AY Honors/Aboriginal Lore/Answer Key

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.

The Australian national broadcaster, ABC, calls both its Indigenous online and television components Message Stick in recognition of this custom.

Traditionally, message sticks were passed between different clans and language groups to establish information and transmit messages.

They are often commonly called letters by Aboriginal people. Traditionally, they were transmitted by mailmen, who would travel hundreds of kilometres to deliver them.

Donald Thomson, recounting his journey toArnhem 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, at peace.

External Links

• Peterson, Nicholas, Donald Thomson in Arnhem Land, Melbourne University Press ISBN 0522850634, pp 80-81.
• Message Stick TV
• Message Stick Internet