Sounds similar to tugboat horns reverberated throughout the Union on Friday afternoon. But tugboats were not creating the noise — it was the didjeridoo.
The Union Program Council sponsored a didjeridoo and boomerang workshop taught by Australian storyteller Paul Taylor.
Taylor tours the country teaching students how to make and play didjeridoos, while showing the basics of throwing the boomerang. The didjeridoo is an aboriginal instrument used during ceremonies to provide rhythm for dancing.
Tammy Sam, UPC International chair, said bringing Taylor was big for the committee because it brought a new culture to students.
“We were very interested to bring Paul out here, and he offered to do workshops for the didjeridoo and the boomerang,” Sam said. “It was something that LSU has never done before.”
Taylor developed a 23-year relationship with aboriginal tribes in northern Australia and has their permission to travel throughout the United States to teach the lifestyle and culture of the aborigines. Aborigines are members of the earliest known population of a region, according to dictionary.com.
The day began on the Parade Ground with Taylor displaying the proper way to throw the aboriginal hunting device. Taylor spoke about the boomerangs’ mystery throughout the world of science.
“The boomerang is a sophisticated device that science has recognized as a mystery,” Taylor said. “They do not understand why the boomerang comes back.”
Naiman Khan, a biological sciences sophomore, said he was surprised about the technology of the boomerang.
“I think it’s pretty amazing when you think about how advanced they were about knowing the sciences of the air,” Khan said.
Jay Edwards, an anthropology professor, came to the workshop because he is traveling to Australia this summer and wanted to learn more about boomerangs.
“I’m learning stuff,” Edwards said. “I did not know enough about the physics of boomerangs, and so I figured it was a good time to learn about it.”
      Taylor noted the differences in several boomerangs and discussed the two types. Taylor said the curved boomerangs most students threw as adolescents is the returning boomerang, predominately used for recreational purposes.
The other type is the non-returning boomerang, which is used by aborigines for hunting purposes.
When the history lesson concluded, students got a chance to throw the boomerangs Taylor brought.
After several throws came close to hitting audience members, a run-away boomerang hit Edwards in the knee.
“It felt like getting hit in the knee with a baseball bat, but a little sharper,” Edwards said.
For the remainder of the workshop students said they were on pins and needles, hoping another boomerang would not come their way.
Once the boomerang workshop concluded, students headed for the Union, where Taylor taught the basics of the didjeridoo.
Taylor said the didjeridoo is used to play a rhythm for dancing that is sacred to aborigines and predominately is used in northern Australia.
Each student was given a plastic plumbing pipe that became their own didjeridoo. They played and painted the pipes during the two-hour workshop.
Erin Cohen, a nursing sophomore, said she came to the workshop not knowing what a didjeridoo was but walked away from the event with a new interest in the musical device.
“I probably will be playing it all the time now,” Cohen said.