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• TLF-IDM006578

A duck ‘catching’ game was played by little boys and girls at Cape Bedford, Cooktown and the McIvor regions in north Queensland. This game was recorded by Walter Roth in the early 1900s. This is a role-play, running-and-chasing tag game suitable for younger children. The Yulunga: Traditional Indigenous Games resource was ...

• TLF-IDM006584

Bowling-ball or disc games were played by Aboriginal boys and men in all parts of Australia. A piece of rounded bark (disc) was rolled by one of the players for the other boys to use as a target for their short spears. A version of this activity is still played in the Kimberley area and Northern Territory (and perhaps elsewhere) ...

• TLF-IDM006590

The throwing of the play-stick, commonly called the weet weet (‘wit-wit’) was a popular activity among Aboriginal people in some parts of Australia, and various contests were held. The weet weet was often referred to as the ‘kangaroo rat’, because when thrown correctly its flight resembled the leaping action of this small ...

• TLF-IDM006596

Various types of toy boats and canoes are found in parts of Australia and the Torres Strait Islands. On Sunday Island in northern Australia, small models of the raft (kaloa) were made for children to play with. In other areas of Australia small replicas of dugout canoes were fashioned. In parts of the Torres Strait simple ...

• TLF-IDM006602

Yulunga means ‘playing’ in the language of the Kamilaroi (Gamori) people from the northwest of New South Wales. The following games and activities may be organised as part of a display of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander games. The Yulunga: Traditional Indigenous Games resource was developed to provide all Australians ...

• TLF-IDM006556

This ball-throwing and hitting game was played by the Diyari people from near Lake Eyre in South Australia. The balls were called koolchee. The balls used were as round as possible and were usually about 8–10 centimetres in diameter. Gypsum, sandstone, mud, or almost any material that was easy to work was used to make the ...

• TLF-IDM006565

A guessing game played by Aboriginal children in the areas around Newcastle in New South Wales was described. Using the kernel of a wild plum the children drew a picture of a fish or animal. This was concealed in a closed hand and the group sat around and attempted to guess what was represented on it. When the drawing was ...

• TLF-IDM006598

A spear game was recorded being played by the boys at Ulladulla in New South Wales. Small spears were thrown at pieces of wood, which were placed into running water. On Dunk Island in Queensland the boys used wood chips and pieces of bark floating on the water, or threw at small fish. This is a throwing-practice game played ...

• TLF-IDM006561

Finding-the-object games were played in many parts of Australia as well as the Torres Strait. The objects to be found were usually the eye lens of a fish or other animal. The hidden article would often be the lens, obtained after cooking, from the eye of a fish, possum, rat or wallaby. The usual method of hiding the lens ...

• TLF-IDM006573

Although not a universal activity, athletics-type events were common. On Tiwi (Bathurst) Island the children collected the seed heads of the ‘spring rolling grass’ (Spinifex hirsutis) that grew on the sand hills near the coast. These were taken to the beach and released. The children allowed these to be blown along by the ...