen wurden den Verwandten der Frauen als Zahlung (Brautpreis?) angeboten." Translation: "Hamlyn-Harris (42, S. 22-23) presents another interesting message stick. It was found close to Gregory Rivers (according to A. Merton) and is called "Muranda". Its entire surface is covered with symbols that are provided in samples. The bearer of the message stick was sent by a man and regarded two women. The first notch ment a young woman, the secon one ment a widow. The other symbols represented a battle that was going to take palce. Nine cubs were rendered with the help of rhombs, six spears were represented as straight lines. These weapons were offered to the relatives of the women as a fee (ransom?)." (transl. Olena Tykhostup)
Date Created: 1918
Notes on date created: terminus ante quem
Item type: message stick in a collection
Subtype: traditional
State/Territory: QLD
Linguistic area 1: Chirila: Minkin Austlang: G26 - Mingginda Glottolog: mink1237
Notes on linguistic areas: The message stick is associated with Gregory River district. This estimate is based on the fact that the message stick was collected in the Gregory River District (which in 1918 encompassed Burketown and areas to the north and southwest). The term "muranda" for message stick might be traced. The closest match in the Chirila database is murrandu=stick in Mithaka (Glottolog: mith1236)
Term for 'message stick' (or related) in language: muranta ("Muranda")
Semantic domains: sd_ceremony_showfight, sd_payment, sd_person_sender, sd_person_woman_girl, sd_person_woman_widow, sd_request_woman, sd_track, sd_weapon_spear, sd_weapon_woomera
Dimension 1: 190mm Dimension 2: 15mm
Materials: bean-tree wood
Techniques: and is extremely faint in places., the work has been accomplished with a marsupial incisor
Sources:
Institution/Holder file: Queensland Museum Kurilpa object identifier: QE9378
Collector: A. Meston
Coordinates: 18°03'38.073600"S,139°23'39.904800"E (-18.060576, 139.394418)
Notes on coordinates: Chirila centroid coordinates for Minkin
URL source 1: https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/item/47577#page/54/mode/1up
Notes: QM REGISTER
No QE: 9378
Description: Message stick "Muranda" "Intimating great fight as display of dexterity" Data: Gregory River District
Records:
Date Registered Donor Destination: 15/9/72
OTHER NOTES:
13.06.2025 PK: Note that Gemmia Burden casts doubt on Hamlyn-Harris' interpretation of this object: "In 1918, Ronald Hamlyn-Harris published an article on message sticks. In it he translated a pair of sticks that had been collected by Archibald Meston from northwest Queensland. Hamlyn-Harris’ translation reads:
The bearer of this message is sent with another man for two gins (two notches, first notch single virgin, second notch, widow would suffice), and intimates a big fight which is to take place as a display of dexterity (not tribal fight). Nine woomeras represented by diamonds, and six spears by lines, are sent together with relatives of girls in payment for the two gins.[fn:1]
This interpretation reflects the assumptions that framed the Museum attitude to, and use of, cultural materials. The emphasis on the two women suggests the custom of both purchasing brides and polygamy, practices that in the early twentieth century were perceived as the province of the unchristian and primitive, while the payment of weapons draws attention to the aggressive nature of Aboriginal society. This translation reveals the new sets of values and meanings being ascribed to the sticks in the institutional setting – meanings and values based on the culture that was exhibiting them, not the culture they represented.
[fn:1] 1 Ronald Hamlyn-Harris, ‘On Messages and “Message Sticks” Employed Among the Queensland Aborigines’, Memoirs of the Queensland Museum 5, 1918, p. 23. It is unknown how Hamlyn-Harris acquired the information on which he based this translation. It is possible information was recorded by Meston at the time of collection, however, this cannot be substantiated" 138 19.01.2025 PK: Previous ID: RHH1918P22F9
Media Files:
Data Entry: Julia Bespamyatnykh, Piers Kelly