Summary

Boomerang made by the Arrernte artist Jim Kite Penangke, also known as Erlikilyika (Alyelkelhayeka). Among the many objects created by Kite is this carved boomerang, depicting the first meeting of Indigenous and non-Indigenous people in Central Australia. The carved scene shows two Aboriginal men hiding behind a tree watching horse-riding Europeans. When interviewed by a journalist in Adelaide in 1913 Kite explained that when Arrernte people first saw the explorer John McDouall Stuart's party dismount from their horses they thought that centaur-like beings had split in two. The arrival of Europeans was such a momentous event that Kite decided to commemorate it in the carving of this boomerang.

Local Name

Alye

Physical Description

Boomerang. Upper side decorated with images of two stockmen and their packhorses (on left) and Aboriginal men watching on (on right).

Significance

Not only is this object a rare record of first contact with Europeans from an Indigenous perspective, it was also made by one of the pionering Aboriginal artists of the nineteenth century. The Scottish explorer John McDouall Stuart was the first European to enter the centre of the Australian continent in 1860.

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