Aborigines and the mining industry in the Alligator River region: divergent views of reality and their implications

Abstract

Over the past thirteen years, remote Aboriginal communities in the Alligator Rivers region of the Northern Territory have been brought into the front line of direct contact with the wider European society in general and the uranium mining industry in particular. This has been the result of the coincidence in time of the Corrrnonwealth Government's policy of Aboriginal self-management, the granting of Aboriginal Land Rights, and the discovery and mining of uranium on Aboriginal lands. In this context, Aborigines and mining corrpanies have been drawn into spheres of mutual interaction in which meaningful and effective cross-cultural communication is of the utmost importance. These spheres include, among others: a) the recording and protection of Aboriginal sacred sites; b) the conduct of consultations and negotiations over proposed mining agreerrents; and c) the question of potential Aboriginal employment in the uranium mining industry. Yet evidence points to the fact that Aborigines and mining companies remain largely unaware of the nature and significance of the divergent cultural assumptions, beliefs, values and priorities held by each other, and that this barrier of mutual incomprehension underlies many contemporary problems of pressing practical concern in the region. In this thesis, I examine in detail the above three spheres of cross cultural interaction from a composite theoretical perspective which draws upon cultural symbolic analysis, the sociology of knowledge, and acculturation theory. I show the extent to which European and Aboriginal views of reality diverge regarding specific matters; discuss the problem of 'transmitting' institutions interculturally; and suggest why processes of acculturation operative in Aboriginal society are unlikely to reduce the gap of mutual incomprehension in the short term. Finally, I describe the intermediary roles being played in the region by an emergent bi cultural 'Aboriginal'intelligentsia' who are mitigating cross-cultural incomprehension by acting as 'interpreters' and 'diplomats' between Aboriginal communities and the mining companies.