Editing Boomerang (section)

==Traditional styles and uses==
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| image1            = Returning Boomerang Oc1839,0620.13.jpg
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| image2            = "Number 7" fighting boomerang.jpg
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| image3            = Wedge Boomerang Oc1894,-.308.jpg
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| footer            = Three types of Australian Aboriginal boomerangs at the [[British Museum]]: a returning variant, a hooked melee "Number 7" variant, also known as a "Kylie", and a wedge boomerang
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According to the Boomerang Throwing Association of New South Wales, only returning devices should be referred to as boomerangs, per the origins of the word.<ref name=butz2003/> However, the term "non-returning boomerang" is used in common parlance to refer to a range of devices that are thrown.

One of the traditional uses of a boomerang was for hunting birds (including [[emu]]s) [[kangaroo]]s, and smaller marsupials. This type of boomerang was either the same width from end to end, or had a broad middle and tapered at either end, with thin edges. They could travel very fast and so were effective and dangerous.  Expert hunters are said to be able to kill an animal {{cvt|160|m}} away. Another hunting technique involves hanging nets among a group of trees, and when a flock of birds flies above them, boomerangs would be thrown above the birds to resemble a bird of prey such as a hawk. The spooked flock would swoop down to escape the hawk, and fly into the nets. The classic returning boomerang was never used in warfare, owing to its wide arc.<ref name=yarn>{{cite web | title=The Origins of the Boomerang | website=Yarn Marketplace | date=20 August 2020 | url=https://www.yarn.com.au/blogs/yarn-in-the-community/the-origins-of-the-boomerang | access-date=16 May 2025}}</ref>

Medium-weight "non-returning boomerangs" were sometimes used for fights at close quarters, by throwing them at the enemy, and larger ones (up to {{cvt|2|m}} were used as fighting sticks.<ref name=yarn/> Heavier and wider hunting sticks sometimes called "non-returning boomerangs" were used to kill fish in trapped in rock pools at low tide, and could also be used as a [[digging stick]] to forage for [[root vegetable]]s and other uses.<ref name=yarn/>

Another use for boomerangs are in formal [[Aboriginal ceremony|dance ceremonies]], used both as [[percussion]] instruments (like [[clapsticks]]) and by dancers. Styles and decorations varied widely among clans and different Aboriginal groups across Australia, and were significant in the ceremonies.<ref name=yarn/>

Traditionally-made boomerangs take a long time to make. After obtaining a suitably-shaped piece of wood from a tree, it would be left to dry out for weeks, before the maker would sit scraping it back for days and days to achieve the required shape. Few are made by this method today, with some exceptions being in some remote areas of [[Western Australia]] and the [[Northern Territory]]. These are mostly non-returning boomerangs, used for hunting. In [[La Perouse, New South Wales|La Perouse]] in [[Sydney]], and on [[Palm Island, Queensland|Palm Island]], [[Queensland]], they are made for the tourist trade.<ref name=yarn/>