Kaltukatjara , also known as Docker River, is a remote

Indigenous Australian Indigenous Australians or Australian First Nations are people with familial heritage from, and membership in, the ethnic groups that lived in Australia before British colonisation. They consist of two distinct groups: the Aboriginal peoples o ...

community in the

Northern Territory The Northern Territory (commonly abbreviated as NT; formally the Northern Territory of Australia) is an Australian territory in the central and central northern regions of Australia. The Northern Territory shares its borders with Western Au ...

of Australia. It is southwest of

Alice Springs Alice Springs ( aer, Mparntwe) is the third-largest town in the Northern Territory of Australia. Known as Stuart until 31 August 1933, the name Alice Springs was given by surveyor William Whitfield Mills after Alice, Lady Todd (''née'' Al ...

, west of the

Stuart Highway Stuart Highway is a major Australian highway. It runs from Darwin, in the Northern Territory, via Tennant Creek and Alice Springs, to Port Augusta in South Australia; a distance of . Its northern and southern extremities are segments of Aust ...

, near the

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 ...

and

border. The township is on a

wadi Wadi ( ar, وَادِي, wādī), alternatively ''wād'' ( ar, وَاد), North African Arabic Oued, is the Arabic term traditionally referring to a valley. In some instances, it may refer to a wet ( ephemeral) riverbed that contains water on ...

called the Docker Creek on the north side of the west end of the Petermann Ranges in the southwest corner of the

of Australia. At the 2006 census, Kaltukatjara had a population of 355.

History

A permanent settlement at "Docker River" was established in 1968 to relieve pressure on the Warburton settlement and provide an opportunity for

Aboriginal people Indigenous peoples are culturally distinct ethnic groups whose members are directly descended from the earliest known inhabitants of a particular geographic region and, to some extent, maintain the language and culture of those original people ...

to live closer to their homelands. PY Media states that Kaltukatjara acquired its European name "Docker River" from explorer

Ernest Giles William Ernest Powell Giles (20 July 1835 – 13 November 1897), best known as Ernest Giles, was an Australian explorer who led five major expeditions to parts of South Australia and Western Australia. Early life Ernest Giles was born in Bris ...

, as well as other history, as follows:

The site that is now Kaltukatjara was originally named Docker River by Ernest Giles during his expedition of 1872.

Pastors Duguid and Strehlow surveyed the area in the 1930s with a view to establishing a settlement for the people in the area. It was decided not to proceed with this at that time. During the 30s and 40s Luther(a)n missionaries told the Pitjantjatjara people of the Kaltukatjara area to go to Areyonga (then an outstation of
Hermannsburg mission The Hermannsburg Mission (german: Hermannsburger Mission) was founded as the Hermannsburg Mission Centre (''Missionsanstalt Hermannsburg'') in 1849 in Hermannsburg, near Celle, North Germany, by Louis Harms. In 1977, the independent mission so ...
) where they would be supplied with food and clothing. Although many Anangu moved in of their own free will, some stayed in the Petermanns.

In the 1960s Areyonga Anangu strongly desired to move back to the area around Docker River and with government assistance a permanent settlement was established there in 1967-8. Over 300 Anangu moved to establish the new settlement.

By the proclamation of the '' Aboriginal Lands Rights (N.T.) Act, 1976'', Anangu in the region gained freehold title to these traditional lands an area of 44,970 square kilometres.

The settlement was funded as an outstation during the 1980s.PDF
/ref> In 2009,

feral camel Australian feral camels are feral populations of dromedaries (''Camelus dromedarius'') in Australia. Imported from British India and Afghanistan during the 19th century for transport and construction during the colonisation of the central an ...

s had become a major problem for local residents. Around 6,000 animals entered the town searching for water. Preparations for an emergency cull of using a sharpshooter were underway.

Geography

Kaltukatjara lies on the

Tjukaruru Road The Great Central Road is a mostly unsealed Australian outback highway that runs from Laverton, Western Australia to Yulara, Northern Territory (near Uluru / Ayers Rock). It passes through a number of small communities on the way. History The ...

which becomes the

Great Central Road The Great Central Road is a mostly unsealed Australian outback highway that runs from Laverton, Western Australia to Yulara, Northern Territory (near Uluru / Ayers Rock). It passes through a number of small communities on the way. History The ...

when it crosses into

7 kilometres to the west.

Climate

Based upon the climate records of the nearest weather station at Giles across the border to the west in

, Kaltukatjara experiences summer maximum temperatures of an average of 37.2 degrees Celsius in January and a winter maximum average temperature of 19.9 degrees Celsius in July. Overnight lows range from a mean minimum temperature of 23.5 degrees in January to 6.8 degrees in June. Annual rainfall averages 284.2 millimetres.

Demographics

The 2001 ABS Census recorded that there were 297 people living in the community, an increase of 20 on the 277 people disclosed in the 1997 Census. The people speak

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 var ...

and

Ngaatjatjarra The Ngaatjatjarra (otherwise spelt Ngadadjara) are an Indigenous Australian people of Western Australia, with communities located in the north eastern part of the Goldfields-Esperance region. Name The ethnonym Ngaatjatjarra, in line with a gene ...

, and largely identify as Anangu. The 2001 Census revealed that Kaltukatjara was second only to its northern neighbour Kintore in the having the highest proportion of its population engaged in health and community services (26.3%).

Governance

Before 2008-07-01, Kaltukatjara was served by the Kaltukatjara Community Council, composed of twelve residents who are elected annually. The Council served as the local government and qualified as a " local government area". On 2008-07-01, it became part 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 ...

Facilities

Water for the Kaltukatjara supply system is obtained from three bores, one located near the ground tanks and one approximately 1.5 km west of the community. There are 3 ground tanks and 1 raised tank in the community. Water quality is of a high standard with chlorine needed only on rare occasions. Kaltukatjara has a sewerage system and some houses are fitted with their own septic tanks. Electricity is provided by three diesel power generators. Roads within the township are sealed, but the Petermann Road (the main road to the community) is unsealed. Kaltukatjara has an airstrip, general store (with petrol supplies), Tjarlirli Art centre and gallery, recreation hall, aged care facility, health centre, school, two public telephones, an Australian Rules football oval and basketball court. By 2017 the airstrip had been paved, along with the access road from town. There is a

Lutheran church Lutheranism is one of the largest branches of Protestantism, identifying primarily with the theology of Martin Luther, the 16th-century German monk and Protestant Reformers, reformer whose efforts to reform the theology and practice of the Cathol ...

with a resident pastor, overseen by the Lutheran Church's

Finke River Mission Hermannsburg, also known as Ntaria, is an Aboriginal community in Ljirapinta Ward of the MacDonnell Shire in the Northern Territory of Australia, ; west southwest of Alice Springs, on the Finke River, in the traditional lands of the Western A ...

board.PY Media Waru website

References

External links

PY Media Waru website

Google Maps satellite image of Katukatjara

{{authority control Aboriginal communities in the Northern Territory Towns in the Northern Territory MacDonnell Region