Lajamanu, formerly known as Hooker Creek Native Settlement or just Hooker Creek, is a small town 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. It is located around from

Katherine Katherine, also spelled Catherine, and Catherina, other variations are feminine Given name, names. They are popular in Christian countries because of their derivation from the name of one of the first Christian saints, Catherine of Alexandria ...

and approximately from Darwin. At the

2016 Australian census The 2016 Australian census was the 17th national population census held in Australia. The census was officially conducted with effect on Tuesday, 9 August 2016. The total population of the Commonwealth of Australia was counted as – an incre ...

, Lajamanu had a population of 606, of whom 89.3 percent are of

Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander Indigenous Australians or Australian First Nations are people with familial heritage from, and membership in, the ethnic groups that lived in Australia before History of Australia (1788–1850), British colonisation. They consist of two distin ...

origin, chiefly

Warlpiri people The Warlpiri, sometimes referred to as Yapa, are a group of Aboriginal Australians defined by their Warlpiri language, although not all still speak it. There are 5,000–6,000 Warlpiri, living mostly in a few towns and settlements scattered thr ...

History

Lajamanu was established in 1949, on the site of the former Hooker Creek station. The government moved Walpiri people from

Yuendumu Yuendumu is a town in the Northern Territory of Australia, northwest of Alice Springs on the Tanami Road, within the Central Desert Region local government area. It ranks as one of the larger remote communities in central Australia, and has a t ...

, only succeeding on the fourth attempt, after people had simply walked back their own communities on the first three attempts. In the 1950s it was known as the Hooker Creek Native Settlement. There was a village council in the 1960s (possibly earlier). In 1970, a council of twelve men was elected, including Maurice Jupurrurla Luther , who had been taken to Hooker Creek from Yuendumu in 1958. In 1976 he was appointed to a committee of four people to inquire into the role of the

National Aboriginal Consultative Committee The National Aboriginal Conference (NAC) was a national organisation established by the Australian Government to represent Indigenous Australians, that is Aboriginal Australians and Torres Strait Islander peoples. The NAC was originally establi ...

. After the

Gurindji strike The Wave Hill walk-off, also known as the Gurindji strike, was a walk-off and strike by 200 Gurindji stockmen, house servants and their families, starting on 23 August 1966 and lasting for seven years. It took place at Wave Hill, a cattle stati ...

and handover of

Wattie Creek __NOTOC__ Daguragu, previously also known as Wattie Creek by the Gurindji people, is a locality in the Northern Territory of Australia located about south of the territory capital of Darwin and located about south-west of the municipal seat i ...

to the

Gurindji people The Gurindji are an Aboriginal Australian people of northern Australia, southwest of Katherine in the Northern Territory's Victoria River region. Language and culture Gurindji is one of the eastern Ngumbin languages, in the Ngumbin-Yapa s ...

by Prime Minister

Gough Whitlam Edward Gough Whitlam (11 July 191621 October 2014) was the 21st prime minister of Australia, serving from 1972 to 1975. The longest-serving federal leader of the Australian Labor Party (ALP) from 1967 to 1977, he was notable for being the he ...

, Luther was an important figure in negotiations to allow the Warlpiri people to continue living at Lajamanu, the Gurindji being the

traditional owners Native title is the designation given to the common law doctrine of Aboriginal title in Australia, which is the recognition by Australian law that Indigenous Australians (both Aboriginal Australian and Torres Strait Islander people) have rights ...

of the area. He also played a large part in the decision to rename the place Lajamanu, which is derived from a nearby Gurindji place name. In November 2021 the community was put into

lockdown A lockdown is a restriction policy for people, community or a country to stay where they are, usually due to specific risks (such as COVID-19) that could possibly harm the people if they move and interact freely. The term is used for a prison ...

by the

Northern Territory Government The Government of the Northern Territory of Australia, also referred to as the Northern Territory Government, is the Australian territorial democratic administrative authority of the Northern Territory. The Government of Northern Territory wa ...

, as a wave of infections hit the Katherine region during the

COVID-19 pandemic in Australia The COVID-19 pandemic in Australia is part of the ongoing worldwide pandemic of the coronavirus disease 2019 () caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (). The first confirmed case in Australia was identified on 25 Januar ...

