World of the Warlpiri

The Warlpiri see the world around them and do not take it for granted. Every little thing in their world is used and taken full advantage of. From nourishment, to shelter, to art, everything is a resource.

Hunting and gathering are important jobs in order to stay alive and thriving in the middle of a vast, remote area. Warlpiri will hunt big game such as:

• Emus
• Bush turkeys
• Lizards 
• Birds 
• Snakes
• and more...

Gatherers have the job of collecting seeds from trees that fall to the ground such as:

• pig-weed seeds

http://soilcropandmore.info/crops/Weeds/prostrate_pigweed.htm

• witchetty grub tree seeds

http://bioweb.uwlax.edu/bio203/2011/esselman_kenn/habitat-and-geography.html

• bean tree seeds

http://sophiemunns2010.blogspot.com/2010/04/denise-rivers-volunteering-in-seed-lab.html

Also, from the sandy ground, gatherers will dig up bush potatoes, bush yams and bush onions. To ensure a sweet tooth fix that everyone needs, no matter the culture, the Warlpiri gatherers will cut down honey from the tops of trees.

Shelter:

Low windbreaks were originally used as shelter in the pleasant weather, but during the rainy season, spinifex grass from the land around them was used to create spinifex thatch domed huts to take shelter in from the weather.

The Tanami Desert: Homeland of the Warlpiri

Tanami Desert:

On most websites, the Tanami Desert is described as a severely inhospitable area, and a barren unforgiving tundra, "one of the most isolated arid places on Earth." While this information is common, it is far from the truth. In reality, with any reliable car these days, the Desert is easily navigable.

• Size:
• The desert is 184,500 square kilometers (71, 235 square miles). It is located approximately seven hours northwest of Alice Springs and the northernmost desert in Australia. It is also Australia's third largest desert. In some areas, the desert is flat and low, in others the terrain gets rocky and hilly.

• Weather:
• The average amount of rainfall in summer (the wet season) is over 400 millimeters, but because it is located in the North the temperatures are high resulting in the majority of the rain evaporating. 
• Summer comes around during the months of October through March when the average daily temperature ranges between 36-38 degrees Celsius (97-100 degrees Fahrenheit.)Night temperatures average around 20 to 22 degrees Celsius (68-71 degrees Fahrenheit. 
• The coldest time of year occurs during the months of June and July. The day temps average around 25 degrees Celsius (77 degrees Fahrenheit) and night temperatures drop to around 10 degrees Celsius (50 degrees Fahrenheit). 

• Environment: 
• Plants/Flowers

•  Most of the terrain consists of "sandy plains" along with spinifex grass, yellow flowering shrubs called low acacias, small trees, and spindly grevilleas 

Low Acacias

Spindly Grevilleas

Spinifex Grass

•  Animals: 
• The Tanami Desert is an important area for endangered animals. Many take refuge there. Some examples of endangered animals that reside there are the Bilby, the Rufous-Hare Wallaby and the Mulgara.

Bilby

Rufous-Hare Wallaby

Mulgara

History of the Warlpiri

It was definitely a challenge to find information on this particular culture, but I am determined to dig in order to uncover as much information as I can about this particular group of people. After all, this is an expedition, isn't it? No one said it would be easy.

Not much seems to be known about the history of the Warlpiri besides when they were first discovered as well as where they seemed to have inhabited. The Warlpiri people are native to the Northern Territory of Australia and are a nomadic group of people. They traveled around Central Australia for centuries and never really settled in one area for very long. It is not certain how long ago the Warlpiri date back to, but it is estimated at 44,000 years ago that the first contact was made. Originally, the Warlpiri people tended to inhabit the Tanami Desert. Before the colonization of Australia, there were believed to be around 1,200 Warlpiri speaking people.

By 1862, Europeans had spread across Australia and into the Warlpiri region of Northern Australia. Slowly over the many coming years, the Warlpiri country were slowly losing their land until they were completely evicted. Starving and homeless Warlpiri people lining the stations alone the telegraph line of Warlpiri country led to government settlements being created for the Warlpiri people to reside. The first one was built in Tanami in 1945, the second in Yuendumu in 1946, and the third in Lajamanu in 1952.  

Today there are approximately 3,000 Warlpiri speaking people residing in Yuendumu, Lajamanu, Nyirrpi, Willowra and Alice Springs. The largest community of Warlpiri people are currently living in Yuendumu.