Broome history tour

Whilst we were in Broome we did a history walking tour with Salty Plum social

It was a great tour , I really love getting  into the history of places , and I really enjoyed this walking tour , this is going to be along post so get your cup of tea or coffee and settle in 

Rubibi (Broome) as it was known to the Yawuru people was always known for its mother of pearl. the Yawuru people collected the pearl shell (Pinctada maxima oyster), threw the pearls away and used the shell to trade, they also carved the shells , to create Riji  the shells were carved to create a tear drop shape and then carved with designs and these were worn ,covering the males genitals during ceremonies, and were often traded with other First Nations peoples.

Image above shows Riji’s not my photo, image found  here 

The above image shows a large midden (the place where the Yawaru left all their unused shells and their waste over the centuries) today this hill still does not grow plants due to the high amount of calcium and salt from all the broken down shells. 

Fast forward a few hundred years 

Above is Roebuck bay / mouth of Dampier creek. Now imagine all those mangrove trees are not there and there are 100’ s of pearl boats moored in your line of vision this was Broome in the early 1880s. 

during this time the pearl divers , were not interested in the actual pearls (however they would keep and sell them) but mainly they were interested in the mother of pearl, so the actual shell.

During this period a lot of the diving was done by certain ethnic groups, mainly Japanese and other Asian countries but also the First Nations people. Diving was an incredibly dangerous job , with an estimated 50% mortality rate. The above statue is a monument to those divers who lost their lives.

The street above is where historically all the warehouses for the pearl shells were located, it is now home to the pearl showrooms and the historic Roebuck hotel.

Interestingly at the height of Broome’s boom period, one tonne of mother of pearl shell would sell for the equivalent of $32 000 a tonne, making Broome a very wealthy town , a gold rush town as such, and people flocked here to make their fortune. 

The most common use of the mother of pearl was for buttons , Broome had a weekly service to Singapore at a time when it had no regular service to the remainder of Australia. The shells were sold to London, Paris, Milan and other major capital cities in the northern hemisphere.

Sadly due to the pearling industry being predominately supported by slavery and indentured labour , and more than half the population of Broome being, from other countries  it lead to many racially related conflicts with the most well known one occurring in 1920 between Japanese and Malay workers which resulted in 8 deaths.

Unfortunately the discover of plastic in the 1920’s, started the decline in the mother of pearl industry in Broome, however it was soon replaced by the cultured pearl industry, which is still at the heart of the town today.  

Above is a photo of the inside of the Sun Picture theatre located in Carnarvon st in Broome. Sun Pictures is the world’s oldest outdoor picture theatre, if you look at the photos you can seat the seats are actually in the style of the old canvas sun chairs. The Sun picture theatre building was constructed in 1903 by the Yamasaki family as an Asian emporium. The family’s love of theatre found them converting an area of their shop to a Japanese playhouse. In 1913 the building was purchased by a pearl master and it was converted to a theatre that could accommodate 500 people. Sun Pictures officially opened in 1916 with the silent movie “kissing cup”.  The theatre is perhaps one  of the  only theatres in the world where the patrons were required to lift their feet during a movie , due to the rising tides. Today the theatre is still fully operational,  and there is a  wonderful display of the. various projectors used throughout its history.

The above street art is a tribute to the history and cultures that created the city of Broom, the bottom section represents the pearl shape of the shape of the  Pearl Luggers( boats) hulls the top represents the Shou  character, that references the moon rising and the spectacular Broome tides, connecting the earth and sky.

Brooome is well known for its staircase to the moon display that occurs upon the full moon each month, the above artwork is strategically placed so the moon sits directly at the top of the Shou symbol in the month of August when the city has its Chinatown celebrations.

The above figure made me incredibly sad,  however i am extremely glad that it was created and is a tribute to the contribution of women to the pearling industry, but particularly to the  First Nations women and their unborn babies who lost their lives for the pearling industry. In the early days of the pearling  industry pregnant first nations women were coerced or kidnapped to work on the pearl luggers due to the belief that pregnant women could hold their breathes longer. This practice was known as “black birding”

The above image is town beach jetty, built in 2021, to replace the old jetty that was removed in 1969. The new jetty was built  to provide Broome locals and visitors  with the ability to enjoy the tranquil waters of Roebuck bay, to view marine life, view the staircase to the moon and for recreational  fishing. 

Broome was attacked four times during World War Two , by Japanese, the worst attack however occurred in Roebuck bay on the 3rd of March 1942 with 86 deaths. The above image is a tribute to those people and is called Nine zeros , nine stories. The story is that the Japanese had stripped down nine of their aeroplanes (called Zero’s) to enable them to carry enough fuel to fly the full distance to Broome and back  to Java. At the time of the attack, there were 15 flying boats located in Roebuck bay, These flying boats were in the process of evacuating people, mainly Dutch refugees from Java but also locals, to Perth when the attack occurred.  88 civilians and military personnel were killed during the attack, at very low tide the remains  of the flying boats are able to be seen in the bay.

The tour was really great , so informative , i was frantically taking notes on the phone as our wonderful guide shared his knowledge . 

After all this history we decided we needed to sit and just let it all soak in , there was so much more information than i have shared, for example the internment of over half of the Broome population , as they were either Japanese or of Japanese decent during World War Two.

We headed to the spinifex brewery and later to dinner at the wharf restaurant across the road.

Whilst enjoying our drinks, we were treated to a visit by some of the Broome locals, who stop by the pub on the way home, to be fed carrots by the children, young and old, after an afternoon of tours on cable beach.

Until the next blog 

Travel safe 

The Touring Knights