I have traveled to and spend two months in Australia with the hope of having a chance to learn about Aboriginal people and their culture, only to discover that it is not that accessible to an average tourist as I would have expected. It became immediately clear to me that in order to experience Aboriginal Australia to its full authenticity one needs to have connections with people who really have access to and sustain direct contact with or are members of Aboriginal communities. You cannot buy this kind of experience in any tourist agency or native art gallery. Just as my Australian journey was drawing to an end, when my Australian dream was just about to perish and it seemed as if I was born a bit too late to get a taste of real Aboriginal Australia, I have been lucky enough to meet an archaeologist who has been working with the Aboriginal communities for over 30 years now. If I have not met him, I would probably not be writing this text now. Loose yet fascinating talk we had these couple of evenings combined with a chance to see his collection of authentic boomerangs of different functions, ocher stone used to finish the tool, paintings made by Aborigines native to Central Australia, other examples of Aboriginal tools, and have insight into literature concerning the subject of Aboriginal history and culture were enough to stir back fire of hope in my heart that the end of this journey was not at all closing the chapter of my Australian adventure, but opening a chance for further exploration of the subject of Australian history, culture and people.
When I came to Australia I had no idea how a real boomerang looks like. Not to mention what is its function and meaning. Gradually it became clear to me that it does matter what wood it is made of and how it is shaped. Still I had a feeling that I am moving on the surface of the subject matter - talking rather about physical characteristics of the tool than its actual function and meaning. At some point I learned that there are different types of boomerangs which vary in shape and function. I could hardly imagine contemporary Aborigines using killer boomerangs, but I could imagine them hunting for with a returning one. Other functions I learned about later were totally beyond my imagination. Here you will be able to learn all that and even more.
THE ORIGINS
According to archeologists, the origins of a boomerang range back to the early stages of the great flood some 18,000 years ago. It was a time of great creativity. The representation of a boomerang can already be found in the Guyon and dynamic art of the time. The oldest wooden boomerang in the world is 9,000 years old and was found in Australia. You can see it in the South Australian Museum in Adelaide, Victoria, Australia.
RETURNING BOOMERANG AS A HUNTING TOOL
Hunting boomerangs have been found in other parts of the world, but the returning boomerang is a solely Australian invention. It is an extraordinary invention. Making of one required knowledge of quite complicated physics. Until today scientists are not sure how the people of the time came to make it. Supposedly by trail and error method. First, people must have discovered that flat shape on one side and convex on the other side might have aerodynamical properties. Then they must have discovered, what we know today as the precession of a gyroscope, that the boomerang can turn and come back. In good conditions one could launch a boomerang at a distance of 100, 200 or even 300 meters and it kept coming back to hand. If you threw and make the boomerang turn over a flock of birds, the birds perceived it as a predator and could get disoriented, consequently lowering their flight and down there were already hunters waiting for them with a net. It was an example of a very sophisticated way of hunting with the returning boomerang as a central player.
Source: First Footprints. Series 1, episode 3: The Great Flood: 18,000 to 5,000 Years Ago, 13:40-15:55.
THE MAKING OF A BOOMERANG TODAY
Let me introduce an interesting video about making of boomerangs by the representatives of the Mudburra-Jingili tribes from the 80s. The tradition of making of boomerangs is transferred from generation to generation. Young men learn how to make boomerangs by watching the elders working and by helping them. The choice of the tree and branches is not coincidental. Not every tree can be used for this purpose. Not every branch is good for a boomerang. Let me also attract your attention to the music and singing in the background performed with the use of boomerangs. I like it a lot. I wonder what are they singing about.
http://www.deepeninghistories.anu.edu.au/sites/pelican-dreaming/index.php?action=gallery&subject=Boomerang&gpslocs=
Pelican Dreaming is one of the projects developed within a larger linkage project Deepening Histories of Place: Exploring Indigenous Landscapes of National and International Significance. The latter was funded by the Australian Research Council, and backed by a consortium of Industry partner. It aims to render some of the deeper layers of Australia’s history more accessible to the public.
Source: http://www.deepeninghistories.anu.edu.au/
This article has a status of a "work in progress" project, which means that it is going to be constantly updated and complemented. For the time being it might seem chaotic and full of gaps, but I will try to do my best to gradually improve it so that you find the text both nice to read and acquire new information. So keep on coming back. I will signal every new theme with a note in red capitals at the top of the post.