Patjarr (also known as Karilywara) is a small Aboriginal community, located near the Clutterbuck Hills between Lake Cobb and Lake Newell, 243 kilometres by road north west of Warburton in the

Goldfields–Esperance The Goldfields–Esperance region is one of the nine regions of Western Australia. It is located in the south eastern corner of Western Australia, and comprises the local government areas of Coolgardie, Dundas, Esperance, Kalgoorlie–Bo ...

region of

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 ...

Demographics

When enumerated in the 2011

Census of Population and Housing The Census in Australia, officially the Census of Population and Housing, is the national census in Australia that occurs every five years. The census collects key demographic, social and economic data from all people in Australia on census nig ...

, the population of Patjarr was 41. While no further demographic details are available from the 2011 census, 84% of residents in 2006 identified themselves as being of Indigenous descent. Most of Patjarr's Aboriginal residents are part of the

Pintupi The Pintupi are an Australian Aboriginal group who are part of the Western Desert cultural group and whose traditional land is in the area west of Lake Macdonald and Lake Mackay in Western Australia. These people moved (or were moved) into the ...

group. At the time of the 2006 Census, the Indigenous population profile of Patjarr was skewed, with a sex ratio of 1.0 male per 2.2 females.

History

The Pintupi began returning to their homelands near Patjarr in 1979 with a view to setting up a permanent outstation. While the community's governing body, Patjarr Aboriginal Corporation, was incorporated under the ''Aboriginal Councils and Associations Act 1976'' on 28 April 1980, it was not until 1993 that the community and its surrounds were excised from the

Gibson Desert Nature Reserve The Gibson Desert Nature Reserve is an 18,900 km2 nature reserve located in the Gibson Desert in central Western Australia. The nature reserve is remote and rarely visited by tourists, and is administered by the Kalgoorlie regional office ...

and leased to 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 ...

by the

Aboriginal Lands Trust In Australia, an Aboriginal land trust (ALT) is a type of non-profit organisation that holds the freehold title to an area of land on behalf of a community of Aboriginal Australians. The land has been legally granted to a community by the governme ...

. Native title was determined to exist in 2005, as part of the ''Stanley Mervyn, Adrian Young, and Livingston West and Ors, on behalf of the Peoples of the Ngaanyatjarra Lands v Western Australia and Ors'' claim.

Town planning

Patjarr Layout Plan No.2 has been prepared in accordance with State Planning Policy 3.2 Aboriginal Settlements. Layout Plan No.2 was endorsed by the community on 10 October 2008.

Notable people

Pulpurru Davies lives and paints in Patjarr.

Notes

{{authority control Towns in Western Australia Shire of Ngaanyatjarraku Aboriginal communities in Goldfields–Esperance