On Red Earth Walking

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In 1946, Aboriginal people in Western Australia's Pilbara region walked off pastoral stations, withdrawing their labor from the wool industry to demand better wages and conditions. This strike lasted three years and is the focus of a comprehensive account that explores this significant yet understudied episode in Australian history. Utilizing extensive archival evidence, Anne Scrimgeour challenges previous historical narratives, revealing the complexity of the strike's history. By incorporating Aboriginal oral history, she places Aboriginal voices at the forefront, highlighting their agency and experiences. Scrimgeour examines the colonial control system in the Pilbara before the strike and details how striker activism gradually dismantled these mechanisms. The involvement of communists among southern supporters and a non-Aboriginal activist, Don McLeod, added layers of complexity to settler responses amid Cold War fears of subversion. This history provokes discussions about racial tensions within a pastoral settler economy and the political factors that shaped settler reactions, offering a nuanced and engaging perspective on this pivotal moment in Australian Indigenous and labor histories.