. The first

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was COVID-19 pandemic in Hubei, identified in Wuhan, China, in December ...

case in Lajamanu was recorded on 1 December, a day after the lockdown orders were changed to that of a lockout.

Location and access

Lajamanu is located around south-west of Katherine and approximately from Darwin. The nearest community is

Daguragu __NOTOC__ Daguragu, previously also known as Wattie Creek by the Gurindji people, is a locality in the Northern Territory of Australia located about south of the territory capital of Darwin and located about south-west of the municipal seat i ...

, about away. Lajamanu is difficult to access, mainly due to the distance from major cities and towns. Road access is via the

Victoria Highway The Victoria Highway links the Great Northern Highway in Western Australia with the Stuart Highway in the Northern Territory. The highway is a part of the Perth - Darwin National Highway link. It is signed as National Highway 1, and is par ...

, turning off after ) onto the

Buntine Highway The Buntine Highway is a 581-kilometre highway in the Northern Territory and Western Australia. It runs from the Victoria Highway via Top Springs and Kalkarindji and then to Nicholson, Western Australia. The section from the Victoria Highway ...

for a further , and then 104 to Lajamanu (a

dirt Dirt is an unclean matter, especially when in contact with a person's clothes, skin, or possessions. In such cases, they are said to become dirty. Common types of dirt include: * Debris: scattered pieces of waste or remains * Dust: a genera ...

but well-formed road).

Hooker Creek Airport Hooker Creek Airport , also known as Hooker Creek Aerodrome and Lajamanu Airport, is an airport in Lajamanu, Northern Territory, Australia. The airstrip is sealed. It is serviced by chartered flights, the RAAF and the Flying Doctor service. th ...

has a sealed

airstrip An aerodrome (Commonwealth English) or airdrome (American English) is a location from which aircraft flight operations take place, regardless of whether they involve air cargo, passengers, or neither, and regardless of whether it is for publ ...

, and is serviced by chartered flights, the

RAAF "Through Adversity to the Stars" , colours = , colours_label = , march = , mascot = , anniversaries = RAAF Anniversary Commemoration ...

and the Flying Doctor service.

Government

The town is a strongly traditional community, and is governed by the

Central Land Council The Central Land Council (CLC) is a land council that represents the Aboriginal peoples of the southern half of the Northern Territory of Australia (NT), predominantly with regard to land issues. it is one of four land councils in the Northern Te ...

(Region 3, Northwest) as well as the Lajamanu Kurdiji group,a group of senior men and women of the community who promote respect for Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal law and justice within their community. ''Kurdiji'' is a Warlpiri word for "shield", with the connotations of protecting or warding off. The Lajamanu Council was the first community government council established in the Northern Territory, in 1980. It is a strongly traditional Warlpiri community, and the council follows the lead of the local people's council. It is a dry (alcohol-free) community.

Demographics

At the

, there were 606 people in Lajamanu, of whom 89.3 percent are Indigenous, mainly Warlpiri. This represents a drop in the population since 2006, when there were 669 people.

Language

The majority of Lajamanu residents have Warlpiri as their main heritage language. Lajamanu School was a Warlpiri-English bilingual school from 1982 until 2008 when the

introduced a policy banning

Warlpiri language The Warlpiri ( or ) ( wbp, Warlpiri > waɭbɪ̆ˌɻi language is spoken by about 3,000 of the Warlpiri people from the Tanami Desert, northwest of Alice Springs, Central Australia. It is one of the Ngarrkic languages of the large Pama–Ny ...

instruction for the first four hours of every school day. This contributed to a significant drop in attendance at Lajamanu School after 2009. It has been reported that young people now speak "

Light Warlpiri Light Warlpiri is a mixed language of Australia, with indigenous Warlpiri, Kriol, and Standard Australian English as its parent languages. First documented by linguist Carmel O'Shannessy of the University of Michigan, it is spoken in the Wa ...

" as a first language. Most official business and education is delivered in

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

Geography and climate

Lajamanu is located close to the centre of Australia, which has a hot, dry climate. In February 2010, hundreds of live

spangled perch ''Leiopotherapon unicolor'', the spangled grunter or spangled perch is a species of ray-finned fish, a grunter from the family Terapontidae. It is endemic to Australia. Description ''Leiopotherapon unicolor'' has a slender, oval shaped body whi ...

rained down upon the town on two successive days. A

tornado A tornado is a violently rotating column of air that is in contact with both the surface of the Earth and a cumulonimbus cloud or, in rare cases, the base of a cumulus cloud. It is often referred to as a twister, whirlwind or cyclone, altho ...

is believed to have sucked up the fish, which were then frozen at high altitudes and thawed as they fell, which might have been hundreds of kilometres from their origin.

