Kaltukatjara , also known as Docker River, is a remote
Indigenous Australian
Indigenous Australians or Australian First Nations are people with familial heritage from, and membership in, the ethnic groups that lived in Australia before British colonisation. They consist of two distinct groups: the Aboriginal peoples ...
community in the
Northern Territory
The Northern Territory (commonly abbreviated as NT; formally the Northern Territory of Australia) is an states and territories of Australia, Australian territory in the central and central northern regions of Australia. The Northern Territory ...
of
Australia
Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...
. It is southwest of
Alice Springs
Alice Springs ( aer, Mparntwe) is the third-largest town in the Northern Territory of Australia. Known as Stuart until 31 August 1933, the name Alice Springs was given by surveyor William Whitfield Mills after Alice, Lady Todd (''née'' Al ...
, west of the
Stuart Highway
Stuart Highway is a major Australia, Australian highway. It runs from Darwin, Northern Territory, Darwin, in the Northern Territory, via Tennant Creek and Alice Springs, to Port Augusta in South Australia; a distance of . Its northern and sou ...
, near the
Western Australia
Western Australia (commonly abbreviated as WA) is a state of Australia occupying the western percent of the land area of Australia excluding external territories. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to th ...
and
Northern Territory
The Northern Territory (commonly abbreviated as NT; formally the Northern Territory of Australia) is an states and territories of Australia, Australian territory in the central and central northern regions of Australia. The Northern Territory ...
border. The township is on a
wadi
Wadi ( ar, وَادِي, wādī), alternatively ''wād'' ( ar, وَاد), North African Arabic Oued, is the Arabic term traditionally referring to a valley. In some instances, it may refer to a wet (ephemeral) riverbed that contains water onl ...
called the Docker Creek on the north side of the west end of the
Petermann Ranges in the southwest corner of the
Northern Territory
The Northern Territory (commonly abbreviated as NT; formally the Northern Territory of Australia) is an states and territories of Australia, Australian territory in the central and central northern regions of Australia. The Northern Territory ...
of Australia.
At the
2006 census
6 (six) is the natural number following 5 and preceding 7. It is a composite number and the smallest perfect number.
In mathematics
Six is the smallest positive integer which is neither a square number nor a prime number; it is the second small ...
, Kaltukatjara had a population of 355.
History
A permanent settlement at "Docker River" was established in 1968 to relieve pressure on the
Warburton settlement and provide an opportunity for
Aboriginal people
Indigenous peoples are culturally distinct ethnic groups whose members are directly descended from the earliest known inhabitants of a particular geographic region and, to some extent, maintain the language and culture of those original people ...
to live closer to their homelands.
PY Media states that Kaltukatjara acquired its European name "Docker River" from explorer
Ernest Giles
William Ernest Powell Giles (20 July 1835 – 13 November 1897), best known as Ernest Giles, was an Australian explorer who led five major expeditions to parts of South Australia and Western Australia.
Early life
Ernest Giles was born in Bris ...
, as well as other history, as follows:
The site that is now Kaltukatjara was originally named Docker River by Ernest Giles during his expedition of 1872.
Pastors Duguid and Strehlow surveyed the area in the 1930s with a view to establishing a settlement for the people in the area. It was decided not to proceed with this at that time. During the 30s and 40s Luther(a)n missionaries told the Pitjantjatjara people of the Kaltukatjara area to go to Areyonga (then an outstation of Hermannsburg mission
The Hermannsburg Mission (german: Hermannsburger Mission) was founded as the Hermannsburg Mission Centre (''Missionsanstalt Hermannsburg'') in 1849 in Hermannsburg, near Celle, North Germany, by Louis Harms. In 1977, the independent mission soc ...
) where they would be supplied with food and clothing. Although many Anangu moved in of their own free will, some stayed in the Petermanns.
In the 1960s Areyonga Anangu strongly desired to move back to the area around Docker River and with government assistance a permanent settlement was established there in 1967-8. Over 300 Anangu moved to establish the new settlement.
By the proclamation of the '' Aboriginal Lands Rights (N.T.) Act, 1976'', Anangu in the region gained freehold title to these traditional lands an area of 44,970 square kilometres.
The settlement was funded as an
outstation during the 1980s.
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In 2009, feral camel
Australian feral camels are feral populations of dromedaries (''Camelus dromedarius'') in Australia. Imported from British India and Afghanistan during the 19th century for transport and construction during the colonisation of the central and ...
s had become a major problem for local residents. Around 6,000 animals entered the town searching for water. Preparations for an emergency cull of using a sharpshooter were underway.
