Australian Aborigine Staffs...What are they?

[Joezilla]

So we've all viewed pictures of Aborigine with these sticks walking around, it always seems like they have one. I originally thought they were spears, but now I have my doubts. Can someone educate us? Perhaps one of the posters from Oz or other bushmen can help out.

Is this just a movie thing?

What are they called?

What do they use them for?




(also asked in KF survival thread)

 

[jackknife]

Good question, I've wondered the same thing. It seems like most tibal people have a thing about a staff or stick. In Africa some tribes pride themselves on a mans abilities in a stick fight and have ritual combat with them.

In fact the saying that is credited to one of our best presidents came from a Masai proverb "Speak softly and carry a big stick, and you will go far."

A good hiking/walking stick is a very handy thing to have. With our "civilization" we tend to forget simple things.

 

[mewolf1]

http://users.orac.net.au/~mhumphry/aborigin.html

Spears were personal possessions of individual Aboriginal males.

Each tribe had their own particular style of spears. Basically, all spears were made from timber or from the stems of plants. They ranged in length from about 1.5 meters to 4 or 5 meters with various forms of points, tips or blades. Some spear tips were prongs which were used to catch fish; others were made from stone flakes while others were made from fish bones and shells. Spears were mainly used for hunting
http://www.crystalinks.com/aboriginals.html

 

[angelitobarcelon]

Has anybody here ever tried walking a muddy jungle floor without a staff. Having a staff in the tropical jungle is actually a necessity. the floor during the rainy season is wet your feet ussually sink up to half your heel and its very slippery espescialy on a slope. the stick allows one to walk the inclines safely and on level pathways it allows you to walk with much more ease. You can also tie a knife to the end of a staff if you have to spear for fish on shallow water. It also allows you to reach fruits without climbing. Essentialy a staff is as valuable in the jungle as your knife or bolo. In your country however conditions may differ which would explain why you dont regularly use it.

I hope this helps

 

[rayfloro]

Greetings All,

I think what you are refering to is an Aboriginal "digging stick".

It's about a 4 to 5 foot hardwood stick made from local hardwood.....the end of it has a carved "chisel" shape.

This is probably one of the most valuable "tool" that they possess,

With it they dig and forage for edible roots, dig out "game" like goannas, snake, witchety grubs, bandicoots etc.

They also use it to strip bark off trees for use as roofs on makeshift shelters, or bark canoes.....or for bark painting.

Recently though, you will probably see them walking around with a metal digging stick....resembling a long crowbar.

 

[BlueyM]

Without a picture or description, it's a bit hard to say just what you are referring to as a "staff"
Aboriginal men do not forage or dig roots etc, they are strictly hunters. The women are the gatherers in tribal culture, and will utilise any useful shape local wood, shell, etc to reach, scrape or dig. The women are incredibly good at adapting modern items for traditional uses, for example, a metal fence post can be heated and shaped into a crowbar to dig yams from far under the ground, and fence wire is often turned into various cooking utensils.
Hunters (men only) may carry boomerangs, spears and a "woomera", which is a short stick (2-3 feet)with a hook at the end which engages the blunt end of a spear, and is used to flick the spear at a greatly accelerated rate from an arm throw, giving the spear much longer range and power.

Most hunters stick with traditional methods of fashioning their weapons, and disdain using things like glue or wire that they do not procure from the bush.

Traditional Aboriginal culture and lifestyle is under threat from Western society and all its attractions, and there are not too many people living the ancient way permanently, but there are still a few tribal groups in the Outback who maintain their culture and traditional ways.

 

[deserthawk]

... also commonly known as Atlatl, a spear thrower. very effective with practice. found all over world. Australia, North Pole, Middle East, Most of North and South America, etc... Google it up and see what you find.

dhawk

 

[akabu]

Scroll down a whole section on Atlatl: http://www.primitiveways.com/index.html#anchor702979

 

[Ming65]

The Noongar boys I grew up with were lethal with spears. We used to play a game where one group would throw a spear at the other group, who would throw it back – like kick to kick with a lethal weapon instead of a footy. It looked pretty tame until you realized the closing speed of a spear meant you had to judge where it was going from a long way out. I can’t remember anyone getting hurt but looking back I’m amazed no-one did.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Noongar

I’ll swear they were able to impart some sort of flight characteristics onto a spear as they seemed to hold their level in flight for a ling time before dropping. The Noongar people called them a gidgie or perego. The gidgie was most commonly a fishing spear and the perego for hunting kangaroo and emu. The name gidgie has become a general aussie term for fishing spear, like a Hawaiian sling.

Because of the need to preserve flight characteristics they looked after the spears like golfer would look after his $1000 Big Bertha driver – the digging stick was most often used as a walking stick (as Rayfloro has mentioned).

I can’t remember the Noongar term for digging stick, but as Rayfloro has indicated – it was the aboriginal multi-tool as well as a walking stick. Anyone who has walked long distances over rocky ground will tell you how beneficial a 3rd (or 4th) leg is – something that trekkers have cottoned onto now with their lightweight ski poles.

Spears where made of hardwood, either a suitable branch or the stalk of a blackboy (grass) tree. They either had a carved, barbed head or a stone head attached with gut. The spears where hardened in hot sand or by holding over a fire.

Of course nowadays it’s rare for a spear to be used for hunting. It’s a rifle or chase the roos in a car and run them down – brutal but effective.

Spears are still used for ceremonial purposes – particularly in tribal justice.

http://emunews.murdoch.edu.au/crime25.htm

Something that is still allowed under Northern Territory Law. Although it’s been a long time since anyone has been speared to death – the authorities normally remove the offender before that happens.

As my Noongar mates would say – Deadly Unna?


I found a good link here that talks about the desert peoples tools, including spears, axes and digging sticks.

http://arts.anu.edu.au/aesatc/technology/pitjantjatjar.html