WBS1928V2P850F556N1

Title: Larger one of two medjingeli collected by Spencer in Kakadu, likely at Kaparlgoo

Description: Spencer, Baldwin. 1928. Wanderings in wild Australia. 2 vols. Vol. 2. London: Macmillan: "August 4th.—Cahill has been busy trying to get the motor to work in his lugger, so that we can get round to Darwin with more certainty and speed than by sailing, but it is no use, so we have decided to sail down the East Alligator with the tide, then coast round to the South Alligator and up this, on the tide, to a place called Kapalgo." p843 "We were constantly coming across odd and interesting things as we wandered through their camps, where we were allowed to look freely into their Mia-mias and even pry, with their amused consent and help, into the women’s dilly-bags, always, of course, after a judicious gift of tobacco, which smoothed the way to confidence and friendship. A few of such things are shown in Fig. 556, on which Nos. 1 and 2 represent curious sticks which belong to men and are called Medjingeli. These are sent out to invite natives of other camps or tribes to take part in a fight. The upper one of these measures thirty-nine inches in length, and is a solid stick with a bunch of stiff grass stalks attached [849] to one end by means of shreds of Banyan bark. The whole thing is whitened with pipe clay and looks like a miniature broom. This form is sent out as a challenge to a general fight. The second is smaller and measures only twenty-one inches in length. It is made of reed or small bamboo, and is red-ochred, otherwise it is like the first and is used as a challenge to a single fight with a club called Periperiu (Fig. 549, No. 4)." p850

Message: summons to a fight

Date Created: 1912

Notes on date created: Date of collection (approximately 4 August 1912)

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

Subtype: traditional

State/Territory: NT

Linguistic area 1: Chirila: Konbudj Austlang: N224 - Gonbudj

Cultural region: TopEnd_arnhem

Term for 'message stick' (or related) in language: medjingeli (specifically for a fight)

Dimension 1: 991mm

Coordinates: 12°41'41.301600"S,132°22'25.500000"E  (-12.694806, 132.37375)

Notes on coordinates: Absolute coordinates for Kapalga billabong (approximate site of Kaparlgoo mission). Note that this object could possibly have been collected at Oenpelli (Gunbalanya) but Kaparlgoo is the best guess from the context of Spencer's description.

URL source 1: https://archive.org/details/wanderingsinwild0002spen/page/n595/mode/2up?view=theater

Notes: 08.01.2024 PK: A message stick carrying device from Kaparlgoo is here: SAM_A_51004 08.01.2024 PK: Possible representation in rock art. Brandl, Eric Joseph. 1973. Australian Aboriginal paintings in western and central Arnhem land: Temporal sequences and elements of style in Cadell River and Deaf Adder Creek art. Canberra: Australian Institute of Aboriginal Studies. "'Early' Mimi artists at Deaf Adder Creek depicted a limited range of weapons: boomerangs (Figure 75; cp.Davidson, 1936b, Figure 7; and Worsnop, 1897, Plates 64, 65); almost exclusively one type of spear (Figure 78b) ; and in one case a hafted stone axe, hand-held by a Mimi hunter (Figure 105. Compare this axe with those in Spencer, 1928, Figure 550; items I, 2, 3 from the Kakadu tribe) . In 'early' Mimi art weapons have as a rule been convincingly identified by the informants. However, one excep- tion is illustrated in Figure 75/. 'Late' Mimi art has a wider range of weapons and also a greater number of implements which may, or may-not, be weapons. No informant had any definite suggestions for the meaning of the radiate lines or 'crossed sticks' held by the man in Figure 93 (at right) and only vague explanations were given for the implements in Figure 106a-e. Figure 106a and b illustrates two implements (see Figure 91, LM I, second and fourth human figure from left) that, informants guessed, are sticks—possibly fighting clubs. The apparently tasselled end of the 'stick' (Figure 106a) recalls an implement in Spencer (1928: 849-50 and Figure 556) : 'Nos. 1 and 2 represent curious sticks which belong to [Kakadu) men and are called Medjingeli. These are sent out to invite natives of other camps or tribes to take part in a fight. No. 1 measures thirty-nine inches [99 cm] in length, and is a solid stick with a bunch of stiff grass stalks attached to one end by means of shreds of Banyan bark. The whole thing is whitened with pipe clay and looks like a miniature broom." 175

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Data Entry: Piers Kelly

Related Entries: AMus_E010383, AMus_E010384, AMus_E010385, AMus_E010386, AMus_E010387, AMus_E010388