Drones v Boomerangs in First Weapons race
"It's not enough to be just a Black piece of content. It still needs to entertain," says ABC's Head of Indigenous, Kelrick Martin.
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ABC’s new factual series First Weapons may begin each episode with a cultural lesson but be prepared for a playful touch too.
Episode one of the series on Australia’s most iconic first weapons, showcases the origins of the boomerang -but it finishes with a spirited race between a boomerang and a drone.
“Maybe it’s a bit contrived. But I think it’s really important when you’re looking at Indigenous content,” ABC Head of Indigenous Kelrick Martin tells TV Tonight.
“It’s 2023 for god’s sake. We’ve got to present this stuff in a way that’s fun and engaging. It’s not enough to be just a Black piece of content. It still needs to entertain, it still needs to reach an audience.
“It’s not just about ‘Is the boomerang better than a drone?’ It’s just about having a bit of fun, really.”
Across six episodes host Phil Breslin sets out across Australia to meet weapon makers and scientific experts, lifting the lid on the genius and science of Australia’s oldest, most innovative, and deadliest weapons.
In the first episode he travels to Kaurna Country in South Australia to investigate the Returning Boomerang with weapon maker Moogy Sumner (pictured above)
“The format is very much, as with any TV show in this sort of vein, about highlighting a particular weapon, but also the country where that weapon originates from, the traditional custodians of that weapon and the people who hold the knowledge to make it and sustain it, and to keep it alive for future generations.”
Both Phil and Moogy go head-to-head with FAI Drone Racing World Champion Rudi Browning.
“You take it off the museum shelf and dust off and just have a bit of a play around and enjoy it for what it is.”
Further episodes will also showcase a Kodj, a traditional axe from Southwest WA, and the Amerr -the spear or Woomera as it is more commonly known. In Wadi Wadi Country in Victoria Phil meets weapon makers Brendan Kennedy and Trevor Kirby to learn more about hand combat weapons – the Leangle Club and Parrying Shield, while in Central Australia he learns about the Wartilykirri.
“The ‘Number 7’ boomerang or the non-returnable boomerang from the Katherine region, is a very formidable weapon, not just for throwing but for fighting with. So there’s all sorts, but each one has its own unique science, physical appearance, the properties it’s made of, how it works,” Martin explains.
“We put the spear throwing against guns that have come from the period of colonisation leading up to the early 20th century and how it performs in terms of rate of fire. It actually performs really well. If you were using an early 19th century musket versus someone with us with a handful of spears and an Amerr you would not be able to get off one shot by the time they already put three or four spears in you.”
The series is produced by Blackfella Films (Total Control, Redfern Now, DNA Nation, First Contact, Deep Water, Mabo, The Australian Wars) with host Phil Breslin having previously featured in ABC ME’s Built to Survive (2022), NITV’s The Lost Diamonds (2020) and National Geographic’s international series Wild Survivor (2015).
“Phil Breslin is an absolute star. He’s such a wonderful engaged character, with a genuine love for the work that he does. He’s a science teacher by trade and a very good looking bloke. Some of the earlier projects he used to work on, like NatGeo Discovery he’d go out and get his shirt off,” he recalls.
“It’s a very broad show. When I was looking at the rough cuts, my 10 year old was just hanging over my shoulder, loving all the science and all the weaponry.
“This show celebrates the origins of these things, and the ingenuity behind them, and just reassures the audience that yes, it might be First Nations heritage, but it is a part of our Australian story as well.
“I think it’s really important for us to all embrace that.”
First Weapons screens 7:30pm Fridays on ABC.
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11 Responses
First thing is that neither the drone or a returning boomerang are weapons. As they demonstrated the only person at risk from a returning boomerang is the thrower. They selected a circuit designed for the boomerangs’s flight path. But one turn the other way and the boomerang would score 0.
It was used as a decoy for birds of prey etc. As the story indicates the race is a bit of fun.
The “returning boomerang” I thought thats what they were meant to do, otherwise it would be called a stick. The interesting thing is ive just done a google search and many of the you tube videos are from overseas, claiming that they made “throwing sticks” (non returning boomerangs) to kill small animals.
There is a later episode for Australia’s most lethal boomerang, the Wartilykirri.
In 1820 if you are going into battle or hunting with a flintlock rifle you are carrying it half-cocked, loaded and primed and ready to fire. To fire it all you have to cock it, aim and pull the trigger and you can get your first round off in one second an it’s travelling at 500m/s. It took a trained British Infantryman 20 seconds to reload and be ready to fire again. They were trained to fire volleys at a sustained rate of 3 rounds per minute and could hit targets at up to 200m with 50% accuracy with a long barrelled weapon. Post-1850 you are talking about percussion cap, paper cartridge rifles with a sustained firing rate of 8-10 rounds per minute. If spears made from fire-hardened wood are so terrific, how come the British had conquered 25% of the planet by 1900?
The test must have been severely rigged. If you shot yourself in the foot with your first shot you would be in trouble.
At least Kelrick’s got it right.
These types of shows are good…as long as they don’t have an agenda that is political they want to push onto the viewer at least it gives you perspective of how other cultures live and have/do survive…I see these shows as ”Notitia De Cognitione”..From Information to Knowledge.
But you know there will be an agenda. Comparing a boomerang to a drone. It will only be done if the chosen metric for evaluation favours the boomerang. Otherwise, there’s no point.
It’s like comparing the gun to the spears. People invented guns and conquered people who used spears. We have the answer.
Not to say the show might not be entertaining. Weapon shows often are. Hopefully, they have ballistic dummies like on Forged in Fire. “it will kill.”
You may be surprised.
Alright, I’m curious. I’ll watch.
Just to clarify….I was not referencing warfare…it was a comment about culture and the scientific side of how these “instruments” are designed and used…as for politics I would not like it to be about the current climate of race, colour etc. hence the “agenda” comment because that gets covered on a daily basis lately on numerous other media. To me imparting knowledge is a wonderful opportunity because you can never stop learning no matter how young or old a person is.