Yalata ( ), in the isolated far west of

South Australia South Australia (commonly abbreviated as SA) is a States and territories of Australia, state in the southern central part of Australia. With a total land area of , it is the fourth-largest of Australia's states and territories by area, which in ...

, is both an Indigenous Protected Area and, within that, a

township A township is a form of human settlement or administrative subdivision. Its exact definition varies among countries. Although the term is occasionally associated with an urban area, this tends to be an exception to the rule. In Australia, Canad ...

of the same name where an Aboriginal community lives. The township is west of Ceduna – the nearest town – via the

Eyre Highway Eyre Highway is a highway linking Western Australia and South Australia via the Nullarbor Plain. Signed as National Highways 1 and A1, it forms part of Highway 1 (Australia), Highway 1 and the National Highway (Australia), Australian Nat ...

, and by road from the state capital,

Adelaide Adelaide ( , ; ) is the list of Australian capital cities, capital and most populous city of South Australia, as well as the list of cities in Australia by population, fifth-most populous city in Australia. The name "Adelaide" may refer to ei ...

. It lies on the traditional lands of the Wirangu people. The settlement began as Yalata Mission in the early 1950s when Pila Nguru people were moved from Ooldea Mission when that closed, after previously being moved from their land in the

Great Victoria Desert The Great Victoria Desert is a sparsely populated desert ecoregion and Interim Biogeographic Regionalisation for Australia, interim Australian bioregion in Western Australia and South Australia. History In 1875, British-born Australian explore ...

owing to nuclear testing by the British Government. The old Colona sheep station nearby is now part of Yalata Indigenous Protected Area. ''The Atlas of South Australia'' describes the Yalata area as:

Demography

In the , the Yalata Indigenous Protected Area, including the Yalata

, had a population of 313 and the township's population was 302 – an increase of 54 or 22 per cent from the 2016 census – of whom 277 were Aboriginal. The population habitually fluctuates, up to about 500, depending on cultural business, seasons and other factors. Pitjantjatja was spoken as the primary language in 77.0% of homes in the Yalata area, specifically a southern dialect. Stated religious affiliation of residents was

Lutheran Lutheranism is a major branch of Protestantism that emerged under the work of Martin Luther, the 16th-century German friar and Protestant Reformers, reformer whose efforts to reform the theology and practices of the Catholic Church launched ...

57.2%, Australian Aboriginal traditional religions 4.5%, and Anglican 1.0%; 23.6% made no statement as to religion and 11.8% stated "no religion".

History

Yalata lies on the traditional lands of the Wirangu people. Decades after the European settlement of South Australia began in 1836, a

sheep station A sheep station is a large property ( station, the equivalent of a ranch) in Australia or New Zealand, whose main activity is the raising of sheep for their wool and/or meat. In Australia, sheep stations are usually in the south-east or sout ...

known as Yalata station was established, with its homestead built in 1880 on a high hill inland from Fowlers Bay, where there was then a town known as Yalata. Its land stretched from the

Nullarbor Plain The Nullarbor Plain ( ; Latin: feminine of 'no' and 'tree') is part of the area of flat, almost treeless, arid or semi-arid country of southern Australia, located on the Great Australian Bight coast with the Great Victoria Desert to its no ...

across to Point Brown near Streaky Bay on the

Eyre Peninsula The Eyre Peninsula is a triangular peninsula in South Australia. It is bounded by the Spencer Gulf on the east, the Great Australian Bight on the west, and the Gawler Ranges to the north. Earlier called Eyre's Peninsula, it was named after e ...

. The huge sheep station ran up to 120,000 sheep at times. In the 1950s, areas around Maralinga and

Emu The emu (; ''Dromaius novaehollandiae'') is a species of flightless bird endemism, endemic to Australia, where it is the Tallest extant birds, tallest native bird. It is the only extant taxon, extant member of the genus ''Dromaius'' and the ...

were used for nuclear testing by the British Government. Around this time the

Australian Government The Australian Government, also known as the Commonwealth Government or simply as the federal government, is the national executive government of Australia, a federal parliamentary constitutional monarchy. The executive consists of the pr ...

resumed much Anangu land to be used for the Woomera Rocket testing Range. Aboriginal people in the area, who were Pila Nguru (Spinifex people, of the

) were moved to a United Aborigines Mission (UAM) at Ooldea, before that closed in 1952 due to internal divisions. The people did not want to move from there, as they were used to ranging the desert, and had used the Ooldea Soak as a water source for many generations. In 1951

South Australian Government The Government of South Australia, also referred to as the South Australian Government or the SA Government, is the executive branch of the state of South Australia. It is modelled on the Westminster system, meaning that the highest ranking mem ...

bought the entire Yalata sheep station, including its 7000 sheep, "for the benefit and use of aborigines", and in 1954 turned the whole area, other than two sections, into an

Aboriginal reserve An Aboriginal reserve, also called simply reserve, was a government-sanctioned settlement for Aboriginal Australians, created under various state and federal legislation. Along with missions and other institutions, they were used from the 19th ...

under the South Australian Aborigines Protection Board. The "spiritual welfare and education" of the Aboriginal people were handed over to the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Australia, South Australian District, who would also run the property as a sheep station, with the remaining more than 6000 sheep. The Board would contribute to the cost of caring for the people, and take care of their medical needs, and hoped to establish "a worthy institution". A group of Ooldea people who were in the process of moving themselves to Ernabella and many others were forcibly removed to Yalata, which was an environment quite alien to them.

