Difference between revisions of "AY Honors/Aboriginal Lore/Answer Key"

Revision as of 15:08, 21 February 2006

Marn Grook is an Australian Aboriginal ball game, which had an important influence on the modern game of Australian Rules Football, most notably in the spectacular jumping and high marking (catching of the ball) exhibited by the players of both games.

Meaning "Game ball", Marn Grook was a traditional game played at gatherings and celebrations of up to 50 players by the Djabwurrung and Jardwadjali people of western Victoria.

In a 1878 book by Robert Brough-Smyth, The Aborigines of Victoria, Brough-Smyth refers to a man called Richard Thomas, (Aboriginal Protector) as saying in about 1841, that he had witnessed Aborigines playing the game:

The men and boys joyfully assemble when this game is to be played. One makes a ball of possum skin, somewhat elastic, but firm and strong. The players of this game do not throw the ball as a white man might do, but drop it and at the same time kicks it with his foot. The tallest men have the best chances in this game. Some of them will leap as high as five feet from the ground to catch the ball. The person who secures the ball kicks it. This continues for hours and the natives never seem to tire of the exercise.

Tom Wills, who invented Australian rules football, was raised in Victoria's western districts and regularly played with local Aboriginal children. He recalled watching a game in which they kicked a possum skin about the size of an orange stuffed with charcoal. The game was played between large groups on a totemic basis — the white cockatoos versus the black cockatoos, for example — with the greatest honour going to those who could leap or kick the highest.

In 2002, in a game at Stadium Australia, the Sydney Swans and Essendon Football Club began to compete for the Marn Grook Trophy, awarded after home-and-away matches each year between the two teams in the Australian Football League. However, the games are played under normal rules of the AFL, rather than anything approaching Marn Grook.

The Official AFL website has removed it's claim of "Marn Grook" being the origin of Australian Rules Football. The story was written by a young journalist who bent the real history which soon became fact. Can you imagine the regular games between Tiwi Islanders & Melbourne aboriginals in the early 1800's as was claimed at that game in Sydney in 2002. It would be a round trip of several thousand miles.

For the real story, refer to history books pre the internet.

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-A '''bullroarer''' or '''turndun''' is an ancient ritual musical instrument and means of communicating over extended distances. [[Image:Music_insts_bullroarers2.jpg|frame|none|Jazz musician Rich Halley plays a bullroarer at an outdoor concert.]]
+'''Marn Grook''' is an [[Australian Aborigine|Australian Aboriginal]] ball game, which had an important influence on the modern game of [[Australian Rules Football]], most notably in the spectacular jumping and ''high marking'' (catching of the ball) exhibited by the players of both games.
-It consists of a longish piece of [[string|cord]] fixed to an [[oval]] piece of wood or other suitable material which usually is thicker in the center, and sharpish at the edges.
+Meaning "Game ball", Marn Grook was a traditional game played at gatherings and celebrations of up to 50 players by the [[Djabwurrung]] and [[Jardwadjali]] people of western [[Victoria, Australia|Victoria]].
-The cord is given a slight initial twist, and the roarer is then waved in a large circle in a horizontal plane. The [[aerodynamics]] of the roarer will keep it spinning about its axis even after the initial twist has unwound. The cord winds fully first in one direction and then the other.
+In a [[1878]] book by [[Robert Brough-Smyth]], ''The Aborigines of Victoria'', Brough-Smyth refers to a man called Richard Thomas, (Aboriginal Protector) as saying in about [[1841]], that he had witnessed Aborigines playing the game:
+:''The men and boys joyfully assemble when this game is to be played. One makes a ball of possum skin, somewhat elastic, but firm and strong. The players of this game do not throw the ball as a white man might do, but drop it and at the same time kicks it with his foot. The tallest men have the best chances in this game. Some of them will leap as high as five feet from the ground to catch the ball. The person who secures the ball kicks it. This continues for hours and the natives never seem to tire of the exercise.''
-It makes a characteristic roaring [[vibrato]] [[sound]] with notable modification from both [[Doppler effect]] and the changing speed of the roarer at different parts of its circuit. [[Image:Music_insts_bullroarers1.jpg |frame|none|Two jazz musicians play flat white bullroarers with red spots held on thin rope lines about eight feet long by spinning them quickly in circles.]]
+[[Tom Wills]], who invented Australian rules football, was raised in Victoria's western districts and regularly played with local Aboriginal children. He recalled watching a game in which they kicked a possum skin about the size of an orange stuffed with charcoal. The game was played between large groups on a totemic basis &mdash; the white cockatoos versus the black cockatoos, for example &mdash; with the greatest honour going to those who could leap or kick the highest.
-By modifying the expansiveness of its circuit and the speed given it, the modulation of the sound can be controlled, making the coding of information possible. The low frequency component of the sound travels extremely long distances, especially on the wind.
+In [[2002]], in a game at [[Stadium Australia]], the [[Sydney Swans]] and [[Essendon Football Club]] began to compete for the '''''Marn Grook Trophy''''', awarded after home-and-away matches each year between the two teams in the [[Australian Football League]]. However, the games are played under normal rules of the AFL, rather than anything approaching Marn Grook.
-This instrument has been used by numerous early and traditional cultures in both the northern and southern [[hemisphere]]s but in the popular consciousness it is perhaps best known for its use by [[Australian Aborigine]]s (it is from one of their languages that the name ''turndun'' comes).
+The Official AFL website has removed it's claim of "Marn Grook"  being the origin of Australian Rules Football.
+The story was written by a young journalist who bent the real history which soon became fact.
+Can you imagine the regular games between Tiwi Islanders & Melbourne aboriginals in the early 1800's as was claimed at that game in Sydney in 2002.  It would be a round trip of several thousand miles.
-Bullroarers are still considered to be sacred/secret by some Aboriginal tribes and are not allowed to be shown to women, children or outsiders. They are used in men's initiation ceremonies and the sound they produced is considered to represent the sound of the [[rainbow serpent|Rainbow Serpent]].
+For the real story, refer to history books pre the internet.
-The bullroarer is sometimes used as a means of demonstrating the [[Doppler effect]], by using sound. As the instrument travels round, its sound goes up or down according to its speed, and distance from the hearer.
+[[Category:Australian rules football]]
+[[Category:Sport in Australia]]
+[[Category:Traditional football]]
+{{afl-stub}}
-[[Category:Whirling aerophones]]
-[[de:Schwirrholz]]