According to Fison and Howitt, Carl Lumholtz, Lucas, John Morgan, and Spencer and Gillen, the Aboriginal boomerang served primarily as a weapon for fighting. Its use, however, was not limited to warfare. Carl Lumholtz and William Kingston, for instance, document its role in hunting game. The boomerang also featured in systems of justice and punishment. Fison and Howitt, along with Gideon Lang, describe its use in elopement punishments, where the offending man “had to stand as a target for the spears, boomerangs, and kulluks of her near kinsmen.”
Beyond its practical applications, the boomerang held deep cultural and symbolic significance. Albert F. Calvert, as well as Spencer and Gillen, record that it was a symbol of manhood and a constant companion for hunters and warriors. Its role in marking the transition to adulthood was particularly important. Richard Sadleir and Spencer and Gillen note its presence as a key part of initiation rites, a point elaborated by Spencer and Gillen in The Native Tribes of Central Australia, where it is described as a key object in the rituals marking a boy’s transition to manhood.
Furthermore, the boomerang served a variety of other functions within Aboriginal society. Spencer and Gillen document its use as a musical instrument. They also explain that it functioned as a valuable item in social contracts, particularly in the context of marriage.