Central Land Council

The Land is Always Alive

Mt Barkly

Mt Barkly was the first pastoral lease in the Northern Territory to be purchased directly by Aboriginal people.

The station, which is 360 kilometres north-west of Alice Springs, was purchased in 1981 using profits from the neighbouring Willowra Station, which is also Aboriginal owned. Mt Barkly has only marginal viability as a cattle property but covers areas and sites of great significance to the people at Mt Barkly and Willowra and neighbouring communities at Alekarenge, Anningie, Lajamanu, Mt Allan, Ti-Tree and Yuendumu. The traditional landowners lodged a land claim to the station in November that year and the claim was heard in June 1983.

Claimant Rosie Nungarrayi described how she and her family fled Mt Barkly to escape killings at Willowra in the late 1920s.

We were living at Wirliyajarrayi when the troublesome whiteman Nugget Morton was living at Mud Hut. He shot people in those days. Frightened by him we travelled camouflaged in the scrub bush, drinking from soakages only at night when it was darker and cooler. We drank from the soakage at Pawu [Mt Barkly] and continued on to Ngarnka [Mt Leichhardt], still frightened. My relations were murdered by this whiteman, finished by him. We dug for yarla [bush yams] and gathered yakajirri [currants], wanakiji [bush tomato], yawakiyi [bush plum] and marningkiji [conkerberry].

Title to the land was handed back to the traditional landowners in December 1986.