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• TLF-IDM006614

This was a ball game played by the Kabi Kabi people of south Queensland. The game was played with a ball made of kangaroo skin, which was called a buroinjin. The ball, which was smaller than a soccer ball, was sewn with tendons and stuffed with grass. Teams from different groups played against each other. The game was often ...

• TLF-IDM006618

In one area of Victoria the ball game of puldjungi was played. Two sides (nangkera) were chosen and a ball was kicked up between them by a non-player. When it was caught by a player of one side they attempted to throw it to one of their own team. The ball was thrown from the shoulder and caught with one hand — if both hands ...

• TLF-IDM006620

The boys of the Aranda and Luridja of central Australia played a hitting game. A small cylindrical stick, sharpened at each end, was laid on the ground. A longer stick was held in one hand. The player hit one end of the stick to make it bounce into the air and as it rose it was hit with considerable force. A hitting and ...

• TLF-IDM006623

This was a spear game observed being played by some Aboriginal groups on Cape York Peninsula in north Queensland. The men used a throwing stick (woomera) to project a big killing spear (kalq) towards the next player. The spear would travel around the circle of men, who were armed only with their woomera, which they then ...

• TLF-IDM006629

This hand-hitting or handball game was played with a zamia (Cycas media) seed by the people of Bathurst Island in northern Australia. In the Meda district of northwest Australia players hit flat pieces of wood. This is a ball-hitting game. The Yulunga: Traditional Indigenous Games resource was developed to provide all Australians ...

• TLF-IDM006631

This game comes from the Aurukun Aboriginal community in north Queensland, where it is known as ‘bat and ball’. It is a modern game that has links to traditional hitting games of Aboriginal people in the area. It is the most popular of all the games played at Aurukun and can usually be seen being played at lunch time in ...

• TLF-IDM006633

Turlurlu is the name of a traditional ball rolling and hitting game played by boys in the Great Sandy Desert of central Australia. A rough ball called a kamikami was cut from the thick root of the ngulyungu tree. Each player held a mukurru, or fighting stick, as a bat. The boys formed teams and each side took turns to bowl ...

• TLF-IDM006654

Throwing a ball or object high into the air and attempting to catch it was an activity observed in various parts of Australia. This proved to be a particularly popular activity at Barambah (now Cherbourg) after an Aboriginal settlement was established by the Queensland government on the lands of the Wakka Wakka people in ...

• TLF-IDM006662

A woomera or throwing stick was used by Aboriginal boys and men in all parts of Australia to propel spears with great force, often over considerable distances. On Dunk Island in Queensland a favourite target for spear-throwing contests was the white ant nests hanging from the gum trees. This is a throwing competition for ...

• TLF-IDM006666

Water games and contests were played in all areas of Australia. In some parts of central Australia a frequent expression of ‘opposition’ between the generation groupings in a camp takes the form of light-hearted abuse and spectacular waterthrowing battles. The aim of the activity was to saturate certain kin in the opposite ...