Australian Aboriginal artifacts consist the boomerangs, spears, dillybags and other things the semi-nomadic Aborigines had to carry around. Many artifacts were devised to challenge the harsh living conditions in the Australian environment.
The boomerangs could be used:
- as hunting or fighting weapons,
- for digging,
- as cutting knives,
- for making fire by friction and
- as percussion instruments - music sticks.
Sometimes the challenge overwhelmed both the people and their tools, so they needed an input from supernatural sources. Art was the mediator of these forces, not 'l'art pour l'art' but practical strengthening of one's faith into oneself and the tool. Aboriginal art saturated these artifacts with sorcery and magic.
Even today, Aboriginal art is mostly sold as decoration on Aboriginal artifacts such as boomerangs, pottery, dillybags; on Aboriginal musical instruments: didgeridoos, emu callers, bullroarers and clapsticks.
Famous quotes containing the words australian and/or aboriginal:
“Each Australian is a Ulysses.”
—Christina Stead (1902–1983)
“John Eliot came to preach to the Podunks in 1657, translated the Bible into their language, but made little progress in aboriginal soul-saving. The Indians answered his pleas with: ‘No, you have taken away our lands, and now you wish to make us a race of slaves.’”
—Administration for the State of Con, U.S. public relief program. Connecticut: A Guide to Its Roads, Lore, and People (The WPA Guide to Connecticut)