Geography
Kaltukatjara lies on the Tjukaruru Road
The Great Central Road is a mostly unsealed Australian outback highway that runs from Laverton, Western Australia to Yulara, Northern Territory (near Uluru / Ayers Rock). It passes through a number of small communities on the way.
History
The ...
which becomes the Great Central Road
The Great Central Road is a mostly unsealed Australian Australian outback, outback highway that runs from Laverton, Western Australia to Yulara, Northern Territory (near Uluru, Uluru / Ayers Rock). It passes through a number of small communitie ...
when it crosses into Western Australia
Western Australia (commonly abbreviated as WA) is a state of Australia occupying the western percent of the land area of Australia excluding external territories. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to th ...
7 kilometres to the west.
Climate
Based upon the climate records of the nearest weather station at Giles across the border to the west in Western Australia
Western Australia (commonly abbreviated as WA) is a state of Australia occupying the western percent of the land area of Australia excluding external territories. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to th ...
, Kaltukatjara experiences summer maximum temperatures of an average of 37.2 degrees Celsius in January and a winter maximum average temperature of 19.9 degrees Celsius in July. Overnight lows range from a mean minimum temperature of 23.5 degrees in January to 6.8 degrees in June.
Annual rainfall averages 284.2 millimetres.
Demographics
The 2001 ABS Census recorded that there were 297 people living in the community, an increase of 20 on the 277 people disclosed in the 1997 Census.
The people speak Pitjantjatjara
The Pitjantjatjara (; or ) are an Aboriginal people of the Central Australian desert near Uluru. They are closely related to the Yankunytjatjara and Ngaanyatjarra and their languages are, to a large extent, mutually intelligible (all are vari ...
and Ngaatjatjarra
The Ngaatjatjarra (otherwise spelt Ngadadjara) are an Indigenous Australian people of Western Australia, with communities located in the north eastern part of the Goldfields-Esperance region.
Name
The ethnonym Ngaatjatjarra, in line with a gener ...
, and largely identify as Anangu.
The 2001 Census revealed that Kaltukatjara was second only to its northern neighbour Kintore in the having the highest proportion of its population engaged in health and community services (26.3%).
Governance
Before 2008-07-01, Kaltukatjara was served by the Kaltukatjara Community Council, composed of twelve residents who are elected annually. The Council served as the local government and qualified as a "local government area
A local government area (LGA) is an administrative division of a country that a local government is responsible for. The size of an LGA varies by country but it is generally a subdivision of a State (administrative division), state, province, divi ...
". On 2008-07-01, it became part of the MacDonnell Region
The MacDonnell Regional Council is a local government area of the Northern Territory, Australia. The region covers an area of and had an estimated population of 6,863 people in June 2018.
Geography
MacDonnell Regional Council occupies the so ...
.
Facilities
Water for the Kaltukatjara supply system is obtained from three bores, one located near the ground tanks and one approximately 1.5 km west of the community. There are 3 ground tanks and 1 raised tank in the community. Water quality is of a high standard with chlorine needed only on rare occasions.
Kaltukatjara has a sewerage system and some houses are fitted with their own septic tanks.
Electricity is provided by three diesel power generators.
Roads within the township are sealed, but the Petermann Road (the main road to the community) is unsealed.
Kaltukatjara has an airstrip, general store (with petrol supplies), Tjarlirli Art centre and gallery, recreation hall, aged care facility, health centre, school, two public telephones, an Australian Rules football oval and basketball court. By 2017 the airstrip had been paved, along with the access road from town.
There is a Lutheran church
Lutheranism is one of the largest branches of Protestantism, identifying primarily with the theology of Martin Luther, the 16th-century German monk and reformer whose efforts to reform the theology and practice of the Catholic Church launched th ...
with a resident pastor, overseen by the Lutheran Church's Finke River Mission
Hermannsburg, also known as Ntaria, is an Aboriginal community in Ljirapinta Ward of the MacDonnell Shire in the Northern Territory of Australia, ; west southwest of Alice Springs, on the Finke River, in the traditional lands of the Western A ...
board.PY Media Waru website
References
External links
PY Media Waru website
Google Maps satellite image of Katukatjara
{{authority control
Aboriginal communities in the Northern Territory
Towns in the Northern Territory
MacDonnell Region