Rare photos from Pilbara strike era uncovered in attic, shed new light on Indigenous rights movement

The glint in Captain Wilson’s eye softens as he looks at the decades-old image. The Nyamal elder recognises himself on the left — solemn, arms set like stone for the task at hand — but it is his companion who seizes his attention. “He was my friend,” he said.

The photograph is one of dozens recently uncovered in an attic and taken around WA’s Pilbara region by an anthropologist during the 1950s and ’60s. They tell the story of what one professor called “a revolutionary communist movement … on the very margins of Australian society”.

Two decades before the famed Wave Hill walk-offs, the 1946 Pilbara strike and ensuing struggles helped launch the Indigenous rights movement. In 1946, hundreds of Aboriginal stockmen and women walked off the Pilbara’s pastoral stations after years of poor wages and brutally unfair working conditions. The workers had carved sheep-grazing country from the arid expanse and did so for little more than rations of tea, tobacco, or sugar.

They resolved to protest, sparked by unprecedented organisation across language groups and launching a bitter rebellion that lasted three years.

Nyamal co-curator and Captain’s daughter Ursula Wilson said the photos show “hard-working” Indigenous people. “I've heard that Indigenous people are lazy people … looking at the pictures here, it shows that they are very hard-working people,” she said. “It was a tough time … and they endured a lot.”

The snapshots are being displayed for the first time at the University of Western Australia’s Lawrence Wilson Art Gallery in Perth.

Why This Matters

These photographs document a pivotal but often overlooked early chapter in the Indigenous rights movement, two decades before the more widely known Wave Hill walk-offs.
The exhibition challenges persistent stereotypes about Indigenous Australians by visually demonstrating their hard work and resilience through historical images.
As Indigenous communities continue to seek truth-telling and recognition, this discovery adds primary-source evidence to the historical record.

Background

The 1946 Pilbara strike was a landmark industrial action in which hundreds of Aboriginal stockmen and women walked off pastoral stations in Western Australia, protesting poor wages and working conditions that provided little more than rations of tea, tobacco, or sugar. The strike lasted three years and was notable for unprecedented cooperation across different language groups. The movement eventually led to communities forming their own independent settlements. These photographs, taken in the aftermath of the strike, show those communities and their daily lives.

Key Perspectives

Nyamal Elder Captain Wilson and Family: The photographs are a personal and communal record of endurance and friendship, countering negative stereotypes about Indigenous people as “lazy.” Historians and Curators: The images capture a “revolutionary communist movement” on the margins of Australian society, providing new insight into early Indigenous labour and land rights struggles. The Public/Museum Visitors: The exhibition offers a rare visual window into a little-known part of Australian history, sparking broader conversations about truth-telling and reconciliation.

What to Watch

Visitor and media response to the exhibition at the Lawrence Wilson Art Gallery, which may determine whether the collection travels to other venues.
Whether the discovery prompts further archival searches for related materials from the Pilbara strike era.
Ongoing discussions about the Wave Hill walk-offs (60th anniversary in 2026) and how this earlier strike is integrated into the national narrative.

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