SAM_A_64417

Title: A message stick from Ooldea, South Australia, held in the South Australian Museum

Description: Flat wooden message stick from the South Australian Museum

Date Created: 1976

Notes on date created: terminus ante quem If collected 20 years ago when the Ooldea mission closed down (see SAM register), this would mean that they were created in or before the 1950s.

Item type: message stick in a collection

Linguistic area 1: Chirila: Mirniny Austlang: A9 - Mirning

Notes on linguistic areas: The message stick is associated with the Ooldea tribe, South Australia. Language is uncertain and inferred from geography. Could also be Wirangu or any number of languages that met at the Ooldea Mission station The "Ooldea tribe" is nonetheless analysed as Mirniny. (Note, however, that Mirniny turns up twice in Chirila. One is over on the western edge of the Nullabor near Caiguna. The other is further east near Eucla. The Eucla Mirniny is the one referred to here.) We have assumed that "Ooldea tribe" is (eastern) Mirniny on the basis of the fact that the Ooldea the mission settlement is in this area at 30° 27′ 32.9″ S, 131° 50′ 8.21″ E and Ooldea soak is just north of it at 30°24'29.0"S 131°49'42.0"E. Tindale also refers to "Miming man of Ooldea who went to Esperance by train and found friendly southern people there". Note that the Ooldea settlement was used as a base for constructing the railroad. Harald wrote: "For doculects that that referred to as Mirning or the like the corresponding Glottolog variety can be either Kalarko [kala1379] kba Ngadjunmaya [ngad1258] nju It's debatable whether there should be a separate variety with that name. Mirning is also the name of a subgroup" Claire wrote: "So it looks like Glottolog includes 2 western Mirning languages but not the eastern-most one around Eucla, since the term Ngatjumaya is specifically for Western Mirning? I see in my tree I used "Mirniny", "Ngatjumaya" and "Eucla", and a number of Noongar varieties; I didn't have data for inland varieties."

Source types: museum collection

Date collected: Date registered: 05. Mrz 1976

Institution/Holder file: The South Australian Museum object identifier: A-64417

Collector: Donated by: Siggs, Mr & Mrs F.G.

Coordinates: 30°27'32.900400"S,131°50'8.210400"E  (-30.459139, 131.835614)

Media copyright: The South Australian Museum

Notes on coordinates: Absolute coordinates for Ooldea mission station

Notes: SAM Register: A64412 - 64418 were the "last few possessions of the Ooldea tribe given to Mr Ken E. Siggs 20 years ago when the Ooldea Mission closed down; they were left with Mr Fred Siggs who donated them to the Museum." AR: Checked against original SAM register. No new information.

Media Files:

Data Entry: Olena Tykhostup, Piers Kelly, Alexandra Roginski