Kiwirrkurra Community, Western Australia

History

It was established around a bore in the early 1980s as a Pintupi settlement, as part of the outstation movement, and became a permanent community in 1983. It was one of the last areas with nomadic Aboriginal people until about that time, the Pintupi Nine.

It was flooded in early 2000, and further flooding between 3 and 5 March 2001 forced the evacuation of its population of 170, first briefly to Kintore and then for four weeks to NORFORCE's base in Alice Springs and finally to Morapoi Station in the Goldfields of Western Australia, 2000 km SSW of Kiwirrkurra. The stay in Alice Springs and Morapoi brought the community into contact with alcohol for the first time and led to violence and social disruption. By late 2002 the community had moved back to Kiwirrkurra.

On 19 October 2001 the Kiwirrkurra people gained native title over 42900 km2 of the surrounding land and waters.

On 19 June 2009, a 26-year-old man from Kiwirrkurra was the first Australian to die of the 2009 flu pandemic; he was initially treated in Alice Springs hospital but he died in Royal Adelaide Hospital.{{cite web |url-status=dead

A Perth Catholic boys' school, CBC Fremantle, has established an immersion partnership program with the local Kiwirrkura community to further Indigenous relations, improve local facilities and further the students' social and pastoral developments. Students and teachers organise trips about once a year.

The Kiwirrkura community worked to establish the Kiwirrkurra Indigenous Protected Area, which was formally launched in September 2014.

Location and description

The settlement is located in the Gibson Desert in Western Australia, 1200 km east of Port Hedland and 700 km west of Alice Springs. Although it is situated outside of the Ngaanyatjarra Lands, Kiwirrkurra is affiliated with the Ngaanyatjarra Council.

Although situated in a desert, it is in a low-lying area without drainage, and thus prone to flooding.

The residents of the settlement are Pintupi, and speak the Pintupi language, one of several Western Desert languages.

Naming

Although the community name is gazetted as "Kiwirrkurra Community" and this is the usual spelling,

Facilities

There is a school campus called Kiwirrkurra Campus, with three teachers and 24 students as of 2021. The school teaches Pintupi language and culture. One school principal manages the school along with nine others across the Ngaanyatjarra Lands in the Western Desert region of WA, collectively known as Ngaanyatjarra Lands School.

Notable people

• Takariya Napaltjarri (born ) – Indigenous artist
• Ningura Napurrula ( – 2013) – Indigenous artist

References

References

1. [https://airportnavfinder.com/airport/YKIC/ Airport Nav Finder]
2. Morris, Nathan. (2 February 2017). "School principal manages nine schools across two time zones in remote WA".
3. It had a population of 165 in 2016, mostly [[Aboriginal Australians]].[[Australian Bureau of Statistics]], 2075.0 – Census of Population and Housing – Counts of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians, 2016 (Microsoft Excel spreadsheet)[http://www.abs.gov.au/ausstats/subscriber.nsf/log?openagent&table%2009.%20census%20counts,%20indigenous%20regions%20-%20western%20australia,%202016.xls&2075.0&Data%20Cubes&5F8E671885E2B298CA25818D000FC557&0&2016&31.08.2017&Latest]
4. (25 March 2009). "Kiwirrkurra – the most remote community in Australia". Biting the Dust.
5. Brinkley, Cath. (February 2009). "Kiwirrkurra:the flood in the desert". The Australian Journal of Emergency Management.
6. (19 October 2001). "Negotiations result in recognition of Kiwirrkurra people's native title rights". [[National Native Title Tribunal]].
7. Rickard, Jayne. (25 June 2009). "Kiwirrkurra man did not die of swine flu". [[The West Australian]].
8. Pepper, Daile. (19 June 2009). "WA man dies from swine flu". [[The Sydney Morning Herald]].
9. [http://www.centraldesert.org.au/program-region-item/kiwirrkurra/ Kiwirrkurra Indigenous Protected Area]
10. "Frequently Asked Questions: Information Technology Communications". Rural Health West.
11. "Placenames search". [[Geoscience Australia]].
12. "Foundation Spatial Data". Geoscience Australia.
13. Gray, James. (2021). "Variable modality in pintupi-luritja purposive clauses.". Languages.
14. (1999). "A learner's guide to Pintupi-Luritja". IAD Press.
15. (9 April 2018). "Kiwirrkurra Campus".