| Coordinates WGS84 | 14°45'S, 134°50'E -14.75, 134.83 |
RHH1918P25F25
Title: Sketch of a message stick from Roper River by Hamlyn-Harris (1918) and M.Frank (1940)
Description: Sketch of message stick on p. 31, Fig. 25 of "On messages and "Message Sticks" employed among the Queensland Aborigines" by R. Hamlyn-Harris. Sketch of message stick (fig. 19) on p. 345 in Maria Frank's "Botenstäbe in Australien"
Message: Hamlyn-Harris (1918, p.31): "Evidently a hastily prepared and crudely fashioned stick from the Roper River, collected by Mr. M.J. Colclough in 1909. It was sent in connection with death of a child, notifying the father of his death.There is a custom in this part of the country of passing children temporarily on from one tribe to another, in good seasons, with a view to educating them and teaching them local dialects. Such a child had died, and hence the message." Frank (1940, p.338): "Hamlyn-Harris (42, S. 31) bringt einen Bericht über einen kleinen Botenstab aus Fichtenholz, dessen Kerben besonders grob ausgeführt sind (vgl. Fig. 19). Er stammt vom Roper-FluB und wurde von Mr. M. J. Colclough im Jahre 1909 in seine Sammlung aufgenommen. Der Botenstab berichtet einem Vater von dem Tode seines Kindes; er mußte wahrscheinlich sehr schnell ausgefuhrt werden, weshalb er mit so wenig Sorgfalt hergestellt wurde. Das Kind war in der guten Jahreszeit zu einem fremden Stamm gegeben worden, damit es den dortigen Lokaldialekt erlerne, und war dort gestorben. " Translation JB: Hamlyn-Harris reports a small message stick made of spruce, which notches are particularly rough. It comes from the Roper River and was added to his [Hamlyn-Harris's] collection by Mr. M. J. Colclough in 1909. The message stick gives a report to a father about the death of his child; it [the stick] probably had to be done very fast, which is why it was made with so little care. During the good season the child had been given to a foreign tribe, so that it learns the local dialect there, and died there."
Date Created: 1909
Notes on date created: terminus ante quem
Item type: image of a message stick (artefact missing)
Subtype: traditional
State/Territory: NT
Linguistic area 1: Chirila: Yugul Austlang: N85 - Yugul Glottolog: yugu1250
Notes on linguistic areas: The origin of the message stick is given as Roper River. Yugul is estimated from the location of Ngukurr, the most significant Roper River community at that time. It is not clear whether the object originated on the Roper River, or whether Roper River was the destination.
Cultural region: TopEnd
Semantic domains: sd_death, sd_person_child, sd_person_father
Dimension 1: 70mm Dimension 2: 13mm
Materials: pine wood
Sources:
Collector: Mr. M. J. Colclough
Coordinates: 14°45'12.956400"S,134°49'37.732800"E (-14.753599, 134.827148)
Notes on coordinates: Chirila centroid coordinates for Yugul
URL source 1: https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/item/47577#page/51/mode/1up
Media Files:
Data Entry: Julia Bespamyatnykh, Piers Kelly