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 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. The systems below are those of the Wurundjeri (Howitt called them after their language, Woiwurung) and the Wotjoballuk. 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:
Contents |
| Aboriginal name | literal translation | translation | number |
|---|---|---|---|
| Būbūpi-mŭringya | child of the hand | little finger | 1 |
| Būláto-rável | a little larger | the ring finger | 2 |
| Būláto | larger | the middle finger | 3 |
| Urnŭng-mélŭk | from Urnŭng = direction and Mélŭk = a grub found in the holes of some Eucalyptus |
index finger | 4 |
| Babŭngyi-mŭringya | mother of the hand | the thumb | 5 |
| Krauel | the wrist | 6 | |
| Ngŭrŭmbul | a fork | the divergence of radial tendons |
7 |
| Jerauabil | the swelling of the radial muscles |
8 | |
| Thánbŭr | a round place | the inside of the elbow joint | 9 |
| Berbert | the ringtail possum, also the name of the armlet made of the pelt of that animal, hence used to designate that part of the arm where the armlet is worn. |
biceps | 10 |
| Wūling | the shoulder joint | 11 | |
| Krakerap | the bag place, or the place whence the bag hangs by its band |
the collar bone | 12 |
| Gūrnbert | reed necklace, or the place where the necklace made of pieces of reed is worn |
the neck | 13 |
| Kŭrnagor | the point or end of a hill, or of a spur or ridge | earlobe | 14 |
| Ngárabŭl | a range or the ridge of a hill | the side suture of the skull | 15 |
| Bŭndale | the cutting place, i.e., the place where a mourner cuts themselves with some sharp instrument, from bundaya=to cut |
top of the head | 16 |
Howitt writes "from this place the count follows down the equivalent places on the other side, thus giving a considerable scope for enumeration." and would therefore allow numbers up to 31.
| 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 oppossum 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. Howitt has perhaps misinterpreted the wrist in the translation of 6, since 7 is the forearm.