Kangkushot : The life of Nyamal lawman Peter Coppin

An updated edition of an epic and remarkable story, this is the powerful and moving history in which Peter Coppin, or Kangkushot, remembers his life in Western Australia’s Pilbara region and his involvement in the first strike of Aboriginal workers in the nation’s history. A senior Nyamal lawman, Coppin was born in Yarrie country in Western Australia’s Pilbara. His was a life of danger, drama, and hardship as he and his people forced to work on pastoral stations for meagre rations, their lives subject to the whims of white pastoralists, government agents, and legislators. But Coppin dreamed of a life for his people where they could access education and health services, and control their destinies. Despite great danger to themselves, he and others took part in the first Aboriginal strike in Australia, the Pilbara Strike in 1946. Initially uncertain about telling of his extraordinary life and culture, working with trusted friend Jolly Read, the tales spilled forth, building, the fragments into a whole, little by little, tape by tape. Ultimately, Kangkushot provides valuable insights into the rich and spiritual way Aboriginal people view their lives and land, and their place in it.