Pre-colonial history region pre-colonisation Northern coastal dwelling
Aboriginal people are known to have collected and traded pearl shell with fisherman from
Sulawesi for at least 500 years. Pearl shells were also traded within Australia, with shell from the
Kimberley region being found over from their place of manufacture.
1862–1868: Beginnings of British pearling industry: wading for shell The explorer
Francis Thomas Gregory reported
Pinctada maxima on the north-west coast in his widely read journals. In 1862, in the wake of Gregory's account,
John Wesley Bateman sent the vessel,
Flying Foam, to harvest shells. The venture proved uneconomic and it was soon abandoned.
1868–1883: Naked diving In 1868, a transition from wading to diving took place, this was caused by the over-harvesting of the shallows. Pearlers adapted by having
dinghies carry up to eight divers out and, when the divers went overboard, the leader then drifted with the divers until they found pearl beds. The leader would try to hold the dinghy in position, against the tide, or would make repeated runs over the bed.
The Shark Bay pearling industry Francis Cadell, blackbirder and explorer, operated at
Wilyah Miah (Place of the Pearl) in
Shark Bay during this period. Broadhurst also operated in the area and there he had success with dredging for pearl. Broadhurst collected over in October 1873, worth more than £5,000 at the time. The publicity surrounding their successes resulted in a virtual gold rush and the beds were soon depleted. Concerns regarding
over-harvesting by the industry led to the voluntary
Northern Territory Pearling Ordinance in 1931. Pearlers such as
Jiro Muramats continued to operate out of Cossack. By 1939 only 73 luggers and 565 people were left in the industry and during the
World War II, pearling virtually stopped. Japanese divers discreetly went home or were interned and Broome was bombed, destroying many of the remaining luggers. After the war, as few as 15 boats employing around 200 people remained. -->
Post WW2: indentured labour After
World War II, workers were brought from
Malaya and
Indonesia on bonds to work in the pearl shelling industry and returned to their country of origin when no longer needed.
Sumatran-born Samsudin bin Katib was a pearl diver who was recruited and deployed in the
Z Special Unit Commandos in the Australian Army and worked behind enemy lines. Returning to work in Broome, Samsudin protested at a 10% cut in wages and poor conditions for the migrant labourers, organising a general strike. He also applied to be allowed permanent residence, but this was against the provisions of the White Australia policy. Despite the backing of some unions and individuals, he was deported in 1948.
Legacy of the 19th century In April 2019, the skeletons of 14
Yawuru and
Karajarri people which had been sold in 1894 by a wealthy Broome pastoralist and pearler to a museum in
Dresden, Germany, were brought home. The remains, which had been stored in the
Grassi Museum of Ethnology in
Leipzig, showed signs of head wounds and
malnutrition, a reflection of the poor conditions endured by Aboriginal people forced to work on the pearl luggers. ==Pearling luggers==