Where Are All the Boomerangs?

20/01/2016

Related:

Protecting Heritage Needs Education and Equity with Economics
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barrysays

I have just been ‘walkabout’ or should I call it ‘driveabout’ in Australia, my first trip to the country, traveling from Melbourne up through Sydney and ending in Brisbane. Before leaving we spent a lot of time reading stories about the country to our young daughters, filling their heads with iconic images of kangaroos, the opera house, boomerangs and didgeridoos. Not all of these were easy to find…  ​

Traditionally, most boomerangs used by aboriginal groups in Australia were 'non-returning'. These weapons, sometimes called "throwsticks" or "kylies", were used for hunting a variety of prey, from kangaroos to parrots. Image – Guillaume Blanchard

​Taken in by the imagery of the boomerang sailing through empty blue skies, my eldest daughter pleaded to have one as a memento of the trip. Meeting this promise started to prove increasingly problematic as the journey wore on.

My daughter finally gets her hands on a boomerang. Image -bwpi

​Expecting to find them in every tourist trap in every town, it was only in the second week that I began to realize I still had not seen even one single boomerang. Not in the local store, not at the mall and not even at the gift shop at the zoo. I frequently stopped at tourist information in the towns we passed though and there was some discussion…but no boomerang spun into view.

​Then our savior surely appeared. Amongst the buskers of Sydney’s Circular Quay a nearly naked man, painted white and with dark springy hair appeared into view with painted curved sticks spread out in vast array around him. Revealing to us that his name was Chong, he proved to be of mixed Indigenous and Chinese decent. We purchased his beautifully painted boomerangs, but none of them were able to fly and certainly not return. Was the iconic returning boomerang actually a myth?

Indigenous Australian “Chong” selling his art at Circular Quay, Sydney

​SEEKING CULTURAL HERITAGE ESSENTIAL IN A GLOBALISING WORLD
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After driving over 2500km’s our experience of most of Australia was of generic strip development with big box sales outlets, shopping malls and car parks. Multinationals abound. The feeling rarely dissipated that we could have been in Los Angeles, Johannesburg or Basingstoke. Where was the real Australia?

Generic global development across four continents:- Sydney; Los Angeles; London; Johannesburg. But which one is which? Image -bwpi

Finding the little gems of historic settler towns or rail outposts became increasingly important. Many of these off-the-beaten-track, charming towns and villages prominently protected, renovated and promoted their historic bridges, buildings and colonial heritage, much the same as those towns of California, South Africa or Hampshire. Tracing the traditional folklore and gaining a sense of the indigenous culture seemed impossible however. The boomerang had disappeared.

It’s been well documented all across the world how colonialism has destroyed indigenous cultures and Australia appears no different, however the new colonist today appears to be globalization. If we were to jump out of an aeroplane somewhere across the world in the middle of the night it is becoming increasingly unlikely that we would be able to accurately identify where we have arrived once the sun comes up. Countries like the USA and China have become so generic across their vast landscapes with utilitarian building forms, grid planning and standardized highway construction. Soulless, rootless internationalization is creeping to the most far-flung corners of the planet, fast eroding local cultural identity. But does this actually matter? 

Timber approaches of the heritage protected 1865 Prince Alfred Bridge spanning the Murrumbidgee River and its floodplain. Image -bwpi

Cultural heritage is made up of many things large and small. We can see it in the buildings, townscapes, and even in archaeological remains. Culture can be perceived through natural sources as well: the agriculture and landscapes associated with it. It is preserved through books, artifacts, objects, pictures, photographs, art, and oral tradition. Cultural heritage is in the food we eat, the clothes we wear, the religions we follow, and the skills we learn. Sometimes we can touch and see what makes up a culture; other times it is intangible.

Some may think traditions are archaic and no longer relevant, that they are unnecessary during these modern times. Perhaps for some, they aren’t; but for the majority, exploring cultural heritage and preserving traditions for the next generation offers a variety of benefits and provides an automatic sense of unity and belonging within a group, allowing us to better understand previous generations and the history of where we come from. More importantly it provides essential variety in an ever standardized world.                     

Bundanoon Station, Victoria. Off the main highway delightful colonial period towns can be discovered. Image-bwpi

As long ago as 1972, UNESCO adopted Protection of Cultural and Natural Heritage at National Level.[1] It noted that cultural and natural heritage was increasingly threatened with destruction not only by the traditional causes of decay, but also by changing social and economic conditions which aggravate the situation with even more formidable phenomena of damage or destruction. Today there are 1031 World Heritage Sites 802 cultural, 197 natural and 32 mixed properties, in 163 countries.[2] Each of these sites is considered important to the international community. However these specific sites do not protect the overall character, traditions or identity of a region. The pace of change of those conditions identified in 1972 is now lightning fast, since the advent of the internet era. It is essential that development approaches for the planet focus on diversity rather than homogeny and differentiation above standardisation.

Stone fish traps in Manu Manu Creek, Piastre Station Queensland. Photograph Neroli Roocke

Last Year UNESCO introduced seminal new Sustainable Development Goals. These represent a universal, ambitious, sustainable development agenda for the planet.[3] The goals place culture at the heart of development policies as a pre-condition to successful globalization processes that take into account the principle of cultural diversity.

