Kylie, aly iripakerte, alye, karli, barikan, mangaburunya eraka, gaigai, gurrubadu, ilye, kwangenry, kali, kayle, kurrpartu, rilewe, ulperrenye, waridila, wiriki, belo, iringili, kaile, kaili, munartajartu, pirrkala, wallanu, warlanu, warraka..., and so on and so forth..., are all just a small sampling of Aboriginal words from hundreds of Aboriginal dialects used to describe what most modern people just call "boomerang." But what are the origins of the word "boomerang" itself? What did it first describe and why so much confusion about its meaning now?

To study the etymology of a word it is imperative that one go to the earliest original sources. The fun and infamous legend of Captain Cook’s discussion with the Australian Aboriginals about the fascinating object known as the boomerang is unfortunately not backed by historians. While reports of “scymetar” (scimitar) or crescent shaped wooden sword/club weapons carried by the Aboriginals were reported by European explorers back to the time of Captain Cook’s first contact (in April of 1770), the Aboriginal word for these weapons was not given, nor a description as to whether they were flying missiles (of either the straight flying or returning design), or merely hand to hand combat styled clubs. It seems possible that these wooden swords were not designed to fly, since no description of that phenomenon is given at that time.​͏

The first known European report of flying sticks dates from 1802 from the explorer Barralier (1975:15) who witnessed them in the mountains west of Sydney:​͏ “the natives of this part of the country make use of a weapon which is not employed by, and is even unknown to, the natives of Sydney.”​͏

Then again they were witnessed by many in 1804, and yet these implements were not named at that time either, but only described to be like wooden Turkish Scimitars. See The Sydney Gazette, Sunday 23 of December, 1804, for this story.​͏

In 1813 and 1821 there are records of a flying stick called the “wamareen” or “wamering” which is clearly described as returning to the thrower. This is the first historical report of which I am aware, of a stick which returns to the thrower, and also the first report of one which is called by an Aboriginal word. ​͏

This returning phenomenon was no doubt a remarkable thing to European eyes which they could not fail to note down in their descriptions, wherever they saw it. I am only including this information in passing since wamereen is an entirely different word than “boomerang.”​͏

Regarding the word “boomerang,” it does not seem fully certain which Aboriginal dialect it initially came from. Neither does it seem fully certain that our spelling or pronunciation of this word is entirely correct to the way the Aboriginals spoke the term. As the Europeans adapted this word into their languages, there were several variants on spelling (and thus pronunciation) which occurred initially. That’s a possible sign that the sound of the word was perhaps difficult to capture for the Europeans. It is not a given that any English spelling could quite capture the proper sounds of this Aboriginal word from the dialect it originated from. Thankfully, the objects the term boomerang refers to seems far less doubtful.​͏

July of 1821 seems to be the earliest recorded reference to what appears to possibly be something like the word “boomerang” but this is still unclear given the much different spelling. It is also unclear what the object is. Whatever it is, it accompanies a deceased Aboriginal named George into his grave.​͏

“The corpse having been let down into the grave, they proceeded, as is their custom, to place his spears, waddie, booncooring, net, tin-pot, and, in short, all his worldly riches, by his side, the whole of which was then covered up with him” (The Australian Magazine 1.3(2 July 1821),91)​͏ It seems the definition of this unique word may remain with George in his grave. Thankfully we have further examples with much closer spelling to rely upon.​͏

The earliest reference to the term “boomering” appears two years later in 1823 “On the Aborigines of New Holland and Van Dieman’s Land”, page 187, published on September 1823 in the The London Medical and Physical Journal vol.50 no.295.​͏

“The men never carry any thing but their arms, consisting of their spears, the waddie or club, and the boomering, a sort of wooden sword, much curved, which they throw with great force and surprising precision.”​͏

Please note that the author had possible contact with Captain Phillip P. King, in London, and received this information directly from him, perhaps verbally. The spelling of the word here should be noted to be different from what King actually wrote himself. Perhaps Captain King pronounced the “a” in “boomerang” between an “a” and “ee” sound or passed over it rapidly in pronunciation? One can only speculate but this would make a lot of sense with the variant of spelling here and in other places as well.​͏

In The Sydney Gazette and New South Wales Advertiser vol.22 no. 1089 from 30 September 1824 there is an article on the natives north of Bathurst which gives some clue as to the flight and power of this implement.​͏

“the natives followed, shouting and throwing their spears and boomer-rings, when one of the latter struck Chamberlane’s horse, and cut a piece out on the ribs; he immediately turned the horse round, and shot the man dead.”​͏

This is a violent story. I dare say that if the native would have struck Chamberlane in the ribs instead of his horse, he may have escaped being shot by him altogether.​͏

