The Thin Black Line: Living Apartheid on Groote Eylandt

Abstract

The United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples charters and formalises international concern for the plight of Indigenous communities. It is well known that the majority of Aboriginal communities are socially disadvantaged in comparison with white Australians. A case study of the confined communities on Groote Eylandt demonstrates graphically the extent of social dislocation and disadvantage of Aboriginal people. An effective apartheid system has prevailed there since the arrival of white missionaries, who sought to isolate 'stolen' children from contaminating influences of white and black communities. Tensions have been exacerbated since the arrival of large-scale manganese mining and the spreading influence of the individualism of the capitalist system, with whites enjoying luxurious surroundings in isolation from dilapidated black communities badly affected by alcohol abuse. Despite generous royalty compensation for the disruptions caused by mining, mismanagement and traditional tribal rivalries have kept most Aborigines in dire poverty.