Waddy

Aboriginal Australian hardwood club

For other uses, see Waddy (disambiguation).

Waddies made by the Arrernte people Aboriginal man carrying waddy, woomera (spear-thrower) and spear, South Australia, c. 1876

A waddy, nulla-nulla, leangle or boondi is an Aboriginal Australian hardwood club or hunting stick for use as a weapon or as a throwing stick for hunting animals. Waddy comes from the Darug people of Port Jackson, Sydney.[1] Boondi is the Wiradjuri word for this implement.[2] Leangle is a Djadjawurrung word for a club with a hooked striking head.[3]

## Description and use

[edit]

A waddy is a heavy pointed club constructed of carved hardwood timber; it was a traditional weapon developed by Aboriginal people in Australia.[4]

Waddies were used in hand-to-hand combat and were capable of splitting a shield. They could also kill or stun a prey. They could be used as projectiles or to make fire and make ochre. The waddies were sometimes used to punish those who broke Aboriginal law.

## Construction

[edit]

The waddy was made by both men and women and could be painted or left unpainted. Its construction varied from tribe to tribe, but it was generally about one metre in length and sometimes had a stone head attached with spinifex resin and at least one string. It was made from where a branch met the tree or from a young tree that was pulled up with its roots from the ground.[citation needed]

## Alternative spellings

[edit]

Waddy has also been spelled as wadi, wady, and waddie. The spelling stabilised around the mid-nineteenth century, partly to help distinguish it from the Arabic - Lebanese word wadi, a dry water course.[1] Nulla-nulla has been recorded with the following variations: nullah-nullah, nilla-nilla and nolla-nolla.[5]

## Gallery

[edit]

*   *   *   *   *

## References

[edit]

1. ^ a b Peters, Pam, The Cambridge Australian English Style Guide, Cambridge University Press, 1995, ISBN 0-521-43401-7
2. ^ Paul Greenwood. "Land of the Wiradjuri: Traditional Wiradjuri Culture" (PDF). Lockhart Shire Council. p. 23\. Archived from the original (PDF) on 1 April 2021. Retrieved 22 May 2021.
3. ^ "Club. Dja Dja Wurrung. Ben Nevis, Central, Victoria, Australia. pre 1860". Museums Victoria Collections.
4. ^ Pardoe, Colin (2014). Violence and Warfare Among Hunter Gathers, M.A. Allen & T.L Jones Ed. Routledge. pp. 117–118.
5. ^ Ransome, W. S. (1988). The Australian National Dictionary: A Dictionary of Australianisms on Historical Principles. Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-554736-5.

## External links

[edit]

Look up waddy or nulla nulla in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

* Nullah nullah

* v
* t
* e

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders

Peoples|

* Aboriginal Australians
* Communities
* Aboriginal groups
* Tasmanians
* Torres Strait Islanders
* Victorians
* Western Australians

Individuals|

* Activists
* Musicians
* People from politics and public service
* Performing artists
* Sportspeople
* Visual artists
* Writers

Culture|

* Astronomy
* Bora
* Corroboree
* Country
* Deadly Awards
* Deities
* The Dreaming
* Enumeration
* Elders
* Flags
* Aboriginal
* Torres Strait Islander
* Kinship
* Kurdaitcha
* Literature of Indigenous Australians
* Marn Grook
* Message stick
* NAIDOC Week
* National Indigenous Human Rights Awards
* Outstation movement
* Religion and mythology
* Riji
* Seasons
* Sacred sites
* Smoking ceremony
* Songlines
* Traditional custodianship
* Tjurunga
* Torres Strait Islands

Language(s)|

* Avoidance speech
* Australian Aboriginal English
* Macro-Gunwinyguan languages
* Australian Creole
* Language groups
* Loanwords into English
* Palawa
* Pama–Nyungan languages
* Placenames
* Sign languages
* Taboo on the dead
* Torres Strait English
* Torres Strait Island languages

Organisations|

* ATSIC
* Aboriginal Medical Service
* Aborigines Advancement League
* Aborigines Progressive Association
* AIATSIS
* Australian Aboriginal Progressive Association
* Australian Aborigines' League
* Mass media
* National Congress of Australia's First Peoples
* National Indigenous Council
* Office of the Registrar of Indigenous Corporations
* Politics
* Registered Aboriginal Party
* Reconciliation Australia
* National Reconciliation Week
* Sorry Day

* TSRA

| Land councils|

* Central Land Council
* Kimberley Land Council
* Maralinga Tjarutja
* Metropolitan Local Aboriginal Land Council
* NSW Aboriginal Land Council
* Northern Land Council
* South West Aboriginal Land and Sea Council
* Tiwi Land Council

|

Bushcraft|

* Boomerang
* Buka
* Bush bread
* Bush tucker
* Bush medicine
* Coolamon
* Dugout canoe
* Fibrecraft
* Fire-stick farming
* Food groups
* Humpy
* Possum-skin cloak
* Scarred tree
* Soaks
* Spinifex resin
* Sweets
* Waddy
* Woomera

Arts|

* Artefacts
* Bark painting
* Contemporary visual art
* Dance
* Didgeridoo
* Dreaming
* Music
* Music groups
* Rock
* NATSIA Award
* Papunya Tula
* Sandpainting
* Vibe
* Visual art
* Yininmadyemi

History|

* Aboriginal Land Rights Act 1976
* Australian Frontier Wars
* Bathurst War
* Hawkesbury and Nepean Wars
* Caledon Bay crisis
* Cummeragunja walk-off
* Day of Mourning
* Gurindji Strike
* Historical figures
* History
* Prehistory
* Australian history wars
* King plates
* Massacres
* Black War
* Missions
* Native police
* Native Title Act 1993
* Pilbara strike
* Pintupi Nine
* Stolen Generations
* Apology
* Tent embassy
* Western Australia

Issues|

* 1967 Referendum
* Constitutional recognition
* Crime
* Health
* Land rights
* Native title
* Protected Area
* Media portrayal
* Northern Territory National Emergency Response
* Self-determination
* Reconciliation
* Stolen Generations
* Half-Caste Act
* Uluru Statement from the Heart
* Treaty
* Truth
* Voice
* Voting rights

*[v]: View this template
*[t]: Discuss this template
*[e]: Edit this template