RHM1897P292F8

Title: Sketch of a message stick from New South Wales reproduced by R.H.Mathews (1897)

Description: Sketch of message stick on p. 293 of "Message-sticks used by the Aborigines of Australia" by Robert Hamilton Mathews

Message: «I am bringing my wife and two men. Please bring the Currawillinghi mob»

From: Tapala (‘Taballah’) at Coomburrah

Sent: by Kunpitala (‘Kunbitalah’), in Coomburrah, ca. 1893-1897

To: Yinatpika in Angledool

Subject: movement of people

"The notches on its edges have no meaning, but are merely ornamental; (a) represents Taballah, and the figure immediately alongside represents his wife. The two figures (b) (b) on the other end of the stick represent two black fellows of the Cudnappa tribe. On the other side of the stick, figure 9, the figure (c) represents Enutbeakah, and the other figures (d) on the same side represent the blacks of the Currawillinghi tribe. On looking at the stick, assisted by the verbal message, Enutbeakah understood that Taballah was bringing his gin and two other blacks with him, and by the figures on the other side of the stick Enutbeakah saw that he was requested to bring the blacks of his tribe, the Currawillinghi, with him." (p. 296)

Creator of Object: Sender: "a native named Taballah, Murri Iguana, one of the head-men of the Cudnappa River tribe" (p. 295) Recipient: "a black fellow named Kunbitalah, Murri Iguana, one of the Culgoa River tribe" (p.295-296)

Date Created: 1897

Notes on date created: terminus ante quem

Item type: image of a message stick (artefact missing)

Subtype: traditional

State/Territory: QLD, NSW

Linguistic area 1: Chirila: Muruwari Austlang: D32 - MURUWARI / MURRAWARRI Glottolog: muru1266

Linguistic area 2: Chirila: Yuwaalaraay Austlang: D27 - Yuwaalaraay Glottolog: yuwa1242

Notes on linguistic areas: Figures 8 and 9. This drawing represents both sides of a message-stick made at Coomburrah by a native named Taballah, [295] Murri Iguana, one of the head-men of the Cudnappa River tribe, who handed it to a black fellow named Kunbitalah, Murri Iguana, one of the Culgoa River tribe, who was at Coomburrah visiting the blacks there. Kunbitalah conveyed the stick to Angledool, and delivered it, with the oral message, to Enutbeakah, Kubbi Iguana, one of the head-men of the Currawillinghi tribe. Coomburrah is about 80 miles from Angledool. p296 Coomburrah is in the Muruwari region, at -28.644915998329864, 146.98148212620814 Angledool is in the Yuwaalaraay region.

Semantic domains: sd_person_sender, sd_person_woman_wife, sd_request

Sources:

American Anthropologist 10 (9):288-298.

Mathews, Robert Hamilton. 1897. “Message-sticks used by the Aborigines of Australia “

Collector: I obtained the message-sticks and all the details respecting them from Mr James E. Miller, a police trooper stationed at Goodooga township. He has been traveling through that district in the discharge of his official duties for some years past and is well acquainted with the numerous aboriginal population, who still preserve their ancient customs. (p. 292)

Coordinates: 28°56'52.332000"S,146°37'9.804000"E  (-28.94787, 146.61939)

Notes on coordinates: Chirila centroid coordinates for Muruwari

URL institution: http://nla.gov.au/nla.obj-52785381

Notes: 18.09.2025 PK: This is not super urgent but I'd love it if you could check something for me. I'm trying to investigate the whereabouts of two message sticks sketched in the article: Mathews, Robert Hamilton. 1897. “Message-sticks used by the Aborigines of Australia “  American Anthropologist 10 (9):288-298. The message sticks look like this (showing both sides) in Figs 5-6 [RHM1897P292F5] and Figs 8-9 [RHM1897P292F8]:  [image] Every other message stick sketched by Mathews is definitely in the AM as part of the donation of Miss G. Mathews, accessioned in 1929. It could be that these two were never part of the original donation, but my suspicion is that they may have been mistakenly registered as bullroarers. Mathews sketched eight bullroarers in an article on the subject and yet there are 12 donated by his daughter to the museum. It's possible that part of the donation was sold/deaccessioned etc. Or I can't find any items because they are restricted? I'm afraid  my EMu skills are not up to scratch, because my search for 'Mathews' does not bring up everything item that is written in the register, nor can I seem to find individual objects via accession numbers in the register. So, when you have a moment, could you:     Check EMu for any bullroarers donated by anyone with the surname Mathews    If nothing comes up check the following numbers: E032185, E032186, E032187, E032188, E032189, E032190, E032191, E032192, E032193, E032194, E032195, E032196    And if there are any thumbnail photo images, can you check if they look like Figs 5-6 or Fig 8-9 above?I realise this is an annoying task but it would be absolutely amazing if they turned up. They are quite well documented including names of makers and their meanings so it would be a great value-add to the collection.   No hurry on this so please don't make it a priority with everything else you have to do.   Piers P.S. Relevant register pages attached with Mathews entries highlighted 22.09.2025 NS:Hi Piers, Sorry to be the bearer of bad news, but I’ve checked everything we have in the Restricted Collection donated by Mathews, which includes those reg numbers you provided, and nothing matches those pictures. E032196 has been lost since prior to 1980 though so there is no image to compare.   Kind Regards,N.S. PK: Thank you so much for going to the trouble. It's disappointing but also good to be able to close that off as a route of inquiry. They must have been sold or given away prior to 1929. As far as I can tell they haven't ended up in a museum anywhere else in the world but they could be in a private collection. Piers

Media Files:

Data Entry: Olena Tykhostup, Piers Kelly