20-623: The Pintupi Nine are a group of nine Pintupi people who remained unaware of European colonisation of Australia and lived a traditional desert-dwelling life in Australia's Gibson Desert until 1984, when they made contact with their relatives near Kiwirrkurra . They are sometimes also referred to as "the lost tribe". The group were hailed as "the last nomads" in the international press when they left their nomadic life in October 1984. The group roamed between waterholes near Lake Mackay , near
40-423: A misunderstanding involving a shotgun they fled back north while the campers returned to the community and alerted others who then travelled back with them to find the group. The community members quickly realised that the group were relatives who had been left behind in the desert twenty years earlier, when many had travelled into the missions nearer Alice Springs . The community members travelled by vehicle to where
60-730: The Pintupi Nine , also sometimes called the "lost tribe". Over recent decades groups of Pintupi have moved back to their traditional country, as part of what has come to be called the outstation movement . These groups set up the communities of Kintore ( Wa l ungurru in Pintupi ) in the Northern Territory , Kiwirrkura and Jupiter Well (in Pintupi: Puntutjarrpa ) in Western Australia . There
80-611: The Western Australia - Northern Territory border, wearing hairstring belts and armed with two-metre-long ( 6 + 1 ⁄ 2 ft) wooden spears and spear throwers , and intricately carved boomerangs . Their diet was dominated by goanna and rabbit as well as bush food native plants. The group was a family, consisting of two co-wives (Nanyanu and Papalanyanu) and seven children. There were four brothers ( Warlimpirrnga , Walala , Tamlik , and Piyiti) and three sisters ( Yalti , Yikultji and Takariya ). The children were all in their teens, although their exact ages were not known;
100-526: The Western Desert cultural group and whose traditional land is in the area west of Lake Macdonald and Lake Mackay in Western Australia . These people moved (or were moved) into the Aboriginal communities of Papunya and Haasts Bluff in the west of the Northern Territory in the 1940s–1980s. The last Pintupi to leave their traditional lifestyle in the desert, in 1984, are a group known as
120-654: The Pintupi nine were invited to come and live at Kiwirrkura, where most of them still reside. The Pintupi -speaking trackers told them there was plenty of food, and water that came out of pipes; Yalti has said that this concept astounded them. Medical examination revealed that the Tjapaltjarri clan (as they are also known) were "in beautiful condition. Not an ounce of fat, well proportioned, strong, fit, healthy". At Kiwirrkura , near Kintore , they met with other members of their extended family. In 1986, Piyiti returned to
140-643: The Tjapaltjarri clan (as they are also known) were "in beautiful condition. Not an ounce of fat, well proportioned, strong, fit, healthy". At Kiwirrkura , near Kintore , they met with other members of their extended family. In 1986, Piyiti returned to the desert. Warlimpirrnga , Walala and Tamlik (now known as "Thomas") have gained international recognition in the art world as the Tjapaltjarri Brothers. The three sisters, Yalti , Yikultji and Takariya , are also well-known Aboriginal artists whose works can be seen on exhibition and purchased from
160-480: The area and Aboriginal people were located and moved (or encouraged to move) into one of the settlements on the eastern fringe of the desert, such as Haasts Bluff , Hermannsburg and Papunya . As a result of different people leaving the desert at different times and in different directions, Pintupi have wound up living at a variety of communities around the edge of the desert, including Warburton , Kaltukatjara (formerly known as Docker River), Balgo and Mulan , but
180-572: The desert. Warlimpirrnga , Walala and Tamlik (now known as "Thomas") have gained international recognition in the art world as the Tjapaltjarri Brothers. The three sisters, Yalti , Yikultji and Takariya , are also well-known Aboriginal artists whose works can be seen on exhibition and purchased from a number of art dealers. One of the mothers has died; the other has settled with the three sisters in Kiwirrkurra. Pintupi The Pintupi are an Australian Aboriginal group who are part of
200-407: The forced removal of thousands of Aboriginal children from their parents and their dispersal into government or religious institutions or foster care (see Stolen Generation ). At Papunya , a government settlement, Pintupi mixed with Warlpiri , Arrernte , Anmatyerre and Luritja language groups, but formed the largest language group. Conditions were so bad that 129 people, or almost one-sixth of
