Australian Aboriginal enumeration

The Australian Aboriginal counting system was used to send messages on message sticks to neighbouring clans to alert them of, or invite them to, corroborees, set-fights, and ball games. Numbers could clarify the day the meeting was to be held (in a number of "moons") and where (the number of camps' distance away). The messenger would have a message "in his mouth" to go along with the message stick.

A 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 systems below are those of the Wurundjeri (Howitt called them after their language, Woiwurung) and the Wotjoballum. Howitt wrote that it was common among nearly all peoples he encountered in the southeast: "Its occurrence in these tribes suggests that it must have been general over a considerable part of Victoria". As can be seen in the following tables, names for numbers were based on body parts, whose names themselves were metaphorical and often quite poetic:

Wotjoballum counting system

Aboriginal name	literal translation	translation	number
Giti mŭnya	little hand	little finger	1
Gaiŭp mŭnya	from gaiŭp = one, mŭnya = hand	the ring finger	2
Marŭng mŭnya	from marung = the desert pine (Callitris verrucosa). (i.e., the middle finger being longer than the others, as the desert pine is taller than other trees in Wotjo country.)	the middle finger	3
Yolop-yolop mŭnya	from yolop = to point or aim	index finger	4
Bap mŭnya	from Bap = mother	the thumb	5
Dart gŭr	from dart = a hollow, and gur = the forearm	the inside of the elbow joint	6
Boibŭn	a small swelling (i.e., the swelling of the flexor muscles of the forearm)	the forearm	7
Bun-darti	a hollow, referring to the hollow of the inside of the elbow joint	inside of elbow	8
Gengen dartchŭk	from gengen = to tie, and dartchuk = the upper arm. This name is given also to the armlet of possum pelt which is worn around the upper arm.	the biceps	9
Borporŭng		the point of the shoulder	10
Jarak-gourn	from jarak = reed, and gourn = neck, (i.e. is, the place where the reed necklace is worn.)	throat	11
Nerŭp wrembŭl	from nerŭp = the butt or base of anything, and wrembŭl= ear	earlobe	12
Wŭrt wrembŭl''	from wŭrt = above and also behind, and wrembŭl = ear	that part of the just above and behind the ear	13
Doke doke	from doka = to move		14
Det det	hard	crown of the head	15

Note that both numbers 6 and 8 here appear to be represented by the elbow. It has perhaps misinterpreted the wrist in the translation of 6, since 7 is the forearm.

Other languages

Language	0	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10
Anindilyakwa[1]		awilyaba	ambilyuma	abiyakarbiya	abiyarbuwa	amangbala					ememberrkwa
Gumulgal[1]		urapon	ukasar	ukasar-urapon	ukasar-ukasar	ukasar-ukasar-urapon	ukasar-ukasar-ukasar
Gurindji[2]		yoowarni	garndiwirri	nga-rloo-doo
Kokata[1]		kuma	kutthara	kabu	wima	ngeria
Kunwinjku[1]		na-kudji	boken	danjbik	kunkarrngbakmeng	kunbidkudji					kunbidboken
Ngaanyatjarra[3]		kutja	kutjarra	marnkurra	kutjarra-kutjarra	kutjarra-marnkurra
Nunggubuyu[1]		anyjabugij	wulawa	wulanybaj	wulalwulal	marang-anyjabugij		marang-anyjabugij wula			marang-anyjabugij marang-anyjabugij
Tiwi[1]		natinga	jirara	jiraterima	jatapinta	punginingita					wamutirara
Wangka[1]		kuja	kujarra	kujarra kuju	kujarrakujarra	marakuju	marakujarra
Yolngu[1]		wanggany	marrma'	lurrkun	marrma' marrma'	gong wangany					gong marrma'

In the Yorta Yorta language, iyung=1, bultjubul=2, bultjubul iyung=3, bultjubul bultjubul=4, bultjubul bultjubul iyung=5, bultjubul biyin-n=10 (2 hands)[4]

See also

• Wurundjeri
• Alfred Howitt

References

1. John Harris, Australian Aboriginal and Islander mathematics, Australian Aboriginal Studies, 1987.
2. William B. McGregor, (2013). Languages of the Kimberley, Western Australia, Routledge. ISBN 9781134396023
3. Stephanie Fryer-Smith, (2002). Aboriginal Benchbook for Western Australian courts Archived 2013-10-12 at the Wayback Machine, Australian Institute of Judicial Administration Incorporated. ISBN 1875527427
4. 'Yorta Yorta Language Heritage Dictionary', Heather Bowe, Lois Peeler,Sharon Atkinson,copyright 1997, Hawker Brownlow Education, 2005.

Bibliography

• "Notes on Australian Message Sticks and Messengers", AW Howitt, FGS, Journal of the Anthropological Institute, pp 317–8, London, 1889, reprinted by Ngarak Press, 1998, ISBN 1-875254-25-0