# Waddy

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{{Short description|Aboriginal Australian hardwood club}}
{{other uses}}
{{use Australian English|date=January 2020}}
{{use dmy dates|date=January 2020}}

[[File:Arrernte Keulen EthnM.jpg|thumb|Waddies made by the [Arrernte people](/source/Arrernte_people)]]
[[File:Aboriginal man with spear, woomera (spear-thrower) and waddy, South Australia. ca. 1876.jpg|thumb|Aboriginal man carrying waddy, woomera (spear-thrower) and spear, [South Australia](/source/South_Australia), c. 1876]]
A '''waddy''', '''nulla-nulla''', '''leangle''' or '''boondi''' is an [Aboriginal Australian](/source/Aboriginal_Australian) hardwood club or hunting stick for use as a weapon or as a throwing stick for hunting animals. ''Waddy'' comes from the [Darug people](/source/Darug_people) of [Port Jackson](/source/Port_Jackson), [Sydney](/source/Sydney).<ref name="Peters, Pam 1995">Peters, Pam, ''The Cambridge Australian English Style Guide'', [Cambridge University Press](/source/Cambridge_University_Press), 1995, {{ISBN|0-521-43401-7}}</ref> ''Boondi'' is the [Wiradjuri](/source/Wiradjuri) word for this implement.<ref>{{cite web |title=Land of the Wiradjuri: Traditional Wiradjuri Culture |url=https://visitlockhartshire.com.au/f.ashx/Traditional-Wiradjuri-Culture.pdf |website=Lockhart Shire Council |page=23 |author=Paul Greenwood |access-date=22 May 2021 |archive-date=1 April 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210401012729/https://visitlockhartshire.com.au/f.ashx/Traditional-Wiradjuri-Culture.pdf |url-status=dead }}</ref> Leangle is a [Djadjawurrung](/source/Djadjawurrung_language) word for a club with a hooked striking head.<ref>{{cite web |title=Club. Dja Dja Wurrung. Ben Nevis, Central, Victoria, Australia. pre 1860 |url=https://collections.museumsvictoria.com.au/items/205775 |website=Museums Victoria Collections}}</ref>

==Description and use==
A waddy is a heavy pointed [club](/source/club_(weapon)) constructed of carved hardwood [timber](/source/timber); it was a traditional weapon developed by Aboriginal people in Australia.<ref name="pardoe">{{cite book |last=Pardoe |first=Colin |title=Violence and Warfare Among Hunter Gathers, M.A. Allen & T.L Jones Ed. |date=2014 |publisher=Routledge |pages=117–118}}</ref>

Waddies were used in [hand-to-hand combat](/source/hand-to-hand_combat) and were capable of splitting a [shield](/source/shield). They could also kill or stun a prey. They could be used as projectiles or to make fire and make [ochre](/source/ochre). The waddies were sometimes used to punish those who broke [Aboriginal law](/source/Australian_Aboriginal_culture).

==Construction==
The waddy was made by both men and women and could be painted or left unpainted. Its construction varied from tribe to tribe, but it was generally about one metre in length and sometimes had a stone head attached with [spinifex resin](/source/spinifex_resin) and at least one string. It was made from where a branch met the tree or from a young tree that was pulled up with its roots from the ground.{{citation needed|date=January 2020}}

==Alternative spellings==
''Waddy'' has also been spelled as ''wadi'', ''wady'', and ''waddie''. The spelling stabilised around the mid-nineteenth century, partly to help distinguish it from the [Arabic - Lebanese](/source/Arabic) word ''{{lang|ar-Latn|[wadi](/source/wadi)}}'', a dry water course.<ref name="Peters, Pam 1995" /> ''Nulla-nulla'' has been recorded with the following variations: ''nullah-nullah'', ''nilla-nilla'' and ''nolla-nolla''.<ref>{{cite book |last=Ransome |first=W. S. |date=1988 |title=The Australian National Dictionary: A Dictionary of Australianisms on Historical Principles |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=0-19-554736-5 }}</ref>
==Gallery==
<gallery>
File:Waddy Oc1986,02.55.jpg
File:Leangle Oc1921,1014.71.jpg
File:Boondi Oc.7692.jpg
File:Aboriginal man carrying a shield and waddy, South Australia, ca. 1875.jpg|
File:Aboriginal man carrying a shield, waddy and boomerang, South Australia, ca. 1875.jpg|
File:Aboriginal couple wearing kangaroo cloaks. The man is posed with a shield and a spear, while the woman is holding a sword club (ca. 1880).jpg|
File:Aboriginal man carrying a spear and waddy, South Australia, ca. 1875.jpg|
File:Aboriginal man carrying shield, spear, woomera (spear-thrower) and waddy, South Australia, ca. 1890.jpg|

</gallery>

==References==
<references/>

==External links==
{{Wiktionary|waddy|nulla nulla}}
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20020306004636/http://www.nsw.nationaltrust.org.au/ida/link_d2_nullah.html Nullah nullah]
{{Indigenous Australians}}

Category:Australian Aboriginal bushcraft
Category:Australian Aboriginal words and phrases
Category:Australian inventions
Category:Clubs (weapon)
Category:Weapons of Australia

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Waddy](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Waddy) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Waddy?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.