Birdhawal Turndun initiation bullroarer

Turndun

Source term: bullroarer

Turndun: the Birdhawal name of the bullroarer heard humming at daybreak.

At daybreak in Birdhawal country, the hum of Turndun approached and every woman and child left for another camp. Later, painted men swung a larger and louder bullroarer before the novices. An elder rubbed it across each boy's chest and body as the instrument was revealed, while another man warned that betraying what he had learned meant death. Mathews distinguished three voices: the morning summoner, the larger instrument of revelation, and a much smaller roarer sounded with it at the gathering's close.

Soon after daylight next morning the humming sound of Turndun, the name of a bullroarer, was heard in the near distance.

Mathews 1908:212

Particulars

Object

Three sizes of bullroarer are distinguished: a morning summoner, a somewhat larger and louder instrument shown to novices, and a much smaller instrument sounded with the larger one at the close; material, dimensions, and cord construction are not recorded.

Function

Sounded to remove women and children from the initiation area; the larger instrument was swung before novices and rubbed across each boy's chest and body during its revelation.