Message stick
Encyclopedia
A message stick is a form of communication
traditionally used by Indigenous Australians
. It is usually a solid piece of wood, around 20–30cm in length, etched with angular lines and dots.
Traditionally, message sticks were passed between different clans and language groups to establish information and transmit messages. They were often used to invite neighbouring groups to corroboree
s, set-fights and ball games
.
Alfred Howitt
wrote of the Wurundjeri
people of the Melbourne area:
They are often commonly called letters by Aboriginal people
. They were transmitted by mailmen, who could travel hundreds of kilometres to deliver them.
Donald Thomson
, recounting his journey to Arnhem Land
after the Caledon Bay Crisis
, writes of Wonggu sending a message stick to his sons, at that time in prison, to indicate a calling of a truce. In etched angles, it showed people sitting down together, with Wonggu at the centre, keeping the peace.
Jeannie Gunn
wrote about life at a station at Mataranka in the Northern Territory in 1902:
The student newspaper
of the University of New South Wales
goes by the name Tharunka
, which means message stick in a Central Australian dialect.
Communication
Communication is the activity of conveying meaningful information. Communication requires a sender, a message, and an intended recipient, although the receiver need not be present or aware of the sender's intent to communicate at the time of communication; thus communication can occur across vast...
traditionally used by Indigenous Australians
Indigenous Australians
Indigenous Australians are the original inhabitants of the Australian continent and nearby islands. The Aboriginal Indigenous Australians migrated from the Indian continent around 75,000 to 100,000 years ago....
. It is usually a solid piece of wood, around 20–30cm in length, etched with angular lines and dots.
Traditionally, message sticks were passed between different clans and language groups to establish information and transmit messages. They were often used to invite neighbouring groups to corroboree
Corroboree
A corroboree is a ceremonial meeting of Australian Aborigines. The word was coined by the European settlers of Australia in imitation of the Aboriginal word caribberie. At a corroboree Aborigines interact with the Dreamtime through dance, music and costume. Many ceremonies act out events from the...
s, set-fights and ball games
Marn Grook
Marn Grook , literally meaning "Game ball", is a collective name given to a number of traditional Indigenous Australian recreational pastimes believed to have been played at gatherings and celebrations of up to 50 players. It is often confused with a separate indigenous game resembling Association...
.
Alfred Howitt
Alfred William Howitt
Alfred William Howitt was an Australian anthropologist and naturalist.-Background:Howitt was born in Nottingham, England, the son of authors William Howitt and Mary Botham. He came to the Victorian gold fields in 1852 with his father and brother to visit his uncle, Godfrey Howitt...
wrote of the Wurundjeri
Wurundjeri
The Wurundjeri are a people of the Indigenous Australian nation of the Woiwurrung language group, in the Kulin alliance, who occupy the Birrarung Valley, its tributaries and the present location of Melbourne, Australia...
people of the Melbourne area:
- The oldest man (Headman) having made such a message stick hands it to the old man nearest to him, who inspects it and, if necessary, adds further marks and gives corresponding instructions. Finally, the stick having passed from one to the other of the old men present is handed to the messenger, who has received his verbal message in connection with it. If any duration of time is connected with the message, or if an enumerationAustralian Aboriginal enumerationA common misconception among non-Aboriginals is that Aboriginals did not have a way to count beyond two or three. However, Alfred Howitt, who studied the peoples of southeastern Australia, disproved this in the late nineteenth century, although the myth continues in circulation today.The...
of stages or camps is made, a method is used (see Australian Aboriginal enumerationAustralian Aboriginal enumerationA common misconception among non-Aboriginals is that Aboriginals did not have a way to count beyond two or three. However, Alfred Howitt, who studied the peoples of southeastern Australia, disproved this in the late nineteenth century, although the myth continues in circulation today.The...
) [to explain this].
They are often commonly called letters by Aboriginal people
Indigenous Australians
Indigenous Australians are the original inhabitants of the Australian continent and nearby islands. The Aboriginal Indigenous Australians migrated from the Indian continent around 75,000 to 100,000 years ago....
. They were transmitted by mailmen, who could travel hundreds of kilometres to deliver them.
Donald Thomson
Donald Thomson
Donald Fergusson Thomson, OBE was an Australian anthropologist and ornithologist who was largely responsible for turning the Caledon Bay crisis into a "decisive moment in the history of Aboriginal-European relations." He is remembered as a friend of the Yolngu people, and as a champion of...
, recounting his journey to Arnhem Land
Arnhem Land
The Arnhem Land Region is one of the five regions of the Northern Territory of Australia. It is located in the north-eastern corner of the territory and is around 500 km from the territory capital Darwin. The region has an area of 97,000 km² which also covers the area of Kakadu National...
after the Caledon Bay Crisis
Caledon Bay crisis
The Caledon Bay crisis refers to a series of killings at Caledon Bay in the Northern Territory of Australia during 1932–34. These events are widely seen as a turning point in relations between indigenous and non-indigenous Australians....
, writes of Wonggu sending a message stick to his sons, at that time in prison, to indicate a calling of a truce. In etched angles, it showed people sitting down together, with Wonggu at the centre, keeping the peace.
Jeannie Gunn
Jeannie Gunn
Jeannie Gunn OBE was an Australian novelist, teacher and Returned and Services League of Australia volunteer.- Life :...
wrote about life at a station at Mataranka in the Northern Territory in 1902:
- Then he ['Goggle-Eye'] showed me a little bit of stick with notches on it, and said it was a blackfellow's letter-stick, or, as he called it, a "yabber-stick." It was round, not flat like most other letters, and was an invitation to a corroboree; and there were notches on it explaining what sort of corroboree it was, and saying that it was to be held at Duck Creek. There was some other news marked on it...
The student newspaper
Newspaper
A newspaper is a scheduled publication containing news of current events, informative articles, diverse features and advertising. It usually is printed on relatively inexpensive, low-grade paper such as newsprint. By 2007, there were 6580 daily newspapers in the world selling 395 million copies a...
of the University of New South Wales
University of New South Wales
The University of New South Wales , is a research-focused university based in Kensington, a suburb in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia...
goes by the name Tharunka
Tharunka
Tharunka is a student newspaper published at the University of New South Wales in Sydney, Australia. Established in 1953 at the then New South Wales University of Technology, Tharunka has been published in a variety of forms by various student organisations...
, which means message stick in a Central Australian dialect.
See also
- Devil's Pool, AustraliaDevil's Pool, AustraliaDevil's Pool near Babinda in Far North Queensland is known in Aboriginal legend as a cursed place. The dangers are held to be geographical, but local tribespeople and Babinda locals generally believe and recount the legend of an Aboriginal woman's curse on the waterhole.In 2005, the Australia TV...
- Koori MailKoori MailThe Koori Mail is Australia's oldest Indigenous newspaper and an icon amongst Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people and their supporters....
- National Indigenous TimesNational Indigenous TimesThe National Indigenous Times is an Indigenous Australian affairs newspaper first published on 27 February 2002. It was set up by Owen Carriage, the founder of the Koori Mail, and a group of other Australians, both Indigenous and non-Indigenous...
Australia's largest circulating Indigenous affairs newspaper