The bora refers to Aboriginal boys’ initiation ceremony in which they are transformed from boys to men of the tribe, with associated responsibilities and privileges. The bora typically takes place at the bora site, considered sacred and with restrictions on women, children and non-participant male adults to certain areas.

The bora’s process involves dancing, singing, storytelling and various learning sessions. Circumcision and the smoking ceremony also happen at the bora. After they become men, the boys are given real weapons to replace the practice ones they have at hand.

A vital part of the bora, the smoking ceremony involves piling up various plant matter and setting them on fire, so that the resultant smoke can cleanse the bodies and minds of the participants, enabling them to ward off the evil spirits. To this end, would-be participants of the bora such as Mirrabooka himself need to assist in the preparation, such as gathering the materials. One commonly used material is the leaves of the berrigan emu bush.

A totem is the physical embodiment of an Aboriginal person’s bond with the Country, from family to friends and tribe, and from animals to the environment. Each member of Mirrabooka’s tribe has 4 or 5 totems, and each totem can have multiple persons linked to it. 

The boomerang is made from a single piece of wood, which is heated to enable the user to bend it to the desired angle. It is used as a ranged weapon in hunting or combat, and both Mirrabooka and his brother Minjarra are proficient boomerang users. 

The message stick is a vessel of information made from a piece of wood. The intended information is carved into the wood’s sides in the form of images, and the completed message stick is then carried by a designated messenger to its recipient. Similar to other practices around the world, the messenger carrying the message stick is considered protected and shouldn’t be harmed under any circumstances.

Mirrabooka’s kin create feather headdresses to display their identity and affiliation. The feathers used are sourced from a variety of birds, including emus and raptors. Additional feather headdresses are used in the bora ceremony or warfare.

The Aboriginal body paint carries great cultural significance. Similar to the totem and feather headdress, the body paint can signify one person’s dedication to his family and tribe, but it can also display social status and ancestral links. As an uninitiated boy Mirrabooka doesn’t have any body paint, but the bora gives him the privilege to proudly wear it as a grown-up man. Later, when Mirrabooka joins the expedition to retrieve their abducted kin, Mirrabooka will wear the warrior’s body paint, a clear evidence of his participation in active warfare.

For Aboriginal people such as Mirrabooka and his tribe, there are several reasons to travel in the dark of the night: sometimes it’s cooler at night when the searing sun during the day prevents trips over long distances, or it’s stealthier to launch a military operation, or it can be the need to hunt nocturnal animals. Thus, night-time navigation is imperative to the travelers in the dark.

The stars littering the sky of the southern hemisphere provide the most visible guidance in this aspect. Certain stars can point directions in combination with landscape features, while others do that by themselves. Mirrabooka’s namesake, the constellation of Mirrabooka, a.k.a. the Southern Cross, is especially important in this regard and Mirrabooka will use it from time to time to navigate the game.