The Bullroarer: Sound, Spirit, and Ceremony in Victorian Aboriginal Culture
Among the most significant ceremonial instruments across Aboriginal Australia is the bullroarer — a carved wooden slat swung on a string to create a deep, resonant hum. In Victoria, groups including the Gunditjmara and Kulin nations used bullroarers not simply as instruments but as sacred devices. Their sound carried meaning in law, ceremony, and spirit, linking the physical world to ancestral presence.
Construction and Materials
Bullroarers were typically carved from eucalyptus hardwoods, shaped into elongated slats 20–40 cm long, and attached to a string made from fibre or sinew (McCarthy, 1967). Some were hardened with fire, and many were decorated with ochre or carvings, marking clan identity. The instrument’s apparent simplicity concealed its profound ceremonial and spiritual weight (Isaacs, 1987).
Sound and Function
When swung in wide arcs, the bullroarer produced a low, vibrating hum that carried for kilometres. This sound had multiple functions:
Ceremonial: In Victoria, bullroarers were most closely tied to men’s initiation ceremonies, where their sound signified the voices of ancestral spirits (Barwick, 2000).
Spiritual Communication: The whirring hum was believed to embody the voices of Ancestral Beings, making audible the unseen (Rose, 1992).
Practical: In some cases, bullroarers were used as long-distance signalling devices, calling people to gatherings or warning of danger (Ellis, 1985).
Because of its spiritual potency, the bullroarer’s use was restricted. Women and uninitiated people were often forbidden to see or handle it, a restriction documented across Victoria and other regions (Barwick, 2000).
Songlines and Spiritual Power
The bullroarer was not merely an instrument — it was part of Songlines, embodying the presence of law and ancestors. Its whirring sound accompanied dances, chants, and ceremonies, reinforcing the transmission of cultural law across generations. In Kulin traditions, the voice of the bullroarer echoed the presence of Bunjil (the wedge-tailed eagle, creator) or other ancestral figures, binding people to Country through sound (Rose, 1992; Barwick, 2000).
Colonisation and Suppression
Colonisation disrupted these traditions. Missions and colonial authorities discouraged or banned initiation ceremonies, which silenced the bullroarer across much of Victoria (AIATSIS, 2000). Many instruments were collected as curiosities and placed in museums, stripped of their ceremonial meaning. Like the church bell in Geelong, the bullroarer’s soundscape was entangled with colonial control — but while the bell imposed European order, the bullroarer was suppressed for embodying Aboriginal spiritual authority.
Revival and Continuity
Today, the bullroarer is experiencing a revival. Victorian Aboriginal artists and educators teach its construction and meaning, while still respecting traditional restrictions. In schools and cultural festivals, its history is used to reconnect children to ceremony, spirit, and Country. In some contexts, it has returned to ceremony, ensuring that the ancestral “voice” of the bullroarer continues to be heard.
Conclusion
The bullroarer represents one of the most enduring sound traditions of Aboriginal Victoria. Its hum is not just noise but the vibration of spirit, ceremony, and law. Colonisation disrupted its presence, but its revival demonstrates the resilience of cultural knowledge. Today, as Aboriginal people reclaim instruments, ceremonies, and voices silenced by colonial authority, the bullroarer once again hums across Country — a reminder that sound itself can carry sovereignty.
References
AIATSIS (2000) Settlement: A history of Australian Indigenous housing and culture. Canberra: AIATSIS.
Barwick, L. (2000) ‘Song, Chants and Aboriginal Musical Heritage in Victoria’, Aboriginal History, 24(1), pp. 173–194.
Ellis, C.J. (1985) Aboriginal Music: Education for Living. St. Lucia: University of Queensland Press.
Isaacs, J. (1987) Australian Dreaming: 40,000 Years of Aboriginal History. Sydney: Lansdowne Press.
McCarthy, F.D. (1967) Australian Aboriginal Material Culture. Sydney: Australian Museum.
Rose, D.B. (1992) Dingo Makes Us Human: Life and Land in an Aboriginal Australian Culture. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Written, Researched and Directed by James Vegter 16/09/2025
Magic Lands Alliance
Sharing the truth of Indigenous and colonial history through film, education, land and community.
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Magic Lands Alliance acknowledge the Traditional Owners, Custodians, and First Nations communities across Australia and internationally. We honour their enduring connection to the sky, land, waters, language, and culture. We pay our respects to Elders past, present, and emerging, and to all First Peoples communities and language groups. This article draws only on publicly available information; many cultural practices remain the intellectual property of communities.