Pintupi Nine
Encyclopedia
The Pintupi Nine is a group of nine Pintupi
people who lived a traditional hunter-gatherer
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".
They are believed to be the last Aborigines
to have been living this way. They roamed between waterholes
near Lake Mackay
, near the Western Australia
-Northern Territory
border, naked except for their hairstring belts and armed with 2m-long wooden spear
s and intricately carved boomerang
s. Their diet was dominated by goanna
and rabbit
as well as bush food native plants.
The group is a family, consisting of four brothers (Warlimpirrnga, Walala, Tamlik, and Yari Yari), three sisters (Yardi, Yikultji and Tjakaraia) and two mothers (Nanyanu and Papalanyanu). The boys and girls were all in their early-to-late teens, although their exact ages were not known; the mothers were in their late 30s.
The father — the husband of the two wives — died, possibly from eating spoiled canned foods found at an old mining exploration camp. After this, the group travelled south to where they thought their relatives might be, as they had seen 'smokes' in that direction. They encountered a man from Kiwirrkura but due to misunderstanding they fled back north while he returned to the community and alerted others who then travelled back with him 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 in to 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, 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; Yardi 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 Kiwirrkurra, near Kintore
, they met with other members of their extended family.
Pintupi
Pintupi refers to an Australian Aboriginal group who are part of the Western Desert cultural group and whose homeland is in the area west of Lake MacDonald and Lake Mackay in Western Australia. These people moved into the Aboriginal communities of Papunya and Haasts Bluff in the west of the...
people who lived a traditional hunter-gatherer
Hunter-gatherer
A hunter-gatherer or forage society is one in which most or all food is obtained from wild plants and animals, in contrast to agricultural societies which rely mainly on domesticated species. Hunting and gathering was the ancestral subsistence mode of Homo, and all modern humans were...
desert-dwelling life in Australia's Gibson Desert
Gibson Desert
The Gibson Desert covers a large dry area in the state of Western Australia and is still largely in an almost "pristine" state. It is about in size, making it the 5th largest desert in Australia, after the Great Sandy, Great Victoria, Tanami and Simpson deserts.-Location and description:The Gibson...
until 1984, when they made contact with their relatives near Kiwirrkurra. They are sometimes also referred to as "the lost tribe".
They are believed to be the last Aborigines
Indigenous Australians
Indigenous Australians are the original inhabitants of the Australian continent and nearby islands. The Aboriginal Indigenous Australians migrated from the Indian continent around 75,000 to 100,000 years ago....
to have been living this way. They roamed between waterholes
Soakage
A soakage, or soak, is a source of water in Australian deserts.It is called thus because the water generally seeps into the sand, and is stored below, sometimes as part of an ephemeral river or creek system.-Aboriginal water source:...
near Lake Mackay
Lake Mackay
Lake Mackay is the largest of hundreds of ephemeral salt lakes scattered throughout Western Australia and the Northern Territory....
, near the Western Australia
Western Australia
Western Australia is a state of Australia, occupying the entire western third of the Australian continent. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Great Australian Bight and Indian Ocean to the south, the Northern Territory to the north-east and South Australia to the south-east...
-Northern Territory
Northern Territory
The Northern Territory is a federal territory of Australia, occupying much of the centre of the mainland continent, as well as the central northern regions...
border, naked except for their hairstring belts and armed with 2m-long wooden spear
Spear
A spear is a pole weapon consisting of a shaft, usually of wood, with a pointed head.The head may be simply the sharpened end of the shaft itself, as is the case with bamboo spears, or it may be made of a more durable material fastened to the shaft, such as flint, obsidian, iron, steel or...
s and intricately carved boomerang
Boomerang
A boomerang is a flying tool with a curved shape used as a weapon or for sport.-Description:A boomerang is usually thought of as a wooden device, although historically boomerang-like devices have also been made from bones. Modern boomerangs used for sport are often made from carbon fibre-reinforced...
s. Their diet was dominated by goanna
Goanna
Goanna is the name used to refer to any number of Australian monitor lizards of the genus Varanus, as well as to certain species from Southeast Asia.There are around 30 species of goanna, 25 of which are found in Australia...
and rabbit
Rabbit
Rabbits are small mammals in the family Leporidae of the order Lagomorpha, found in several parts of the world...
as well as bush food native plants.
The group is a family, consisting of four brothers (Warlimpirrnga, Walala, Tamlik, and Yari Yari), three sisters (Yardi, Yikultji and Tjakaraia) and two mothers (Nanyanu and Papalanyanu). The boys and girls were all in their early-to-late teens, although their exact ages were not known; the mothers were in their late 30s.
The father — the husband of the two wives — died, possibly from eating spoiled canned foods found at an old mining exploration camp. After this, the group travelled south to where they thought their relatives might be, as they had seen 'smokes' in that direction. They encountered a man from Kiwirrkura but due to misunderstanding they fled back north while he returned to the community and alerted others who then travelled back with him 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 in to 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, the Pintupi nine were invited to come and live at Kiwirrkura, where most of them still reside.
The Pintupi
Pintupi language
Pintupi is an indigenous Australian language. It is one of the Wati languages of the large Southwest branch of the Pama–Nyungan family. It is one of the varieties of the Western Desert Language ....
-speaking trackers told them there was plenty of food, and water that came out of pipes; Yardi 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 Kiwirrkurra, near Kintore
Kintore, Northern Territory
Kintore is a remote settlement in the Northern Territory of Australia, located approximately 530 km west of Alice Springs and close to the border with Western Australia. At the 2001 census, Kintore had a population of 691, of which 95% identified themselves as Aboriginal...
, they met with other members of their extended family.