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Edie's Aboriginal Woomera

Contributed by Notting Hill Preparatory School - London

Edie's Aboriginal Woomera

This woomera belongs to my family.

A woomera is an Australian multipurpose tool and a symbol of male power. The Indigenous Australians find the woomera very useful because it is light and easy to carry around - which is ideal for their hunter-gatherer lifestyle. The woomera can chop meat, kill animals, can be used as a spear thrower and can be used to chop wood to make shelters. This woomera was made recently but is very similar to the ones made thousands of years ago.

There are several types of woomeras because they are used by different clans and tribes. The coloured designs that are found on woomeras tell us which communities made them and the places from which they are from. My woomera was made in Arnhem Land by Timmy Djawa Burarrwanga who is the traditional owner of his part of Arnhem Land, called Bawaka.

The woomera and spear were the fastest weapons in the world before the self-loading rifle!

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Arnhem Land, N. Australia

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