The name is absent

30 S

faith that was seen as a force strengthening the individual in
meeting the traumas inherent in seeking identity, and in
countering prejudice^.

All expressed a conviction of the need for this personal faith.
At Pt. Augusta, some people close to tribal people saw no conflict
between Christian faith and traditional religion. One of the few
initiated men in the area who was still occupied with tribal
’business’, was also a strong follower.of Christianity. For him,
there was no conflict. This was a view heard repeatedly.

Some younger people, laid no claim to a religious faith; however,
they recounted stories showing the importance to them of the faith
.                                                                     2

they had in some particular person who influenced their lives .

Affiliation to fundamentalist religious sects acted both in Adelaide

and more particularly in Pt. Augusta, to produce an idential that
separated the people from the negative identity that accompanies
alcoholism.                                                   χ

One group of those who ’drink too much’ could be categorised as

drinking because this was a white practice they had been denied.

Many Aborigines related how they drank heavily as soon as
repressive legislation controlling the sale of liquor was lifted,
because it showed they were as good as whites. It proved they were
’human’.

і

However, many of these same people were uneasy about the activities
of the fundamentalist groups now active in the area.

2

One young man recounted how, as a child, he did not get on with
his mother. He ran away and was taken in by an eccentric, old (white)
man who became a father figure to him. The young boy continued to go
home to eat from time to time. The elderly man was, however, a
continuing influence in his life. It is possible to see here a
trace of the custom of uncles bringing up boys in the traditional
Aboriginal situation.

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