WEST KIMBERLEY PLACE REPORT - Department of Sustainability ...

The Broome community reflected the hierarchy of the pearling industry, which was
based on occupation and ethnicity: Europeans held positions of power as master
pearlers, businessmen and administrators. Asians and mixed-race people
(predominately Asian-Aboriginal people) were in the middle, and 'full blood'
Aboriginal people were at the bottom (Dalton 1964). These hierarchies were reflected
for many years in the different locations occupied by various groups in and around
Broome (Akerman et. al May 2010). Class distinctions also existed within ethnic
groups, usually based on occupational status. Among the Asian population for
instance, the Japanese divers and Asian business owners had higher status, while the
Timorese were at the bottom (Sickert 2003). For Aboriginal people, social position
was largely determined by their ability to adapt to the dominant European way of life
and by the nationality of an Aboriginal person's marriage partner (Dalton 1964;
Sickert 2003).
Charles Flinders, who visited Broome in the 1890s and 1900s, described what he saw:
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'Broome is one of the most cosmopolitan towns in the whole of Australia. There one
can see coloured people from all parts of the globe, their colour ranging from olive
skinned South Sea Islanders to the jet black Australian Aborigines' (Flinders 1933
quoted in Akerman et al. 2010).
* * * *
Racial segregation was a part of everyday life in Broome. Many places within
Broome were segregated until well into the 1970s, including residential areas and
streets, the cinema, hotels and sporting clubs. The Sun Picture Theatre, for example,
had designated areas for Europeans where no Asian or Aboriginal person was
allowed, an area for 'coloureds' including Asians and mixedrace people, and a
designated area for Aboriginal people that was separated from the others by a wire or
fence (Dalton 1964). Within these areas there was further segregation according to
economic status (Sickert 2003). A 'colour line' also existed which did not permit
interaction between Europeans and others. Anyone who breached this would find
themselves ostracised (Sickert 2003).
Despite the legislative prohibitions, there were many long term relationships between
Asians and Aboriginal people, and in Broome in particular, there are many prominent
Asian-Aboriginal families today. Some families can trace their heritage through up to
four or five different nationalities; people shared common experiences and accepted
Asian divers into their families and community (Hamaguchi 2006). It is a testament to
the resilience of the Broome community that the unique fusion of families and
cultures had not only survived, but thrived, making Broome a dynamic and
exceptional society (Akerman et al. 2010).
Pearling in the twentieth century
Until the 1950s, the Kimberley pearling industry was based on the collection of
mother-of-pearl shells for export to Europe, mainly for button manufacture, although
the harvesting of valuable natural pearls was also significant. From 1900 to 1914,
Australia supplied between half and three quarters of the international market, and the
Western Australian pearl fields dominated Australian production. Broome produced
80 per cent of the world's mother-of-pearl shell (Bach 1955). Pearling was the fifth
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