| LOCATION |
| Map |
Show Map
|
| Address |
OOLDEA |
| Locality |
|
| Accuracy |
L - low level confidence |
| Council Area |
Land Not Within a Council Area (Far North) |
| Polygon Type |
D - item has been digitised (generally because it doesn't exist in a DCDB parcel, eg. bridge |
| DESCRIPTION |
| Details (Known As) |
Ooldea Soak and former United Aborigines Mission Site [Designated place of archaeological significance] |
| Registered Name |
Ooldea Soak and former United Aborigines Mission Site |
| Significance |
Historical and Ethnographic sources document the great importance of Ooldea Soak as a meeting place and trade centre for Aboriginal people in prehistoric times and in the early contact period. The dense archaeological material that litters the site highlights the Soak's importance in the distant past. Ooldea was also an important mythological and ceremonial site, the point where several of the major mythic tracks crossing the Great Victoria Desert and Nullarbor Plain region meet and interconnect.
For the Aborigines at Yalata and Oak Valley in particular, and for others on the west coast today, Ooldea is of considerable historical and cultural significance. For many of the older generation, Ooldea was the place where they had their first sustained contact with white people after leaving the desert and it was there that they were introduced to the European customs. For many, Ooldea was home for 20 years or more. The oldest among them remember Daisy Bates; others who came in later have fond memories of the Mission and its staff, despite the physical hardships they endured and the Mission's attempts to alter Aboriginal traditional beliefs and customs.
Ooldea is important to contemporary Aborigines as the place where the contemporary Yalata community began. Many Aborigines were born in the vicinity of the Soak, and spent their childhood and a good proportion of their adult lives at the Mission. The fact that many Yalata people were born there is especially important for a strong spiritual and emotional bond exists between an individual and the place of his/her birth throughout the Western Desert. |
| Subject Index |
Landscape area - Archaeological Site; Utilities - Spring; Aboriginal site - Historic/Contact site; Religion - Mission |
| Class |
State |
|
|
| STATUS |
| Status Code |
REG - Confirmed as a State Heritage Place in the SA Heritage Register |
| Status Date |
11-JUN-1998 |
| REFERENCE |
| LGA |
Unincorporated SA |
| State Heritage ID |
14446 |
| Heritage Number |
4 |
|
|
|
| SECTION 16 INFORMATION |
| Section 16 |
b - it has rare, uncommon or endangered qualities that are of cultural significance
f - it has strong cultural or spiritual associations for the community or a group within it
g - it has a special association with the life or work of a person or organisation or an event of historical importance
|
| PLAN PARCEL & TITLE |
| As listed in the SA Heritage Register |
| Plan Parcel & Title Information |
CT 4393/157 D31180 Q19 |