​Despite widespread assumptions to the contrary, there is no prescribed pathway for the development of a society, no single model on which development strategies should be based. The Western model of development, conceived as a linear process involving largely economic factors, is often incompatible with the complex social, cultural and political dimensions of societies pursuing different goals, reflecting their own values. [4]

"Yumari" by Uta-Uta-Tjangal Image - National Museum of Australia

​The important role of culture in development is today becoming increasingly acknowledged by the development community. It is to be hoped that the focus being placed on diversified cultural development by the UN will reinforce this promising environment, however the difficulties encountered to date in quantifying the contribution of culture have contributed to its marginalization in national and international development strategies.

​Interestingly, in response to this challenge UNESCO developed Culture for Development Indicators (CDIS) as an advocacy and policy tool that assesses the multidimensional role of culture in development processes through facts and figures.

Covering 7 key policy dimensions, the 22 CDIS indicators:  

• Demonstrate with data how culture and development interact and enrich one another;
• Assess the environment in place for sustaining and enhancing cultural assets and processes for development; and
• Offer a global overview of national challenges and opportunities, informing cultural policies and development strategies to fully profit from culture’s potential.​

Window of “The Australian Hotel” - The Rocks, Sydney. Image - bwpi

​The CDIS has been conceived as a pragmatic and effective tool that guides the construction and analysis of indicators for policy purposes in low and middle-income countries. It offers an opportunity to strengthen the case for culture’s inclusion in development strategies and agendas as it provides an empirical demonstration of culture’s contribution to sustainable development, economic growth and social progress. Hopefully it will help to ensure that our road trips of the future will pass continually through diverse, characteristic and unique landscapes where history, heritage and tradition are manifest rather than fashionable consumables, generic development and globalised culture.

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​Back on the road, the genial owner of the surf shop in Grafton NSW, suggested that only the local indigenous Australians would have boomerangs, probably at a traditional arts and crafts outlet if I could find one. I tried. Tourist information in charming Kyogle provided me with telephone numbers of the local rangers who might be able to put me in touch with some local tribes. They didn’t answer.

Returning boomerang finally comes home! / Image - bwpi

But all ended well. Back in the faceless box of Melbourne Airport and its duty free shops mass produced, export quality boomerangs abound, proving their lingering importance at the forefront of marketing the national identity, even if existing as a myth in reality. My daughter was even able to choose one that could fly home.

Barry Wilson is a Landscape Architect, urbanist and university lecturer. His practice, Barry Wilson Project Initiatives, has been tackling urbanisation issues in Hong Kong and China for over 20 years. (www.initiatives.com.hk). ​

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WHAT IS A BOOMERANG?

A boomerang is a thrown tool, typically constructed as a flat airfoil that is designed to spin about an axis perpendicular to the direction of its flight. Boomerangs have been historically used for hunting as well as a sport, ritual and entertainment. They are commonly thought of as an Australian  icon.[5]

A returning boomerang is designed to return to the thrower but was unknown to Aboriginal peoples in most of the Northern Territory, all of Tasmania, half of South Australia and the northern parts of Queensland and Western Australia.[6] Aboriginal peoples had no writing so could not record their words before the arrival of Europeans, who soon discovered that the returning boomerang was called a ‘birgan’ by Aborigines around Moreton Bay, and a ‘barragadan’ by those in north-western New South Wales.

Traditional boomerang distribution in Australia. Much of the centre and north of the continent never witnessed returning boomerangs. Image - Martyman Maps

WALKABOUT 

Walkabout historically refers to a rite of passage during which Indigenous male Australians would undergo a journey during adolescence, typically ages 10 to 16,[7] and live in the wilderness for a period as long as six months to make the spiritual and traditional transition into manhood.[8]

Walkabout has come to be referred to as "temporal mobility" because its original name has been used as a derogatory term in Australian culture, demeaning its spiritual significance.[9]

CULTURE FOR DEVELOPMENT INDICATORS (CDIS) OBJECTIVES 
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The CDIS establishes a common ground for culture and development actors to better integrate culture in development policies and strategies. CDIS methodology generates new data and builds capacities at the national level for:

· Strengthening 
national statistic and information systems on culture and development;

· Informing 
cultural policies for development;

· Positioning 
culture in national and international development strategies and agendas;

· Enriching 
the CDIS Global Database, the first international culture for development database.​

References:

​[1] Convention Concerning the Protection of the World Cultural and Natural Heritage. The General Conference of UNESCO adopted on 16 November 1972.

[2] whc.unesco.org/en/list/

[3] en.unesco.org/sdgs

[4] Investing in Cultural Diversity and Intercultural Dialogue, CH7 - Cultural diversity: A key dimension of sustainable development, 2009 by the United Nations Educational, Cultural and Scientific Organization

[5] Jones, Philip (1996). Boomerang: Behind an Australian Icon. Wakefield Press. ISBN 9781862543829.

[6] Tony Butz. An investigation of the word boomerang in Aboriginal and English languages. http://boomerang.org.au/wp/articles/what-is-a-boomerang/

[7] "initiation-ceremonies". indigenousaustralia.info. Retrieved2015-11-21.

[8] Jump up^ "Walkabout and other Rites of Passage by Fran Parker". My Passion Is Books Blog. Retrieved 2015-11-21.

[9] ^ Jump up to:a b c d Taylor, A. (2015). "Walkabout tourism: The Indigenous tourism market for Outback Australia" (PDF). Journal of Hospitality and Tourism Management. doi:10.1016/j.jhtm.2015.04.002. Retrieved 2015.