message stick
noun
a stick bearing carved symbols, carried by a native Australian as identification
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Examples from the Web for message stick
Historical Examples of message stick
When a stranger carried a message-stick, it was safe for him to do his errand.
The Later Cave-MenKatharine Elizabeth Dopp
But when a stranger had no message-stick, his life was not safe in a strange land.
The Later Cave-MenKatharine Elizabeth Dopp
The message-stick went to Orkadal, and thence to Gaulardal, where the whole war-force was to assemble.
HeimskringlaSnorri Sturlason