469
In Pt. Augusta, the theorizing about the Aboriginal community
■ 1
already conceptualises a parallel Aboriginal ’world*. The problem
there is one of continued universe maintenance, rather than universe
construction.
(iii) Adelaide
The Adelaide urban people are those who, in the first instance,
emphasized the importance of the construction of identity as a
topic for the research project.
While there is a movement towards establishing components
of Aboriginal identity, most of the components stressed as building
і
identity for Strelley are problematic for the Adelaide people. I
J ⅛
[1
■
1
While it is common to speak of the Aboriginal community in
Adelaide, the scattering of the people throughout the school system
is an indication of the lack of cohesion in comparison with the
4
Strelley model. Conflict between groups has already been mentioned.
If there is to be cohesion of an ideology, membership will have
to be located within discrete Aboriginal groups.
At Strelley, hiving off into language groups in point of fact
strengthens the cohesion of the total group, and allows for leader-
ship within smaller groups. Similarly, it could be expected that,
rather than mythologizing about an Adelaide Aboriginal community,
the emphasizing of the bonds of the Point Pearce and Point McLeay
groups, would, in the long term, strengthen group solidarity.
Group policy could be articulated within each group and co-ordinated
by people who are the appointed spokespersons of the group, in
the manner that this happens at Pt. Augusta.
There are already trends observable in establishing a theorizing
about identity within these smaller groups.
. Following the publication of Jenkin’s (1979) book about the Ngarrindjeri,!
some of Pt. McLeay people, as well as identifying with the life-
history of the reserve, now know about the life-history of the