Activism
In the 1920s the Queensland government pushed tribes out of their traditional areas and placed them onto mission stations and government reserves, ostensibly to protect them from whites but in reality to place them under the control of missionaries and government officials.
During the era of Labor rule in Queensland (1915-1957), no independent Aboriginal voices were ever officially allowed to make themselves heard. Not a single statement from an Aboriginal was ever reproduced in Parliament or in printed government reports or in the media. Not until the change of government in 1957 did the opportunity arise to form an organisation of Aboriginals and non-Aboriginals with the support of government. The One People of Australia League (OPAL), formed in 1961, was a response to changed political circumstances.
During the era of Labor rule in Queensland (1915-1957), no independent Aboriginal voices were ever officially allowed to make themselves heard. Not a single statement from an Aboriginal was ever reproduced in Parliament or in printed government reports or in the media. Not until the change of government in 1957 did the opportunity arise to form an organisation of Aboriginals and non-Aboriginals with the support of government. The One People of Australia League (OPAL), formed in 1961, was a response to changed political circumstances.
The Story of Muriel Langford
Rita in these years (1969s) was actively involved in the One People of Australia League (OPAL), a Queensland-based organisation begun in 1961 in Brisbane. Branches were set up all over Queensland. It was founded by Muriel Langford, an Englishwoman who had been a Christian missionary in India. She had read a magazine showing Aboriginal people living in great misery. When she questioned an Australian friend about the Aboriginal people she was told that we couldn't hold alcohol and anyone who supplied us with it was sent to gaol. In 1956 the Langfords migrated to Australia. They firstly went to Tasmania where Muriel was told there weren't any Aboriginals left. A year later the family moved to Brisbane where she was told that Aboriginal people live way up north and that she wouldn't meet any in the cities. The invisibility struck Muriel. She felt loathing of Aboriginal people by the whites that she never experienced anywhere else in the world. As a Christian she wanted to change the situation and make the world a better place, one in which Blacks and whites could co-exist in harmony and equality. Jackie Huggins, p.85
The birth of political organisations involving Aboriginal people
The first political organisation involving Aboriginal people was the Queensland Council for the Advancement of Aborigines and Torres Strait Islanders (QCAATSI), formed on 14 October 1960 as a state branch of the existing national body known as the Federal Council for the Advancement of Aboriginals and Torres Strait Islanders (FCAATSI). QCAATSI was comprised largely of political rather than welfare-oriented people. Members wanted reform in the programs and legislation affecting Aboriginals in Queensland. The legislation within Queensland had been predominantly paternalistic and, with the new interest in minorities, coming mainly from the American civil rights movement, the Queensland government found itself on the defensive because of the upsurge of interest in Aboriginal rights. QCAATSI became the chief agent for attacking the policies towards Aborigines of the Queensland government.
A possible reason for the evolution of OPAL was that the Country/Liberal Party Government found it useful to generate an organisation which could be used as a showcase of public support for government policies. Also, an atmosphere of zealous anti-Communism existed in Queensland in the early 1960s. QCAATSI was considered by the Queensland government and some of the media as an organisation with Communist membership, and thus tool of the Communist Party.
It is difficult to find objective support for the idea that QCAATSI was Communist-controlled, but many involved during the breakaway period insist that there were several Party members in the organisation. Certainly, when asked about one of the driving forces behind QCAATSI, Daisy Marchisotti, one of OPAL's founders replied, 'Oh you know she was a paid-up member of the Communist Party and we were all terrified of them at the time' (Muriel Langford 1989).
Here is what Rita has to say about OPAL:
One thing that helped me in those years at Inala was my work with OPAL. OPAL gave me the strength to survive my problems, and to help others who found themselves in the same boat -- my own people and poor whites....
OPAL was for people like me who no longer lived on the reserves and had to move into towns, and was a first step towards helping Aboriginal people. It gave white people another picture of us that they had never seen before. We had been out of sight and out of mind before that. We were decent people and this could be seen now. We were just as good as white people, but different to white people. It brought Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal people together for the first time... I began to feel like an equal. We became friends and socialised together.This was one of the most important parts of OPAL for me.
