Boomerangs - Aboriginal Traditional Hunting Weapon Handicraft
Boomerang a bent or curved piece of hard wood - usually mulga wood, used as a missile by the native Australians, the aboriginals. They were very profuse in the use of the boomerang, depending on this for capturing wild animals for food.
One form of the boomerang can be thrown to return to the thrower.
Hunting boomerangs, much larger in size, were crafted out of one original root or branch and were specifically used for hunting for food. Traditional Boomerangs for ritual use were usually much smaller in size and handsomely decorated.
Credited with inventing the boomerang, many Aboriginal groups used this tool mainly for hunting but also in religious ceremonies. The weapon can easily kill a small animal or knock down a larger one.
Hunters all over the world have used spears but the 'woomera', a type of spear thrower, is a unique Aboriginal invention.
A boomerang must be held vertically and thrown with spin. They can travel distances up to 200m. Boomerangs used for hunting are heavy sticks with a slight curve, which means they can be aimed and thrown in a straight line at high speed. These are termed non-returning boomerangs. The spinning motion of the boomerang gives it stability as it flies. The more familiar returning boomerang is light in weight and has a more curved shape, which causes it to fly back to the thrower.
The way that boomerangs work is very complex. Part of the explanation is that boomerangs are flatter on the lower side and more curved on top in a shape called an aerofoil. When a boomerang is in flight, the shape of the boomerang wing and its angle relative to the flightpath (angle of attack) deflects air downward and creates an upward force called lift.
Why do bent boomerangs come back? When a curved boomerang spins in flight, the two wings experience different amounts of lift. One wing always enters undisturbed air, while the other wing is faced with air that has been churned up by the first wing, causing less lift. Also, as the boomerang spins, one wing moves in the direction of the boomerang's flight and has more lift than the other wing which is spinning back. The boomerang tends to flip over but the spinning motion changes this flipping over action into the curved path of the returning boomerang.
