The first white man to describe an Aboriginal boomerang was Sir Joseph Banks, the English naturalist who was a member of Captain cooks landing party in South East Australia on April 29, 1770. Among the reception party at Botany Bay were two natives who eyed the explorers with suspicion.
‘Each of these held in his hand a wooden weapon about 2.5 feet long, in shape much resembling on scymeter (scimitar),’ wrote Sir Joseph. ‘The blades of these looked… smeared over with the same white pigment with which they painted their bodies.’
The explorers regarding the weapons as no more than what Captain Cook called ‘wooden swords’. Then, in the early 1830s, another naval officer – Lieut WH Breton – became the first person to record an Aborigine throwing one of the banana shaped objects. It moved in ‘a very considerable curve,’ he stated, to ‘finally, fall at his feet.’
Boomerangs are made from hardwoods such as black wattle and sandalwood. They are sometimes coated in red ochre – and, for ritual use, are decorated with red, yellow and white.
As well as for killing game, Aborigines used them for cutting open the bellies of dead animals, for clearing fire sites, digging cooking pits, and unearthing honey ants. Sometimes they were used for lightning fires, by rubbing them against logs. And they were banged together to beat out the rhythm of a dance.
Picture Credit : Google