We had a happy working relationship with white people. I remember hours spent listening to them speaking. I was so impressed. They seemed to do it properly. I learnt a great from this. I have seen many changes in OPAL over the years and one change is in the relations between Aboriginals and whites in the organisation. In the early days, white people would do a lot of the public speaking on Aboriginal issues. Now Aboriginal people get up and do to the talking. Rita Huggins, p. 86.
Criticisms Towards OPAL
Because OPAL was founded by whites and had many prominent white members, it was often criticised, and still is, for being a conservative organisation. It didn't go along with the revolutionary approaches, since these didn't necessarily feel right for all Aboriginals, especially at that time. OPAL wanted to begin organising around important issues without attracting more hostility to Aboriginals. Many Aboriginals were still afraid of authority. Only the brave ones would become involved in Aboriginal activities. Some Aboriginal people felt inferior to whites and were worried about what the whites would say about them. Murries were already on the outer and didn't want to be further out.
OPAL also has been criticised as being assimilationist, following the government policies of the day. The policy of assimilation was hypocritical when the Queensland government made it near impossible for Aboriginal people to live as equal members of the Queensland community. What kind of possibility for assimilation was there, especially for those Aboriginal people whose only experience was on the missions? OPAL, instead of assimilation, spoke of integration, rejecting the idea that Aboriginal people desired to live as white Australians did. Assimilation policies didn't recognise the worth of Aboriginal culture and ways of life. They didn't see how important solidarity and community are to us, and that we must reject some white ways for the sake of our own survival. Jackie Huggins, p. 85
The main objectives for he proposed organisation of OPAL were:
1. To endeavour to solve by influence and example, the difficulties of coloured people, firstly in the Brisbane area, and then spreading throughout the State of Queensland.
2. To attract organisations and people of repute to the ranks of the organisation. 3. To weld the coloured and white citizens of Australia into 'One People'. OPAL 1963
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OPAL, holiday camps and the media
The major areas of interest for all branches of OPAL, though in varying degrees, were welfare, housing, education,
employment, socials, Badge or Tag Day activities and holiday camps. OPAL holiday camps began as an ambitious undertaking, in the first three years catering for groups of 50, 90 and 140 children respectively (OPAL 1963). The number of children taking part in the camps increased, with an average of around 220 from settlements, missions and outlying regions each year from 1964 to 1972. The reason for the holidays was to provide an opportunity for Aboriginal children, primarily from missions, reserves and settlements, to come in contact with white children and adults. 'A week was too short, and we felt two weeks were rather too long, so we fixed on ten days, and the kids were left longing for more' (Muriel Langford 1989).
As OPAL was becoming well-known, Ron Blair, a famous and very handsome TV personality, rang up to invite us to take a number of our children to the Ekka, with TV cameras trailing. Of course we were delighted at the extra publicity this would bring us, and Muriel said to me, 'stick to Ron Blair like glue, and bring the kids back afterwards'. Poor Me! That was in the days of the stiletto heel, and Rita was always up with the fashion, and what a terrible day it was for me, though of course it was rather a thrill to go around the show with the famous Ron Blair, and have all the treats. The pace was frenetic, but as usual, we got good publicity. Aboriginal people were becoming very visible in those days, and OPAL quite famous.
OPAL got into the media. The Aboriginal people had been neglected for so long, there was a lot of catching up to do. We knew the media could change what people thought about us. That is why we kept up the pressure. We had to make the most of every opportunity to be seen in a positive way. The efforts paid off. OPAL still remains the most well-known Aboriginal organisations in Queensland among both Aboriginals and white people. Rita Huggins, p. 95-6.
How has OPAL positively influenced both Rita and Jackie Huggins today?
"OPAL [allowed] my mother and us to communicate with different groups of people from all walks of life, from politicians to business people, without feel inferior, In those days people in the OPAL circle were keen to listen. This ability to comfortably interact and socialise with different people and not feel shame has carried through to today.
Such was the influence of OPAL, that as Rita's children we are determined that our children will be encouraged to explore and deal with historical, political and cultural aspects of their Aboriginality through an activity or community involvement such as OPAL. OPAL affirmed a positive feeling that has made an enormous impact on our lives. Jackie Huggins, p. 100-1