The first use of the precise spelling of the word “boomerang” as we spell it today, seems to be by Phillip P. King (mentioned earlier). “Geographical Memoirs on New South Wales” Captain Phillip P. King, 1825, Pg. 292​͏

“Not thus dissimilar, however, are their weapons. The spear is universal, as is also the throwing-stick; the boomerang or woodah,--a short crescented weapon, which the natives of Port Jackson project with accurate aim into a rotary motion, which gives a precalculated bias to its forcible fall,--was also seen at Port Bowen on the east coast, and at Goulburn Island on the North.”​͏

King’s further discussion continues in other sources below. “Narrative of a Survey of the Intertropical and Western Coasts of Australia Performed between 1818 and 1822” vol.1 on page 355 and page 391 by Captain Phillip P. King. This book was announced for publication in 1824 and published on April 15, 1826.​͏

Pg. 355 “The boomerang is a very formidable weapon; it is a short, curved piece of heavy wood, and is propelled through the air by the hand in so skillful a manner, that the thrower alone knows where it will fall. It is generally thrown against the wind, and takes a rapid rotary motion. It is used by the native with success in killing the kangaroo, and is, I believe, more a hunting than a war like weapon. The size varies from eighteen to thirty inches in length, and from two to three inches broad. The shape is that of an obtuse angle rather than a crescent: one in my possession is twenty-six inches long, its greatest breadth two inches and a half, thickness half an inch, and the angle formed from the centre is 140 degrees. Boomerang is the Port Jackson term for this weapon, and may be retained for want of a more descriptive name. There is a drawing of it by M. Lesuer in Plate XXII. (Fig. 6) of Peron’s Atlas; it is there described by the name of sabre a ricochet. This plate may, by the way, be referred to for drawings of the greater number of weapons used by the Port Jackson natives, all of which, excepting the identical boomerang, are very well delineated. M. Lesuer has, however, failed in his sabre a ricochet.”​͏

Pg. 390-391 “...but this was carefully done before a boomerang whizzed past his head, and struck a tree close by with great force. Upon looking round towards the verge of the cliff, which was about twenty yards off, he saw several natives; who, upon finding they were discovered, set up a loud and savage yell, and threw another boomerang and several spears at him, all of which providentially missed…”​͏

Here appears to be the image of the plate in Peron’s Atlas which King (as well as the next reference below) refers to https://static.wixstatic.com/media/aeafc0_1402757a47784d38ac5ec8b0041a000d~mv2.jpg

Continuing to a French source we have “Voyage Autour De Monde” page 109, (published 1826 or 1828?) (Translated from French)

“They attack most often with a kind of curved saber, which Lesuer called ‘saber with ricochets’ (pl. 30, n 6, Atlas Of Peron), and which the natives of Sydney designate under the name of boumerang or tatanamang . This characteristic weapon is also widely used at Bowen Port and Goulburn Island: and the manner of using it is very remarkable; This is by giving it rotational movements in the air which they often strike at goal with pulses of forty steps.”

It seems clear from the above references that the word boomerang was taken into English in the mid 1820's and referred exclusively, at least at first, to weaponized, non returning sticks. It may or may not be a corruption of an Aboriginal word, sentence or grouping of words.

By the 1830's the term came in English to just generically refer to all flying sticks. It was around this time that in fact early toys were being sold in England with names like boomerang, and which were inspired by the Aboriginal returning sticks. Boomerang is perhaps more an English word than an Aboriginal one but its original meaning is pretty clear.

In the modern world the meaning of the term "boomerang" has become a controversial question, as straight flying sticks, once the most common type of boomerang became extremely rare, and the skill in making them was almost lost entirely. In their place the competitive modern sport of returning boomerang throwing became more popular in the USA and Europe than in Australia itself, where the suffering and loss of the Aboriginal cultures and lands depreciated everyone's interest in their weapons of war and hunting, except mainly for the tourist market. But times have changed and Throwsticks.com is re-popularizing these ancient implements. The time has come to understand their history better and that includes the etymology of the words used to describe them.

Boomerang is the most internationally recognized term for flying sticks, whether they return or not. It's also the word first used by English speakers to describe the non returning sticks they encountered among the Aboriginals of Australia, and which were representative of similar sticks used by indigenous peoples around the world. It is still used in Australia to describe all flying sticks.

In the interests of differentiating between returning and straight flying sticks, here at Throwsticks.com we use the terms "hunting boomerang," "throwstick" and "kylie" interchangeably. But truth be told, what we are making are just plain "boomerangs" as well. They don't return to the thrower, but then the originals didn't either. They are Aboriginal long range flght technology. Hunting sticks that fly.