Areyonga, Northern Territory
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

Areyonga () is a small town in 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, located about west of
Alice Springs Alice Springs () is a town in the Northern Territory, Australia; it is the third-largest settlement after Darwin, Northern Territory, Darwin and Palmerston, Northern Territory, Palmerston. The name Alice Springs was given by surveyor William ...
. Founded in the 1920s, it had a population of about 236 in the
2021 Australian census The 2021 Australian census, simply called the 2021 Census, was the eighteenth national Census of Population and Housing in Australia. The 2021 Census took place on 10 August 2021, and was conducted by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS). ...
, most of whom are
Aboriginal people There is no generally accepted definition of Indigenous peoples, although in the 21st century the focus has been on self-identification, cultural difference from other groups in a state, a special relationship with their traditional territ ...
of the
Pitjantjatjara language Pitjantjatjara ( ; or ) is a dialect of the Western Desert language traditionally spoken by the Pitjantjatjara people of Central Australia. It is mutual intelligibility, mutually intelligible with other varieties of the Western Desert languag ...
group. Areyonga School was one of the earliest adopters of "
two-way education Education in Australia encompasses the sectors of early childhood education (preschool) and primary education (primary schools), followed by secondary education (high schools), and finally tertiary education, which includes higher education ( ...
", which celebrated its 50th anniversary in June 2023.


History

Areyonga was founded during the 1920s. A long
drought A drought is a period of drier-than-normal conditions.Douville, H., K. Raghavan, J. Renwick, R.P. Allan, P.A. Arias, M. Barlow, R. Cerezo-Mota, A. Cherchi, T.Y. Gan, J. Gergis, D.  Jiang, A.  Khan, W.  Pokam Mba, D.  Rosenfeld, J. Tierney, ...
forced Pitjantatjara families to leave Kaḻṯukatjara and other places in the Petermann Ranges. They originally moved to
Hermannsburg Hermannsburg is a village and a former municipality in the Celle (district), Celle district, in Lower Saxony, Germany. Since 1 January 2015 it is part of the municipality Südheide (municipality), Südheide. It has been a state-recognised resort t ...
and then set up a new community at Areyonga. A
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 ...
mission was established in the settlement in the 1940s. In the 1970s, many people from the mission moved back to the community at Kaḻṯukatjara. The Lutheran mission at Areyonga was closed in 1990, and the land was given back to the native people as part of the Haasts Bluff Aboriginal Land Trust. The term " Finke River Mission" was initially an alternative name for the
mission Mission (from Latin 'the act of sending out'), Missions or The Mission may refer to: Geography Australia *Mission River (Queensland) Canada *Mission, British Columbia, a district municipality * Mission, Calgary, Alberta, a neighbourhood * ...
at
Hermannsburg Hermannsburg is a village and a former municipality in the Celle (district), Celle district, in Lower Saxony, Germany. Since 1 January 2015 it is part of the municipality Südheide (municipality), Südheide. It has been a state-recognised resort t ...
, but this name was later often used to include the settlements at
Haasts Bluff Haasts Bluff, also known as Ikuntji, is an Aboriginal Australian community in Central Australia, a region of the Northern Territory. The community is located in the MacDonnell Shire local government area, west of Alice Springs. At the 2006 ce ...
, Areyonga and, later,
Papunya Papunya ( Pintupi-Luritja: ''Warumpi'') is a small Indigenous Australian community roughly northwest of Alice Springs (Mparntwe) in the Northern Territory, Australia. It is known as an important centre for Contemporary Indigenous Australian ar ...
. It now refers to all Lutheran missionary activity in
Central Australia Central Australia, also sometimes referred to as the Red Centre, is an inexactly defined region associated with the geographic centre of Australia. In its narrowest sense it describes a region that is limited to the town of Alice Springs and ...
since the first mission was established at Hermannsburg in 1877. In the 1950s and 60s, many of the local women worked as
domestic servant A domestic worker is a person who works within a residence and performs a variety of household services for an individual, from providing cleaning and household maintenance, or cooking, laundry and ironing, or childcare, care for children and ...
s for white families, and the men in orchards and public utilities. The children were put in uniforms and taken to school by white people, and afterwards taken back to camp. Through the 1970s to 1980s, a number of models of self-governing councils were trialled.


Location, geography and access

Areyonga is located about west of
Alice Springs Alice Springs () is a town in the Northern Territory, Australia; it is the third-largest settlement after Darwin, Northern Territory, Darwin and Palmerston, Northern Territory, Palmerston. The name Alice Springs was given by surveyor William ...
. It lies in a valley at the western end of the
MacDonnell Ranges The MacDonnell Ranges, or Tjoritja in Arrernte language, Arrernte, is a mountain range located in southern Northern Territory. MacDonnell Ranges is also the name given to an Interim Biogeographic Regionalisation for Australia, interim Australia ...
at the base of a deep and spectacular gorge. It has abundant
flora and fauna An organism is any living thing that functions as an individual. Such a definition raises more problems than it solves, not least because the concept of an individual is also difficult. Many criteria, few of them widely accepted, have been pro ...
along its creek bed and waterholes, including a large feral donkey population. It is a detour from the Mereenie Loop for visitors coming through from Kings Canyon. No permit is required to visit.


Governance

The town is governed by Areyonga Aboriginal Community. Areyonga is located within the federal division of Lingiari, the territory electoral division of Gwoja and the
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 federated state, state, province, division (politica ...
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 sou ...
.


