| Coordinates WGS84 | 12°15'S, 136°54'E -12.25, 136.89 |
SAM_A_67911
Title: A message stick from Northern Territory held in the South Australian Museum
Description: Message stick 'The man Buma-Buma' from the South Australian Museum; Ceremonial message stick from Yirrkala depicting Buma-Buma, "the man", related to circumcision.
Message: «You are summoned for the Dhapi' (male initiation) ceremony»
From: A once-known initiated man
Sent: 1948 To: An once-known uninitiated boy
Subject: Dhapi'
Mountford (1956): At the present time the ceremonial message stick, on which the figure of Buma-buma is engraved, is sent to a group of aborigines who have a boy ready for circumcision. [fn:51: In north eastern Arnhem Land the boys are circumcised when they are about eight years of age] Although the designs on the stick refer specifically to the death and burial of Buma-bumaJ and not to circumcision, the myth of Buma-buma's disobedience and punishment is so well known that the significance of the message stick is understood.
Figure 65E is the obverse side and Fig. 65F the reverse. On Fig. 65E the dead body of Buma-buma, wrapped for burial, occupies the central position. The spears, which had been thrust into his side, are at a, b, c, d. The group of lines, e, are dua men and f, jiritja men, who are taking part in the burial rituals. the short lines, g, at the top of the message stick are the jiritja and h, at the bottom, the dua men, who are chanting the songs of burial. All these men have since been changed into water-birds. The designs on panel j refer to the paper-bark wrapping of the corpse.
The reverse side, Fig. 65F, shows Buma-buma when the decomposition is complete and the people have assembled to transfer his bones to the temporary bark coffin. The main lozenge-shaped design is the paper-bark wrapping round the corpse, which is now a skeleton. On the left at a is a dua man, Biribirit, with a bark coffin at his feet, and at b a jiritja man, also standing on a bark [471] coffin. The short lines around the skeleton are the maggots deserting the body and burying themselves in the ground to pupate. The two men are now waterbirds; the coffins, the paper-bark wrappings of the corpse and the body of Buma-buma are natural features at Wialpa." P. 473.
Date Created: 1948
Notes on date created: Year of American-Australian Scientific Expedition to Arnhem Land
Item type: message stick in a collection
Subtype: traditional
State/Territory: NT
Linguistic area 1: Chirila: Dhangu Austlang: N192 - Dhangu Glottolog: dhan1270
Notes on linguistic areas: The origin of the message stick is Yirrkala, Northern Territory, Australia
Cultural region: TopEnd_arnhem_east
Source types: museum collection
Date collected: Date registered: 05. Dez 1983
Institution/Holder file: The South Australian Museum object identifier: A-67911
Collector: Mountford, Charles P.
Place collected: Yirrkala
Coordinates: 12°15'10.000800"S,136°53'30.001200"E (-12.252778, 136.891667)
Media copyright: The South Australian Museum
Notes on coordinates: Absolute coordinates for Yirrkala
Notes: PK: The excel sheet provided by the SAM includes the cryptic sentence "The man buma-buma" which may relate to the interpretation of the message stick. In C.P. Mountford's 'Records of the American–Australian scientific expedition to Arnhem Land 1: Art, myth and symbolism', he writes: "The Man, Buma-buma Buma-buma, one of the harmless spirit people, lives by himself in termite mounds. Although he has spears, spear-thrower and a knowledge of fire, his diet consists only of wild honey and the flesh of bandicoots, goannas and echidnas. Plate 51B is a picture of Buma-buma. The artist has indicated the ribs and the backbone. The feet are shown as footprints.". This image might be compared to the message stick. AR: From "remarks" column in SAM register: "Y.50" "6-7-52" label "Art, Myth & Symbolism 66. e. f." 11.02.2026 PK:Previously CPM1956P468F65_EF "At Wialpa, Trial Bay, during mythical times, an old dua man, Boukabaluwuru, instructed his son, Buma-buma, to go to an adjacent group of aborigines and bring back with him two boys who were due to be circumcised. When Buma-buma reached the distant camp he demanded, in the name of his father, two girls instead of two boys. Though the old men agreed to the demand, they were somewhat suspicious of the unusual request. On nearing Wialpa, Buma-buma, hiding the girls in the jungle, told his father that the old men of the distant people wanted at least another year before their youths were ready for circumcision. The father, who did not believe that story, demanded more and further more details, until Buma-buma was forced to admit he had brought girls instead of boys. The men, and especially the father, were so enraged over Buma-buma's disobedience and its consequent disgrace that they speared the young man to death. After the burial rituals of Buma-buma, the men at Wialpa were so ashamed of his actions that they changed themselves into water-birds, which still live in the nearby fresh-water swamps. At the present time the ceremonial message stick on which the figure of Buma-buma is engraved, is sent to a group of aborigines who have a boy ready for circumcision. Although the designs on the stick refer specifically to the death and burial of Buma-buma, and not to circumcision, the myth of Buma-buma's disobedience and punishment is so well known that the significance of the message stick is understood." p. 471. MOTIF DESCRIPTION FOLLOWS" Figure designed by Rosemary Dunnett
Media Files:
Data Entry: Olena Tykhostup, Piers Kelly, Alexandra Roginski