From the 1860s to the 1970s, Australia’s northern coasts were an empire of pearl shell and pearls. Before colonization, Aborigines and Torres Strait Islanders used these for cultural and trading purposes. Later, pearls and shell were large global industries, to which Australia contributed significantly.
Ethnographer and performer, Karl Neuenfeldt has produced a cd of traditional and contemporary pearling songs, featuring Seaman Dan, the Pigram Brothers, Ted Egan, Fred and Richard Kiwat, Roger Knox and the Pine Valley Cosmonauts, Nikki Doll, Enda Kenny, Karl Erikson, Rubina Kimiia and Stephen ‘Baamba’ Albert.
As well as the music, there are some informative notes and some great historical photographs that convey the once large-scale pearling culture, as well as its continuing cultural influences.
Here’s an ABC interview with Karl and Baamba
CD available from Broome Museum