Demographics

In the
2021 Australian census The 2021 Australian census, simply called the 2021 Census, was the eighteenth national Census of Population and Housing in Australia. The 2021 Census took place on 10 August 2021, and was conducted by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS). ...
, the population was reported as 236, which was a rise from 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 ...
, which recorded 195. In 2021, of which 176 (89.4%) identified as Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander people (mostly
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 v ...
, with 80.9% using
Pitjantjatjara language Pitjantjatjara ( ; or ) is a dialect of the Western Desert language traditionally spoken by the Pitjantjatjara people of Central Australia. It is mutual intelligibility, mutually intelligible with other varieties of the Western Desert languag ...
at home). The majority (62.7%) identified their religion as
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 ...
. The community's ABS classification is "Very Remote".


Facilities

Areyonga has a
general store A general merchant store (also known as general merchandise store, general dealer, village shop, or country store) is a rural or small-town store that carries a general line of merchandise. It carries a broad selection of merchandise, someti ...
, community hall, and sporting facilities, including an Aussie rules football oval, and
basketball court In basketball, the basketball court is the playing surface, consisting of a rectangular floor, with baskets at each end. Indoor basketball courts are almost always made of polished wood, usually maple, with -high rims on each basket. Outdoor ...
. The local football team, Areyonga Desert Tigers, travels up to to play opponents at places such as Docker River.


Education

Areyonga School provides education from
primary Primary or primaries may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Music Groups and labels * Primary (band), from Australia * Primary (musician), hip hop musician and record producer from South Korea * Primary Music, Israeli record label Work ...
through to
middle school Middle school, also known as intermediate school, junior high school, junior secondary school, or lower secondary school, is an educational stage between primary school and secondary school. Afghanistan In Afghanistan, middle school includes g ...
. As of August 2021, there were 37 students enrolled at the school, and the head is Toby Brown. In 1973 Areyonga School was one of five schools in which 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 ...
ran a
pilot program A pilot experiment, pilot study, pilot test or pilot project is a small-scale preliminary study conducted to evaluate feasibility, duration, cost, adverse events, and improve upon the study design prior to performance of a full-scale research ...
in five schools offering
bilingual education In bilingual education, students are taught in two (or more) languages. It is distinct from learning a second language as a subject because both languages are used for instruction in different content areas like math, science, and history. The t ...
, with lessons taught in
Pitjantjatjara language Pitjantjatjara ( ; or ) is a dialect of the Western Desert language traditionally spoken by the Pitjantjatjara people of Central Australia. It is mutual intelligibility, mutually intelligible with other varieties of the Western Desert languag ...
as well as English. This has continued through to the present day, celebrating 50 years in June 2023. Culture is taught as well as language, in a model known as " two-way" or "both ways" education. Local assistant teacher Djala Andrews, who died in 2018, is credited with getting the program running, while David Raff was principal in the early days. Tarna Andrews, Djala's partner, is still teaching at the school, nearly 40 years after starting there, and Christine Bennett and Lucinda Nipper are assistant teachers. For the 50-year celebration, past principals, teacher linguists, and other staff members travelled to the school to join the inma and other activities. The school is also participating in
CSIRO The Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) is an Australian Government agency that is responsible for scientific research and its commercial and industrial applications. CSIRO works with leading organisations arou ...
's "Science Pathways for Indigenous Communities Indigenous STEM Education Project", through the Tangentyere Council. In this program, known as "Two-way Science", Aboriginal
ecological Ecology () is the natural science of the relationships among living organisms and their environment. Ecology considers organisms at the individual, population, community, ecosystem, and biosphere levels. Ecology overlaps with the closely re ...
knowledge is taught through outdoor and classroom projects. In 1985, the school had a
mural A mural is any piece of Graphic arts, graphic artwork that is painted or applied directly to a wall, ceiling or other permanent substrate. Mural techniques include fresco, mosaic, graffiti and marouflage. Word mural in art The word ''mural'' ...
painted by a local artist called "Kaipipi Bob". During the 1980s, artists and writers in the
Pitjantjatjara language Pitjantjatjara ( ; or ) is a dialect of the Western Desert language traditionally spoken by the Pitjantjatjara people of Central Australia. It is mutual intelligibility, mutually intelligible with other varieties of the Western Desert languag ...
worked with the teachers at the school, and Indigenous stories, activities, and imagery featured in classroom materials and books. The curriculum included knowledge and stories about practical matters such as plants and seasons, as well as using the store and the clinic.
Visual literacy Visual literacy is the ability to interpret, negotiate, and make meaning from information presented in the form of an image, extending the meaning of literacy, which commonly signifies interpretation of a written or printed text. Visual literac ...
is important in Indigenous culture, as they "read" their environment.


People

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 v ...
artist Bill Whiskey Tjapaltjarri lived at the mission for some time in his younger days in the mid-20th century, working as a labourer, clearing land, building, mustering, and cooking, for which he was paid in rations. He married Colleen Nampitjinpa at Areyonga. Another artist, Christine Brumby, was born in Areyonga in 1965, before moving to Docker River and later to Mutitjulu, near
Uluru Uluru (; ), also known as Ayers Rock ( ) and officially gazetted as UluruAyers Rock, is a large sandstone monolith. It outcrop, crops out near the centre of Australia in the southern part of the Northern Territory, south-west of Alice Spri ...
. She was one of four senior women artists from Maruku Arts & Crafts who decorated the canvas version of the ''
Uluru Statement from the Heart The ''Uluru Statement from the Heart'' is a 2017 petition to the people of Australia, written and endorsed by the Australian Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander leaders selected as delegates to the First Nations National Constitutional Conv ...
'' in 2017.


References


External links


Utju / Areyonga
on the MacDonnell Shire website, archived 2013 {{Localities and communities of the MacDonnell Region, state=collapsed MacDonnell Region Aboriginal communities in the Northern Territory Pitjantjatjara