Coordinates WGS8421°44'S, 114°56'E
-21.74, 114.94

WAM_E01822

Title: A message stick held in the Western Australian Museum

Description: Message stick

Item type: message stick in a collection

State/Territory: WA

Notes on linguistic areas: The message stick is associated with Ashburton River, Pilbara, WA

Materials: wood

Source types: museum collection

Date collected: Unknown

Institution/Holder file: Western Australian Museum object identifier: E01822

Collector: Unknown

Coordinates: 21°44'15.399600"S,114°56'21.300000"E  (-21.737611, 114.93925)

Media copyright: Western Australian Museum

Notes on coordinates: Approximate coordinates along the Ashburton River mouth, Pilbara region, WA

URL source 1: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1WhSXsVjy-BMSWc_BWVf48tcyqSJO3nWp/edit?usp=drive_link&ouid=117680564175795850062&rtpof=true&sd=true

Notes: Email from RC on 16.12.2024: "I’ve now had time to produce a list of message sticks (just basic data) from the database that are/were in the Museum’s collection. Note that there are 73 from this list that have been repatriated to community. I’m about to head off on extended leave tomorrow so won’t have time to produce anything more detailed. However, the information by and large reflects the information that is captured in the registers. And as background message sticks are typically categorised a short cylindrical stick that has an incised decoration applied to it (think clapping stick with various regional designs applied, though the thickness can vary from 15-20mm)." NR 26.3.25: "The river rises approximately 100 kilometres south of Newman and flows in a west-north-westerly direction until discharging into the Indian Ocean approximately 20 kilometres (12 mi) south west of Onslow" (Wikipedia).

Data Entry: Nitzan Rotman