Item X 115 Ornament, neck. Arrernte. Specific locality unrecorded, Desert East, Northern Territory, Australia. pre 1889

Summary

This is a neck band worn by a man and consists of appendages made of tufts of animal fur, most likely taken from the tails of bilby, and one consisting of a small animal bone. The name recorded in the museum's register for this is 'Itoobina'. Bryan (or Brian) Charles Besley, who died in 1894, is the likely original source for this ornament. In 1889 while Inspector of Police at Port Augusta in South Australia, Besley was selected to participate in an investigation of Finke River Mission in central Australia. Eugenie Besley, one of his five daughters, sold the museum a collection of Aboriginal artefacts that were registered in 1897. Distinctive neck and head bands worn in central Australia by men and women were generally made of long strands of human hair string coated with thick layers of red ochre. These bands were often wound around the head or neck a number of times or overlaid and fixed in place with human hair sting as in this example.

Physical Description

A neck ornament made of a single length of string coated in resin. It is wound a number of times and tied at the ends with human hair string to which tassels are attached made possibly of the tail tips of the bilby and one has a small animal bone attached.