Seminar | 'They couldn't break me': Don McLeod, champion for Aboriginal justice in the Pilbara

Join us for a powerful presentation on the life of Don McLeod, a miner who became a key ally to Aboriginal pastoral workers in Western Australia’s Pilbara region. In the 1940s, McLeod supported nearly 800 Aboriginal workers to undertake what became Australia’s longest industrial strike (1946–1949), led by senior Lawmen from coastal and desert communities seeking fair conditions and greater independence. McLeod went on to live and work alongside the strikers, assisting them to establish alluvial mining enterprises, build economic self-sufficiency, and develop community-led schools, health services, and housing grounded in culture and country.

The seminar will be presented by Dr Jan Richardson, whose long-standing work with Aboriginal communities in the Pilbara and Kimberley, including time spent with Don McLeod and the Nyangumarta people in 1969, informs her upcoming biography exploring this important chapter in Australia’s history.

This seminar is presented in partnership between the Northern Institute and Library & Archives NT.

Date: Wednesday 22 April 2026 from 10.30am

Location: Library & Archives NT, Level 2, Danala, 54 Cavanagh Street, Darwin City

This is a free event however bookings are essential.

To attend the seminar in person: RSVP here

To watch the seminar online via Zoom: Register here

For more information: Click here