Alwyn Doolan and Piers Kelly were interviewed by David Marr on ABC radio’s popular Late Night Live program, on the topic of “Message sticks: small items with big cultural power”. Piers talked about how message sticks worked in the early cotnact period and how settlers tried to make sense of them. Alwyn discussed his important … Read more
Piers Kelly in Detroit, spoke to Vanessa Mills on Kimberley Breakfast about significant message sticks from the Kimberley region in US collections.
Daniru Jayasuriya wrote a feature on the Australian Message Stick Database for the quarterly science magazine Cosmos. “It’s not accurate to say ‘message sticks are just like Western literacy […] because they’re addressing a different kind of problem that written practice isn’t adapted for.” Kelly says we need to reevaluate beliefs about the use of … Read more
Lorina Barker and Piers Kelly sat down with Eddie Williams of ABC South East NSW Breakfast to discuss message sticks from New South Wales. A Ngarigo caller made contact to reveal that she had several old message sticks handed down within her family.
Dan Holmes writes about the newly launched Australian Message Stick Database in The Mandarin, pointing out its significance for policy makers: In the context of a failing Indigenous policy environment, this might seem like low-priority research. But in the wake of the failed referendum on a voice to parliament, many leading indigenous figures have argued the loss reflects … Read more