| Coordinates WGS84 | 15°29'S, 145°15'E -15.48, 145.25 |
RHH1918P25F23
Title: Sketch of a message stick from Northern Queensland by Hamlyn-Harris (1918) and M.Frank (1940)
Description: Sketch of message stick on p. 29, Fig.23, of "On messages and "Message Sticks" employed among the Queensland Aborigines" by R. Hamlyn-Harris: "This stick, made of a species of pine wood, had actually been used four years ago by a native in sending the following message to his brother-in-law from Cooktown to Cairns, when the donor, Mr. J.J.Bamford (Oaklands), procured it. [...] Altogether there is apparently no special technical design from the study of which we could classify the various Queensland stick and determine with any degree of certainty the localities from which they came. It is nevertheless [29] an acknowledged fact that the native can generally tell whether a stick belongs to "his country" or not, and is, I fancy, an indication that there was a time, probably not so very remote, when there was a greater persistency of type in definite districts." Sketch of message stick (fig. 22) on p. 345 in Maria Frank's "Botenstäbe in Australien"
Message: You tell 'em, come three moon. I been see 'em. White fella steala me my country, shoot 'em brother alonga beat. Tell 'em Samson; which way Charlie? Tell 'em come. Mother alonga me die. Mother first time, die. Bye-bye me tell 'em. Toby alonga me Hamlyn-Harris's interpretation: "My brother-in-law, I want you to leave home in three months. I would like you to come and see me here. A white man stole me from home and shot my brother in a xxx. Tell old Samson I'm here. Where is Charlie? If you see him tell him to come too. Your mother and old granny have both died. Cannot tell you more now. Toby is with me." (Hamlyn-Harris 1918, p. 29) "Wenn ich nun versuche die einzelnen Zeichen selbst zu erklaren, so muß ich schon zugeben, daß mir dies nicht ganz möglich ist.Wenn wir mit dem “Lesen” von links beginnen, so könnten die drei Winkel die drei Monate bedeuten. Die darauf folgende Wellenlinieden Wunsch, den Empfanger zu sehen; der Pfeil würde dann die sehießenden und raubenden Weißen bedeuten, die den Bruder im Boot er schossen haben. Die Übrigen Berichte und Bitten sind mir nach den Zeichen nicht verständlich. Vielleicht waren auf der Rückseite noch Zeichen, welche die Einladungen und den Bericht von dem Tod der Mutter ausdrückten." (Frank 1940, p.340) Translation JB (Frank 1940, p.340): "If I try to explain the individual signs myself, I may admit that this is not entirely possible. If we start with "reading" from the left, the three angles could mean the three months. The following wave lines mean a wish to see the receiver; the arrow would then mean the whites who shot the brother in the boat. The signs of other reports and requests are not understandable to me. Perhaps there were still signs on the back that expressed the invitations and the report of the mother's death."
Creator of Object: Sender: "a native from Cooktown" Recipient: "his brother-in-law in Cairns" (p. 29)
Date Created: 1918
Notes on date created: terminus ante quem "had actually been used 4 years ago"
Item type: image of a message stick (artefact missing)
Subtype: traditional
State/Territory: QLD
Linguistic area 1: Chirila: Kuku Nyungkul Austlang: Y90 - Kuku Nyungkul Glottolog: kuku1274
Linguistic area 2: Chirila: Djabugay Austlang: Y106 - Djabugay / Tjapukai^ Glottolog: dyaa1242
Notes on linguistic areas: These linguistic areas are derived from the origin and destination of the message stick and do not necessarily reflect the ethnolinguistic affiliation of sender and recipient.
Semantic domains: sd_death, sd_person_grandmother, sd_person_mother, sd_time_moon, sd_violence
Dimension 1: 114mm Dimension 2: 13mm
Materials: pine wood
Sources:
Collector: Mr. J. J. Bramford (Oaklands)
Coordinates: 15°28'32.901600"S,145°14'49.599600"E (-15.475806, 145.247111)
Notes on coordinates: Absolute coordinates for Cooktown
URL source 1: https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/item/47577#page/51/mode/1up
Media Files:
Data Entry: Julia Bespamyatnykh