An Australian Aboriginal Named Val

 That's a heck of a name for a tall lean half Irish half aboriginal, northern territory entertainer.

I did not realize what I was getting myself into, the first time I met Valentine McGinnis. I'd never met anyone like him before, and I've never met anyone like him since. That was in the sixties before i ever got involved in the Australian Opal industry

Val was a real black fella whitefella mix. He was equally at home amongst the black and the white. He could talk white fella language with eloquence and charm and astounding humor. But amazingly he could also talk fluently in the language of his black ancestors in tongues dating back to when Australia was exclusively an aboriginal domain.

Now the typical aboriginal is a rather shy reserved type of person. A bit quiet when there's white fellas around. Perhaps out of necessity, not wishing to succumb to some Anglo Saxon deviousness. But of course, anyone who has been around aboriginals a lot [as I have over the last 40 years wandering the Australian outback], knows that underneath their reserved appearance lies some unique personality traits.

So, maybe it was the Irish in him that brought out the loud, outlandish, sense of humor that held no respect for person or privilege. He could laugh at himself and his race. He could laugh at the white fella too, and neither group could become upset because he had a generous volume of both cultures coursing through his veins.

"Once I knew a very lazy aboriginal" he chortled with a grin nearly as wide as the face that held it, " this fella was so lazy that one day when he was asked directions, he didn't so much as raise a finger to say which way to go.. he just pointed with his lips" Now this doesn't seem so funny when you read it like this but to see those huge pouted lips screwed up and pointing like a finger adjacent to his face, bestirs hilarity in the most sombre individual.

Val had a little islander wife called Jane. Now Jane was the quiet one. She would just sit next to the big fellow and look adoringly into his face as he entertained the crowd. Every time you saw Val, there would be a crowd.

Shop Now: https://australianopaldirect.com/