A waddy, nulla-nulla or boondi is an

Aboriginal Australian Aboriginal Australians are the various Indigenous peoples of the Australian mainland and many of its islands, such as Tasmania, Fraser Island, Hinchinbrook Island, the Tiwi Islands, and Groote Eylandt, but excluding the Torres Strait Islands ...

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 Port Jackson, consisting of the waters of Sydney Harbour, Middle Harbour, North Harbour and the Lane Cove and Parramatta Rivers, is the ria or natural harbour of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. The harbour is an inlet of the Tasman Sea (p ...

Sydney Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountain ...

.Peters, Pam, ''The Cambridge Australian English Style Guide'',

Cambridge University Press Cambridge University Press is the university press of the University of Cambridge. Granted letters patent by Henry VIII of England, King Henry VIII in 1534, it is the oldest university press A university press is an academic publishing hou ...

, 1995, ''Boondi'' is the Wiradjuri word for this implement.

Description and use

A waddy is a heavy pointed club constructed of carved hardwood

timber Lumber is wood that has been processed into dimensional lumber, including beams and planks or boards, a stage in the process of wood production. Lumber is mainly used for construction framing, as well as finishing (floors, wall panels, wi ...

. Waddies were used in

hand-to-hand combat Hand-to-hand combat (sometimes abbreviated as HTH or H2H) is a physical confrontation between two or more persons at short range (grappling distance or within the physical reach of a handheld weapon) that does not involve the use of weapons.Huns ...

and were capable of splitting a

shield A shield is a piece of personal armour held in the hand, which may or may not be strapped to the wrist or forearm. Shields are used to intercept specific attacks, whether from close-ranged weaponry or projectiles such as arrows, by means of a ...

and of killing or stunning prey. They could be employed also as projectiles or to make fire and make

ochre Ochre ( ; , ), or ocher in American English, is a natural clay earth pigment, a mixture of ferric oxide and varying amounts of clay and sand. It ranges in colour from yellow to deep orange or brown. It is also the name of the colours produced ...

. They found further use in punishing those who broke Aboriginal law.

Construction.

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

beeswax Beeswax (''cera alba'') is a natural wax produced by honey bees of the genus ''Apis''. The wax is formed into scales by eight wax-producing glands in the abdominal segments of worker bees, which discard it in or at the hive. The hive workers ...

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.

Alternative spellings

''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 ', a dry water course. ''Nulla-nulla'' has been recorded with the following variations: ''nullah-nullah'', ''nilla-nilla'' and ''nolla-nolla''.

References

External links

Nullah nullah
{{Indigenous Australians Australian Aboriginal bushcraft Australian Aboriginal words and phrases Australian inventions Clubs (weapon) Primitive weapons Weapons of Australia