Longitude 131°
Australian Pioneers and Explorers
'I was trained as a painter before I was an anthropologist. And a painter expresses what she feels.'
Olive Pink
1884 - 1975
'The fiercest white woman in captivity' had absolutely no trouble expressing how she felt.
Indeed, Miss Pink's conflicts with administrators, missionaries, pastoralists and her anthropological colleagues are legendary. They often regarded her as an eccentric in Edwardian dress, 'cantankerous to an extraordinary degree'. But today she can be seen for what she was - a trailblazing Aboriginal land rights activist.
Miss Pink was an unconventional anthropologist who came upon the science through practice. In 1930 she travelled the railway to Alice Springs to indulge her passion for botanical drawing and collecting specimens of native plants. She happened to attend the trial of an Aborigine charged with murder and was incensed at the court's disregard for traditional law. It fired her with an ambition to work for the Centre's native peoples.
She began to study anthropology in Sydney, however was soon disillusioned with the patronising attitudes she witnessed. 'Contact anthropology' was her answer.
She lived for several years among the Walpiri and Arrernte people of the Tanami Desert, eating their food and observing their ways. She also observed the effects of missionary work on tribal life and developed her own idea for Aboriginal autonomy and dignity - a 'secular sanctuary', with herself as administrator.
There began one of Australia's most remarkable political letter-writing campaigns. Written in a bold hand and sealed with purple wax and string, her letters were emotional, tactless, even rude, filled with vivid criticisms designed to disturb the official recipients.
'"Compromise" or "tact" or "diplomacy" - all mean moral cowardice,' she admonished.
Such statements also meant political naivety, and Miss Pink lost her battle. 'There is a war on,' she was told in 1942 and her idea of land rights was conveniently shelved.
Again disillusioned but still undefeated, she returned to the Tanami to continue the fight. With the help of trade unions she attempted to start a communal labour cooperative for the Warlpiri. She pushed for communal mining rights, and female employment in Aboriginal affairs. She single-mindedly continued to expose the truth believing that justice would inevitably follow. What actually followed was a secret official report that Miss Pink was Red!
She took her tent, her swelling botanical collection and her challenging presence back to Alice Springs. Stinging letters, courthouse visits, public servant scoldings accompanied her.
With the help of a Warlpiri gardener named Johnny Tjambatjimba she carved Australia's first arid zone flora reserve out of a patch of Alice Springs. It stands to this day as the Olive Pink Botanical Gardens.
'I worship trees and flowers,' she wrote. 'And especially the gallant ones of the arid regions of Australia.'
Although she found a solace in her garden that endured for the rest of her life, it failed to mellow her. She named her trees after prominent officials and if they failed to please her she would fail to water them.
Miss Pink was described by someone who knew her well as 'a voice crying in the wilderness'. She always knew that a voice in the wilderness goes a long way.
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