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Australian Aboriginal enumeration

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,^{[citation needed]} although the myth continues in circulation today.^[1]

The system in the table below is that used by the Wotjobaluk of the Wimmera (Howitt used this tribal name for the language called Wergaia in the AIATSIS language map). 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, which were counted starting from the little finger. In his manuscripts, Howitt suggests counting commenced on the left hand.

Wotjobaluk counting system[edit]

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 wrist	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 head just above and behind the ear	13
Doke doke	from doka = to move		14
Det det	hard	crown of the head	15

A similar system but with one more place was described by Howitt for the Wurundjeri, speakers of the Woiwurrung language, in information given to Howitt by the elder William Barak. He makes it clear that once counting has reached "the top of the head. From this place the count follows the equivalents on the other side."

Other languages[edit]

See also[edit]

• Wurundjeri
• Alfred Howitt

References[edit]

Bibliography[edit]

• Howitt, A.W. 1904. The native tribes of south-east Australia. London: McMillan and Co. Reprinted. 1996. Canberra: Aboriginal Studies Press. pp. 696–699 describe the system in Wotjobaluk, while p700-703 describe the Wurundjeri system.