Muralug waness bullroarer

waness

waness - the word the old chief of Muralug (Prince of Wales Island) whispered to Haddon as the secret name of the whirled wooden bull-roarer shown to initiated men.

On Muralug, Prince of Wales Island, in the autumn of 1888, Alfred Haddon took the old chief and his son aside, made sure nobody was near, and in pidgin asked whether they had a thing for making boys into men. He whirled his arm and made a whirring noise; the chief's surprise that a white man knew of it was so plain that he admitted they had the implement, looked cautiously round, and whispered its name: waness. Next morning, in the bush and far from watchers, the chief produced a bull-roarer, showed him how to swing it, and gave it to him in strict confidence, exacting a promise never to show it to any woman. It was a long oval pointed at both ends, bevel-edged, with a short bar to keep the yard of cord from slipping, usually ornamented with a central white band edged above and below in red. A few weeks later, on Christianized Mer, Haddon was astonished to see small boys openly playing with similar bull-roarers.

Then in a secret and confidential manner he gave it to me, making me promise not to show it to any woman. I naturally took this to mean any native woman, and I did not.

Haddon 1898, The Study of Man, p. 308

Particulars

Object

British Museum Oc,89+.142, an oval wooden blade 17 × 4 × 0.6 cm, may be the waness Haddon obtained on Muralug in 1888.

Function

Secret bullroarer shown to Haddon in the bush; he was made to promise not to show it to women.