Aboriginal People
The Aboriginal population of the Pilbara considerably predates, by 30-40,000 years, the European colonisation of the region. The early history of the first peoples is held within an oral tradition, archeological evidence and petroglyphs. Near the town of Dampier, is a peninsula known as Murujuga, which contains a large collection of world heritage listed petroglyphs, dating back thousands of years.
In 2006, it was estimated that 15% of the population of the Pilbara was of Indigenous background, approximately 6,000 people.
Working conditions in the pearling and pastoral industries for Aboriginals in the Pilbara region around 1900 have been described as slavery with no wages paid, kidnapping as well as severe and cruel punishments for misbehaviour and absconding all common practices. The first strike by Indigenous people in Australia took place in 1946 in the Pilbara, when Aboriginal pastoral workers walked off the stations in protest at low pay and bad working conditions, a strike that lasted for over three years.
Family clans in the Pilbara who were supported by mining prospector, Don McLeod, developed skills for mining and the concentration of rare metals. For a short period money accumulated, which, according to Aboriginal law was to be used for traditional ways. Eventually the funds were used to establish an independent Aboriginal-controlled school. The concept has expanded into a movement with around twenty similar schools established in northern Western Australia by the mid 1990s.
Many Pilbara communities struggle with the basics of a healthy life, such as housing, health, education and the many complex effects of colonisation. A 1971 survey conducted by Pat McPherson found that most of 1,000 Aboriginals contacted has one or more serious diseases. At the McClelland Royal Commission into British nuclear testing, Aboriginals from the Pilbara provided evidence regarding the explosion on the Montebello Islands.
Aboriginal communities are sited over a number of different places. Many have poor infrastructure.
Relations between police and aboriginals are very often tense.
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Famous quotes containing the words aboriginal and/or people:
“John Eliot came to preach to the Podunks in 1657, translated the Bible into their language, but made little progress in aboriginal soul-saving. The Indians answered his pleas with: ‘No, you have taken away our lands, and now you wish to make us a race of slaves.’”
—Administration for the State of Con, U.S. public relief program. Connecticut: A Guide to Its Roads, Lore, and People (The WPA Guide to Connecticut)
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