Missionaries A missionary is a member of a religious group who is sent into an area in order to promote its faith or provide services to people, such as education, literacy, social justice, health care, and economic development.Thomas Hale 'On Being a Miss ...

from the Koonibba Mission assisted with the move to the reserve, where the Ooldea people remained for two years before the Yalata Mission was created. Before the mission was set up, the Lutherans were concerned that having a different denomination such as the UAM running a mission so close to Koonibba would confuse the Aboriginal people who would inevitably move between the two, as the teachings were different. The Lutheran missionaries planned to teach the mission residents how to raise sheep, and the mission would be run in conjunction with Koonibba. The government would take about 50% of the

gross income For households and individuals, gross income is the sum of all wages, salaries, profits, interest payments, rents, and other forms of earnings, before any deductions or taxes. It is opposed to net income, defined as the gross income minus taxes ...

of the station. The mission included administrative buildings, a school and a store. Residents lived in two camps: the "Big Camp" moved around the reserve at different times of the year, while Aboriginal mission workers and their families", and some of the elderly or sick residents lived in the "Little Camp". By 1969, many of the 300 people living at the mission were working on the nearby Colona Station (which by around 2007 was part of the Yalata Indigenous Protected Area). In 1974 the Yalata Community Council took over the whole reserve, and the mission ceased operation as a mission. The Maralinga Tjarutja native title land was handed back to the Anangu under legislation passed by both houses of the South Australian Parliament in December 1984 and proclaimed in January 1985. The Yalata Aboriginal lands cover and span approximately of the Eyre Highway. Inland Anangu resettled on the land in 1995 and formed a community at Oak Valley. Regular movement of Anangu between Yalata and Oak Valley continued to occur. Yalata Roadhouse was closed in 2006. In August 2007, fire destroyed the shed-structure

police station A police station is a facility operated by police or a similar law enforcement agency that serves to accommodate police officers and other law enforcement personnel. The role served by a police station varies by agency, type, and jurisdiction, ...

and associated home, with damage estimated at 500,000. In July 2018, a unit of the

Australian Army The Australian Army is the principal Army, land warfare force of Australia. It is a part of the Australian Defence Force (ADF), along with the Royal Australian Navy and the Royal Australian Air Force. The Army is commanded by the Chief of Army ...

were posted in Yalata charged with building a new staff house and a child care centre; roadworks; upgrading the

caravan park Caravan or caravans may refer to: Transport and travel * Campervan, a type of vehicle also known as a motor caravan *Caravan (travellers), a group of travellers journeying together **Caravanserai, a place where a caravan could stop * Caravan (tra ...

; and safely demolishing the old asbestos-riddled Yalata roadhouse.

Governance

Yalata is governed at the local level by the Yalata Community Council, one of the several local government bodies in South Australia classified as Aboriginal Councils (AC). Yalata Land is held in trust under the '' Aboriginal Lands Trust Act 1966'' and covers an area of . At the state and federal levels, Yalata lies in the electoral district of Flinders and at the

division of Grey The Division of Grey is an Divisions of the Australian House of Representatives, Australian electoral division in South Australia. The division was one of the seven established when the former Division of South Australia was redistributed on 2 ...

, respectively.

Facilities

There is a

to assist tourists passing through or visiting the

Great Australian Bight The Great Australian Bight is a large oceanic bight (geography), bight, or open bay, off the central and western portions of the southern Coast, coastline of mainland Australia. There are two definitions for its extent—one by the Internation ...

for fishing or

whale watching Whale watching is the practice of observing whales and dolphins (cetaceans) in their natural habitat. Whale watching is mostly a recreational activity (cf. birdwatching), but it can also serve scientific and/or educational purposes.Hoyt, E. ...

. Yalata Anangu School provides R-12 education. The swimming pool reopened around 2024 after a period of closure, after much needed upgrades, including new rescue and safety equipment as well as new staff. Yalata Mission Airport is a single-runway

airstrip An aerodrome, airfield, or airstrip 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 public or private use. Aerodromes in ...

that serves the community and nearby lands.

References

External links

* (Local Government Association of South Australia website) * {{authority control Towns in South Australia Aboriginal communities in South Australia

Yalata Yalata ( ), in the isolated far west of South Australia, is both an Indigenous Protected Area and, within that, a township of the same name where an Aboriginal Australians, Aboriginal community lives. The township is west of Ceduna, South Aus ...