boomerang, curved throwing stick used chiefly by the Aboriginals of Australia for hunting and warfare. Boomerangs are also works of art, and Aboriginals often paint or carve designs on them related to legends and traditions. In addition, boomerangs continue to be used in some religious ceremonies and are clapped together, or pounded on the ground, as accompaniment to songs and chants.
The Aboriginals used two kinds of boomerangs and many varieties of boomerang-shaped clubs. The returning boomerang (the name derives from the word used by the Turuwal tribe in New South Wales) is light, thin and well balanced, 12–30 inches (30–75 cm) in length, and up to 12 ounces (about 340 grams) in weight. It varies in shape from a deep, even curve to almost straight sides of an angle. The ends are twisted or skewed in opposite directions either as the boomerang is being made or after it has been heated in ashes.
The boomerang is thrown with a vigorous action in which the thrower may run a few steps to gain greater impetus. It is held at one end, above and behind the thrower’s shoulder, with the concave edge to the front, and swung forward rapidly with the flatter side underneath. Just before release, added impetus is given by a strong wrist movement; it is this spin, together with the skew of the edges, which determines its unique flight pattern. If thrown downward or parallel to the ground, it sweeps upward to a height of 50 feet (15 metres) or more. When thrown so that one end strikes the ground, it ricochets into the air at terrific speed, spinning endwise. It completes a circle or oval 50 yards (45 metres) or more wide and then several smaller ones as it drops to the ground near the thrower. A figure-eight course may also be followed.
Returning boomerangs were used only in eastern and western Australia as playthings, in tournament competition, and by hunters to imitate hawks for driving flocks of game birds into nets strung from trees. The returning boomerang is generally considered to have developed from the nonreturning types, which swerve in flight.
The nonreturning boomerang is longer, straighter, and heavier than the returning variety. With it animals were maimed and killed, while in warfare it caused serious injuries and death. One type has a picklike hook at one end. Boomerang-shaped, nonreturning weapons were used by the ancient Egyptians, by Native Americans of California and Arizona, and in southern India for killing birds, rabbits, and other animals.
Today boomerangs are often made of high-grade plywood and fibreglass. Boomerang competitions—measuring the speed and distance of thrown boomerangs as well as the accuracy and catching ability of the thrower—are held regularly throughout Europe, North America, Australia, and Japan.