220-424: The group were last seen and then tracked them for some time before finding them. After making contact and establishing their relationships, the Pintupi nine were invited to come and live at Kiwirrkura, where most of them still reside. The Pintupi -speaking trackers told them there was plenty of food, and water that came out of pipes; Yalti has said that this concept astounded them. Medical examination revealed that
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#1732773243779240-399: The group. The community members quickly realised that the group were relatives who had been left behind in the desert twenty years earlier, when many had travelled into the missions nearer Alice Springs . The community members travelled by vehicle to where the group were last seen and then tracked them for some time before finding them. After making contact and establishing their relationships,
260-454: The international press when they left their nomadic life in October 1984. The group roamed between waterholes near Lake Mackay , near the Western Australia - Northern Territory border, wearing hairstring belts and armed with two-metre-long ( 6 + 1 ⁄ 2 ft) wooden spears and spear throwers , and intricately carved boomerangs . Their diet was dominated by goanna and rabbit as well as bush food native plants. The group
280-607: The majority reside at the major Pintupi communities of Kintore, Kiwirrkura and Papunya. In the 1960s, the Menzies Liberal government forced the removal of traditional-living Pintupi to settlements east of their country, closer to Alice Springs . The government argued that they were not ready to live in modern society and needed to be re-educated before assimilation into white society. In practice, this meant relocation from their traditional lands and suppression of their language , art and culture. This policy also involved
300-433: The mothers were in their late 30s. On the death of the father – husband of the two wives – the group travelled south to where they thought their relatives might be, as they had seen "smokes" in that direction. They encountered two campers from Kiwirrkura but due to a misunderstanding involving a shotgun they fled back north while the campers returned to the community and alerted others who then travelled back with them to find
320-484: The residents, died of treatable diseases such as hepatitis , meningitis and encephalitis between 1962 and 1966 . In common with neighbouring groups, such as the Warlpiri , the Pintupi have a complex kinship system , with eight different kin groups, made more so by distinct prefixes for male and female skin names; "Tj" for males, "N" for females: The Pintupi refer to places and their attached dreaming stories by
340-598: The skin names of their owners or ancestral heroes which passed through the area. This is done to both record the stories of Dreamtime figures and keep record of the complex Pintupi kinship structure. Pintupi Nine The Pintupi Nine are a group of nine Pintupi people who remained unaware of European colonisation of Australia and lived a traditional desert-dwelling life in Australia's Gibson Desert until 1984, when they made contact with their relatives near Kiwirrkurra . They are sometimes also referred to as "the lost tribe". The group were hailed as "the last nomads" in
360-567: Was a family, consisting of two co-wives (Nanyanu and Papalanyanu) and seven children. There were four brothers ( Warlimpirrnga , Walala , Tamlik , and Piyiti) and three sisters ( Yalti , Yikultji and Takariya ). The children were all in their teens, although their exact ages were not known; the mothers were in their late 30s. On the death of the father – husband of the two wives – the group travelled south to where they thought their relatives might be, as they had seen "smokes" in that direction. They encountered two campers from Kiwirrkura but due to
380-511: Was also a recent dramatic increase in Pintupi populations and speakers of the Pintupi language. Pintupi lands, in Tindale 's estimation, spread over roughly 8,000 square miles (21,000 km ), embracing the areas of Lake Mackay , Lake Macdonald , Mount Russell, the Ehrenberg and Kintore ranges and Warman Rocks. Their western extension ran to near Winbaruku, while their southern frontier
400-532: Was in the vicinity of Johnstone Hill. Inhabiting a very remote part of Australia, the Pintupi were among the last Aboriginal Australians to leave their traditional lifestyle. For many, this occurred as a result of the Blue Streak missile tests which began in the 1960s. As these missiles would have a trajectory landing in the desert areas known to still be inhabited, government officials decided that these people should be relocated. A number of trips were made to
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