Art

Warlpiri people have a long history of creating art on wooden artefacts, the body, the ground and rocks. Walpiri art was used for ceremonial and teaching purposes, a feature of art in Lajamanu. Lajamanu artists began using canvas and acrylic paint in 1986 following a traditional paintings course held in the community. Today, the artists in Lajamanu continue to paint using canvas and acrylic paint at the community's Warnayaka Art Gallery. The Gallery is a Warlpiri corporation and is governed by an entirely Walpiri board. Artists

Peggy Rockman Napaljarri Peggy Rockman Napaljarri (also known as Peggy Yalurrngali Rockman Napaljarri) (born c. 1940) is a Warlpiri language, Warlpiri-speaking Indigenous Australian, Indigenous artist from Australia's Western Desert cultural bloc, Western Desert region. ...

, Lily Nungarrayi Yirringali Jurrah Hargraves, Rosie Murnku Marnku Napurrurla Tasman and Molly Napurrurla Tasman have all painted at the gallery. Other

contemporary Indigenous Australian art Contemporary Indigenous Australian art (also known as contemporary Aboriginal Australian art) is the modern art work produced by Indigenous Australians, that is, Aboriginal Australians and Torres Strait Islander people. It is generally regarded a ...

ists from the Lajamanu region include

Sheila Brown Napaljarri Sheila Brown Napaljarri (–2003) was a Warlpiri-speaking Indigenous artist from Australia's Western Desert region. A contributor to major collaborative paintings by Indigenous communities, her works are also held by the Art Gallery of New South ...

and

. Lajamanu artists have been finalists in the

Telstra National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Art Awards The National Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander Art Award (NATSIAA) is Australia's longest running Indigenous art award. Established in 1984 as the National Aboriginal Art Award by the Museum and Art Gallery of the Northern Territory in Darwin, ...

in 2008, 2009, 2010 and 2011.

Notable people

* Maurice Jupurrurla Luther (1945–1985), see above *In 2010, Warlpiri elders in Lajamanu including Bill Bunter, Sharon Anderson and Martin Johnson participated in an ABC TV documentary ''Bush Law'', about the relationship between traditional Warlpiri law and the mainstream Australian justice system. *Steve Jampijinpa Patrick (also known as Wanta Jampijinpa Pawu-Kurlpurlurnu) is an educator and has also been involved in the Milpirri festival and collaborations with Tracks Dance company. In 2008, Patrick co-authored a research paper, "Ngurra-kurlu: a way of working with Warlpiri people". Wanta worked as an

Australian Research Council The Australian Research Council (ARC) is the primary non-medical research funding agency of the Australian Government, distributing more than in grants each year. The Council was established by the ''Australian Research Council Act 2001'', ...

-funded

research fellow A research fellow is an academic research position at a university or a similar research institution, usually for academic staff or faculty members. A research fellow may act either as an independent investigator or under the supervision of a pr ...

at the

Australian National University The Australian National University (ANU) is a public research university located in Canberra, the capital of Australia. Its main campus in Acton encompasses seven teaching and research colleges, in addition to several national academies and ...

from 2012 to 2014. In 2013, Wanta Jampijinpa wrote and directed the television documentary ''Milpirri: Winds of Change''. The film chronicles Wanta and the Lajamanu elders' vision for making Warlpiri culture relevant to the contemporary world. The film premiered on

NITV National Indigenous Television (NITV) is an Australian free-to-air television channel that broadcasts programming produced and presented largely by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. It includes the half-hourly nightly ''NITV News'' ...

in November 2013, and has been available on

SBS On Demand SBS is a national public television network in Australia. Launched on 24 October 1980, it is the responsibility of SBS's television division, and is available nationally. In 2018, SBS had a 7.7% audience share. As of 2022, SBS is the lowest ...

References

External links

Community Website

Warnayaka Art Gallery

Central Desert Regional Council
{{authority control Towns in the Northern Territory Central Desert Region Aboriginal communities in the Northern Territory Warlpiri people