The Bullroarer Atlas

DIXON2022-002 - lexical attestation

Waribarra Mamu / Dulgubarra Mamu / Gulŋay

Australia - Johnstone River - lower Tully-Murray rainforest - North Queensland - Oceania - Sahul

Sacred / spirit

Representative—not this record’s object: Gascoyne bullroarer, shown as a regional stand-in; no image of this record’s own object is available...
Representative—not this record’s object: Gascoyne bullroarer, shown as a regional stand-in; no image of this record’s own object is available yet. W. D. Hambly, Primitive Hunters of Australia (Field Museum of Natural History, 1936), plate I, fig. 10 Public domain Image source
Western Australia, Giglioli 1886. The entire historical page is shown; object 3 is handwritten Mooryumkarr, probably the Gascoyne-mouth...
Western Australia, Giglioli 1886. The entire historical page is shown; object 3 is handwritten Mooryumkarr, probably the Gascoyne-mouth spirit-chaser later described by Pettazzoni. Enrico H. Giglioli, Western Australian objects at the Colonial Exhibition, London (1886) Public domain Image source

wungumali English / Mamu term

Source term: bull-roarer

wungumali: Mamu and Gulngay name for the bullroarer and for a spirit who helped at initiation.

Mamu and Gulngay speakers called the bullroarer wungumali: a flat carved wooden blade with a string fixed at its sharpened end, swung through the air for a loud roar. Wungumali also named a spirit who helped at initiation, giving the word a second life in the unseen world.

the bull-roarer was swung around through the air, making a noise

Dixon 2022:160
Object
Flat carved wooden blade with one string attached at the sharp end, whirled through the air to produce a loud roaring noise.
Function
Sacred association: wungumali also names a Mamu spirit who helps at initiation; the instrument's precise ceremonial role is not recorded.
Map confidence
high - Midpoint of published Mamu and Gulngay group reference coordinates; regional linguistic anchor, not an object or performance site.
Source location
printed p. 160; entry Jo6

View source Open this point on the interactive map