Item TB460
This Item was Sold on 25 September
2020 for $45
Similar artifacts for sale are often found on the Aboriginal
Boomerangs web page.
Historical Pricing information for this item and similar artifacts
can be found at: Historical Artifact
Prices.
This traditional art boomerang was made out of plywood
and painted with Aboriginal art in ochre colors in the late
1950s or early 1960s. This boomerang is stapled to a
cardboard instruction sheet. There will be two staple marks
on the underside if removed for throwing. This boomerang was
originally purchased by Marjorie Gerrish in the 1960s. I
acquired this boomerang from Marjorie in 1988. A significant
number of Bill Onus boomerangs were damaged by people who
threw them on rough ground and/or stored them in poor
environmental conditions. Not this one. It is in new
condition and it is still attached to the instruction sheet.
The instruction sheet is in very good condition, however,
there is a small tear in the cardboard at the bottom and
corner bumps as expected. I have kept it in an
environmentally controlled container since acquiring it.
This is a great collectible boomerang made by a very famous
Aboriginal craftsman. Please view the photos at the bottom
of this web page.
Bill Onus was born in Cummeragunja in 1906 . His father
was a drover and young Bill left home at the age of 16. His
earliest political activity in 1929 can be traced to Salt
Pan Creek, an Aboriginal squatters camp southwest of Sydney
containing refugee families of the dispossessed and people
seeking to escape the harsh and brutal policies of the
Aborigines Protection Board becomes a focal point of
intensifying Aboriginal resistance in NSW. Significant alliances, strategies and future leaders were
developed in this camp. People such as Jack Campbell, George
and Jack Patten, Pearl Gibbs all spend time in the camp.
This led to Onus becoming involved on the fringes of the
Aborigines Progressive Association (APA) during the late
1930s. In 1940, after Jack Patten had joined the army, Bill
Onus became the secretary of the APA. During the second
world war Onus was active in the ALP and trade union
circles, at the same time as organizing fundraising concerts
in the Redfern Aboriginal community. In 1945 he was a
cofounder of the Redfern All-Blacks rugby team. In 1946 he returned to Melbourne where he became
President of the Australian Aborigines League (AAL) and
through his involvement with that organization organized
support for campaigns such as the 1945 Pilbara strike in WA
and opposition to the Woomera Rocket testing range in
SA. In the early 1950s developed and staged a concert called
'An Aboriginal Moomba out of the dark". He was asked by
Melbourne's city fathers to provide a name for their new
annual civic celebration and he suggested the name "Moomba".
There has been considerable controversy of the years since
as to whether Onus had fooled the festival organizers as
many Aboriginal people have pointed out that "Moom" is a
local indigenous word for 'bum'. In 1952 Onus received an invitation from Walt Disney to
visit the USA but was refused a visa by US authorities on
the grounds of his alleged Communist associations. This
incident is believed to have severely distressed Onus and he
overtly changed his emphasis from political to cultural. Not
long after being refused entry to the US he established
"Aboriginal Enterprises" and opens a boomerang factory and
shop in Belgrave on the edge of Melbourne. He developed an interest in 8 mm film making and among
the few surviving snippets of footage he filmed are shots of
American film star Harry Belafonte being taught how to throw
a boomerang in front of the Onus Belgrave shop in 1958. In his later years Onus played a crucial mentoring role
for his nephew Bruce McGuinness, who would later become one
of Australia's most significant Aboriginal leaders in the
1970s and 80s. Onus continued to be politically influential
both locally and nationally through his involvement with the
Aborigines Advancement League in the 1967 referendum
campaign. Bill Onus died in December 1968. His son Lin Onus would
become one of Australia's foremost contemporary artists
before his untimely death in 1996.
Australian Aborigines are well known for making boomerangs.
The majority of Aborigines had the technology to make
throwsticks, or non-returning hunting boomerangs. Only a
small percentage of the tribal groups knew how to make true
returners and most of these came from the eastern coastal
regions of Queensland, New South Wales and Victoria. During
the past century, the majority of the Aborigines left the
nomadic life style and were assimilated into the European
culture. Many Aborigines began making returning style
boomerangs to sell to tourists. The earliest ones were well
made out of natural timber and with the grain following the
curvature of the boomerang. Today, most hardwood boomerangs
are cut out of a large board with the grain running straight
between the tips of the blades. Boomerangs that are made
with the grain following the contour of the blades are much
stronger and more valuable. In addition, some boomerangs
have good airfoiling. The majority do not. Most "tourist
boomerangs" have painted upper surfaces that display
Australian animals and decorative lines and/or geometric
patterns. Most pre-contact returners have no artwork or the
artwork is simple and etched into the surface. It is easy to
tell the tourist boomerang from the valuable ethnographic
artifact. However, tourist boomerangs that are made properly
with the grain running along the contour and with good
airfoiling and artwork do have good collectable value,
especially if they are made by famous Aboriginal artists
like Bill Onus, Lin Onus or Joe Timbery.