‘PLENTY OF OPAL BACK THEN: OPAL PULKAH’: A HISTORY OF ABORIGINAL ENGAGEMENT IN THE NORTHERN SOUTH AUSTRALIAN OPAL INDUST

[SwordfishMining]

Here is a nice evenings read
I have not had a whole one yet.
https://digital.library.adelaide.edu.au ... 2whole.pdf

ABSTRACT
This thesis examines the role of Aboriginal people in the northern South Australian
opal industry, in particular the Andamooka and Coober Pedy fields, from 1940 to 1980,
and the distinctive nature of their participation. It explores an aspect of Aboriginal
engagement in the economy that has not been examined in a scholarly way, making
considerable use of oral testimony. This thesis also highlights the agency of Aboriginal
people, who participated in the industry while also maintaining cultural continuity in an
era when the official government policy of ‘assimilation’ was in full swing. The small-
scale and informal nature of the opal industry attracted Aboriginal people because of
the level of workplace autonomy it provided, and how it accommodated important
economic, social and cultural practices.
The opal industry shared a number of similarities with the northern pastoral industry, a
large employer of Aboriginal labour which also accommodated significant cultural
practices and so provides a useful comparative framework throughout the thesis. In
addition, there was considerable movement of Aboriginal people between both
industries. Using the ‘hybrid economy’ model, which demonstrates how Aboriginal
people in remote Australia participated in the market, public and traditional customary
economies, this thesis argues that Aboriginal people were able to participate actively in
the South Australian opal industry in a variety of meaningful and skilled occupations,
often in trying conditions that required patience and determination. At the same time
Aboriginal opal miners vigorously maintained important aspects of their traditional
economic, social and cultural lives, which the industry readily accommodated.
Recognising the significant engagement of Aboriginal people in the opal industry and
an emerging Aboriginal opal community, the state government intervened in several
ways to assist. These activities included assisting Aboriginal people attain fair prices
for their opal, and some basic accommodation and welfare services. The level of this
assistance varied considerably on both major opal fields, and this thesis examines the
extent of this and longer term implications. The opal industry provided many
Aboriginal people with a regular source of income for many years, but by the 1970s,
their engagement began to dwindle. A number of factors contributed to this, including
declining levels of opal production, new technology driven by increasing fuel prices
and the extension of unemployment benefits to Aboriginal people in remote areas.