Lajamanu, formerly known as Hooker Creek Native Settlement or just Hooker Creek, is a small town of the

Northern Territory The Northern Territory (abbreviated as NT; known formally as the Northern Territory of Australia and informally as the Territory) is an states and territories of Australia, Australian internal territory in the central and central-northern regi ...

of Australia. It is located around from

Katherine Katherine (), also spelled Catherine and Catherina, other variations, is a feminine given name. The name and its variants are popular in countries where large Christian populations exist, because of its associations with one of the earliest Ch ...

and approximately from Darwin. At the

2016 Australian census The 2016 Australian census was the 17th Census in Australia, 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 count ...

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

Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander Indigenous Australians are people with familial heritage from, or recognised membership of, the various ethnic groups living within the territory of contemporary Australia prior to History of Australia (1788–1850), British colonisation. The ...

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 th ...

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 ...

, 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 Maurice Jupurrurla Luther MBE (c. 1945 – 28 September 1985) was a Warlpiri school teacher, bilingual education advocate, artist and community leader in the community of Lajamanu in the Northern Territory Life in the Northern Territory Lut ...

, 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 Daguragu, previously also known as Wattie Creek by the Gurindji people as it is situated on a tributary of the Victoria River (Northern Territory), Victoria River, is a locality in the Northern Territory of Australia. It is located about south ...

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. Country The Gurindji people live on an estimated of land. The land is situated on the headw ...

by Prime Minister

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

, 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 set of rights, recognised by Australian law, held by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander groups or individuals to land that derive from their maintenance of their traditional laws and customs. These Aboriginal title rig ...

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 that could possibly harm the people if they move and interact freely. The term is used for a prison protocol that us ...

by the

Northern Territory Government The Northern Territory Government is the executive branch of the Northern Territory. The Government of Northern Territory was formed in 1978 with the granting of self-government to the Territory. The Northern Territory is a territory of the Co ...

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

COVID-19 pandemic in Australia The COVID-19 pandemic in Australia was a part of the COVID-19 pandemic, worldwide pandemic of the coronavirus disease 2019 () caused by SARS-CoV-2, severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first confirmed case in Aust ...

. The first

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2. In January 2020, the disease spread worldwide, resulting in the COVID-19 pandemic. The symptoms of COVID‑19 can vary but often include fever ...

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, 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 t ...

for a further , and then 104 to Lajamanu (a

dirt Dirt is any matter considered unclean, 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 * Du ...

but well-formed road). Hooker Creek Airport has a sealed

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 ...

, and is serviced by chartered flights, the

RAAF The Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) is the principal aerial warfare force of Australia, a part of the Australian Defence Force (ADF) along with the Royal Australian Navy and the Australian Army. Constitutionally the governor-general of Aus ...

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 ...

(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 ) language is an Australian Aboriginal language spoken by close to 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� ...

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" 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: Culture, language and peoples * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England * ''English'', an Amish ter ...

Geography and climate

Lajamanu is located close to the centre of Australia, which has a hot, dry climate. In February 2010 and February 2023, media outlets reported that 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 whic ...

(Leiopotherapon unicolor) rained down upon the town. However, this species has exceptionally good dispersal abilities and can migrate via overland flow, leading to its being commonly found scattered on the ground following heavy rain and mistaken reports of having fallen from the sky.

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, 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 is the modern art work produced by Indigenous Australians, that is, Aboriginal Australians and Torres Strait Islander people. It is generally regarded as beginning in 1971 with a painting movement that star ...

ists from the Lajamanu region include Sheila Brown Napaljarri and Peggy Rockman Napaljarri. 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 Australian art, Indigenous art award. Established in 1984 as the National Aboriginal Art Award by the Museum and Art Gallery of the No ...

in 2008, 2009, 2010 and 2011.

Notable people

* Telaya Blacksmith, Athlete *

(1945–1985), see

above Above may refer to: *Above (artist) Tavar Zawacki (b. 1981, California) is a Polish, Portuguese - American abstract artist and internationally recognized visual artist based in Berlin, Germany. From 1996 to 2016, he created work under the ...

*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. *

Liam Patrick Liam Patrick (born 4 March 1988) is an Australian rules footballer who was picked up by Gold Coast as a zone selection after the 2009 National Draft. He made his debut against Essendon in round 6 of 2011 season. Early life Patrick was born in ...

, Australian rules footballer *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 p ...

at the

Australian National University The Australian National University (ANU) is a public university, public research university and member of the Group of Eight (Australian universities), Group of Eight, located in Canberra, the capital of Australia. Its main campus in Acton, A ...

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 six-day-a-week ''NITV News Updat ...

in November 2013, and has been available on SBS On Demand.

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