Amata is part of the Amata – Tjurma electorate. The people of the Tjurma Homelands regard themselves as a separate community.
Time zone
Due to its proximity to the border of the Northern Territory, Amata does not observe daylight savings unlike the rest of South Australia. The time zone observed throughout the year is Australian Central Standard Time (UTC+9:30), in line with Darwin rather than Adelaide.
Geography and governance
Amata lies about 115 kilometres (71mi) due south of Uluru and 380 kilometres (240mi) south-west of Alice Springs, in the north-west of South Australia, within the Anangu Pitjantjatjara lands. It is located at the western end of the Musgrave Ranges, about 14 kilometres (8.7mi) south of the border with the Northern Territory.[2]
Being 700 metres (2,300ft) above sea level, Amata is also South Australia's highest town.[3]
It lies within one of seven electorates within the APY lands, representing the Amata and Tjurma wider communities, which elect the Executive Board of Anangu Pitjantjatjara Yankunytjatjara.[4] Tjurma appears to be or have been a separate community.[5]
Climate
Based upon the climate records of the nearest weather station at Marla Police Station between 1985 and 2015, Amata experiences summer maximum temperatures of an average of 37.3°C (99.1°F) in January and a winter maximum average temperature of 19.6°C (67.3°F) in June. Overnight lows range from a mean minimum temperature of 22°C (72°F) in January to 5.5°C (41.9°F) in June.[6]
Annual mean rainfall is 234.4 millimetres (9.23in).[6]
Population
Against the trend for Aboriginal communities, the population of Amata grew for some years, from 180 residents in 1981, to more than 350 in the 1990s,[7] to 536 in 1996.[8]
The town of Amata services the Tjurma homelands and other nearby lands. The population of the "Amata - Tjurma Homelands" in the 2016 census was 429, all of whom were Aboriginal: 377 (89%) spoke Pitjantjatjara, and 3 Warlpiri. 62% of the workforce in the area were unemployed.[9]
History
Amata was established under the name of "Musgrave Park" in 1961 by the South Australian State Government. The community was established to take the pressure off the increasing growth of Pukatja (formerly Ernabella). The aim was to use it to educate the Aboriginal people in how to work in the cattle industry. A school was opened seven years later, in 1968.[7]
The Amata Anangu School was upgraded between 2003 and 2005 and there was a commitment in 2007 by State and Federal Governments to improve the associated swimming pool facility. The swimming pool was opened on 24 June 2007 by then South Australian Premier, Mike Rann.[citation needed] In 2018, the school offered Reception to Year 12, had a total enrolment of 92 students of which 84% were indigenous and a teaching staff of 15.[13][14]
Amata has limited Technical and Further Education (TAFE) support. Community lecturers offer training in: preparing for work; literacy and numeracy; work skills; learner driver education and licence support.[15]
Food and supplies
Obtaining fresh and healthy food has long been a problem for this and other remote communities. In early April 2020, the 1,000-square-metre (11,000sqft) Amata Aṉangu Store, opens next to the demolished old general store. With 600 square metres (6,500sqft) of storage space and 400 square metres (4,300sqft) of shopping area, it will stock "fresh fruit and vegetables, refrigerated frozen meat and other household goods... [from] TV sets to trampolines". The nonprofit organization Mai Wiru Regional Stores Council Aboriginal Corporation was founded in 2000, to help establish food security on the APY Lands, with a major aim being to supply healthy food at cheaper prices in order to improve nutrition and community health. In 2015 Mai Wiru established their own transport system, and supply fresh food from Adelaide rather than Alice Springs, cutting costs by up to 25%.[16]
Visitors
A permit from the Anangu Pitjantjatjara Yankunytjatjara is required to access Amata, as the land is owned freehold by the corporation of resident Aboriginal people.[17]
Arts
The sale of local artwork plays a large role in the success of the Amata community. Tjala Arts, founded in 1999, exhibited the works of 7 Amata artists in Canberra in 2006.[18] In the 2007 State Budget, the South Australian Government announced $350,000 for a new arts centre in Amata.[19]
Tjala has nourished the careers of many artists who have gone on to be recognised for their work by prestigious art prizes, such as Tjungkara Ken. The Kulata Tjuta (many spears) project has spread across the APY lands as well as featuring in a large installation in the Tarnanthi Festival of Contemporary Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Art in Adelaide in 2017. Works by Tjala artists have been bought by private collectors and public institutions across the world, and are on display in the National Gallery of Australia, the Art Gallery of New South Wales, the National Gallery of Victoria and the Art Gallery of South Australia.[20]
Tjala Arts is one of ten Indigenous-owned and -governed enterprises that go to make up the APY Art Centre Collective.[21]
↑ Mindszenty, Katalin (2004). "Self determination and CDEP: Tjurma Homelands Council, South Australia". In Morphy, F.; Sanders, W.G. (eds.). The Indigenous Welfare Economy and the CDEP Scheme. CAEPR Monograph. ANU Press. JSTORj.ctt2jbj2zz. Retrieved 12 March 2020. Tjurma is a small, remote homelands community in the Musgrave Ranges, 500 kilometres south-east of Alice Springs... The Tjurma people are the people who have come from the Anangu Pitjantjatara Lands, and they are the traditional owners. There has been talk of merging with Amata, starting with our art centre. The Tjurma people do not want to merge with Amata, which is a larger community with a lot of problems. They want to keep their homelands lifestyle.
1 2 Summers, John. "The Future of Indigenous Policy on Remote Communities"(PDF). School of Political and International Studies Flinders University. Archived from the original(PDF) on 6 September 2007. Retrieved 12 March 2020. Refereed paper presented to the Australasian Political Studies Association Conference University of Adelaide, 29 September—1 October 2004
The Pitjantjatjara are an Aboriginal people of the Central Australian desert near Uluru. They are closely related to the Yankunytjatjara and Ngaanyatjarra and their languages are, to a large extent, mutually intelligible.
Aṉangu is the name used by members of several Aboriginal Australian groups, roughly approximate to the Western Desert cultural bloc, to describe themselves. The term, which embraces several distinct "tribes" or peoples, in particular the Ngaanyatjarra, Pitjantjatjara and Yankunytjatjara groups, is pronounced with the stress on the first syllable:.
Kalka is an Aboriginal community in the Anangu Pitjantjatjara Yankunytjatjara Lands in South Australia administered under the Anangu Pitjantjatjara Yankunytjatjara Land Rights Act 1981.
Anungu schools is a group of ten schools operated by the Government of South Australia which are located in the west of the Australian state of South Australia. Eight are located in the Aboriginal lands of Anangu Pitjantjatjara Yankunytjatjara, while one is in Maralinga Tjarutja and on in the community of Yalata, all offering primary and secondary schooling to a local body of students who are largely Aboriginal.
Aṉangu Pitjantjatjara Yankunytjatjara, also known as APY, APY Lands or the Lands, is a large, sparsely-populated local government area (LGA) for Aboriginal people, located in the remote north west of South Australia. Some of the Aṉangu (people) of the Western Desert cultural bloc, in particular Pitjantjatjara, Yankunytjatjara and Ngaanyatjarra peoples, inhabit the Lands.
Mimili is an Aboriginal community in the Anangu Pitjantjatjara Yankunytjatjara Lands in South Australia, comprising one of the six main communities on "The Lands". At the 2016 Australian census, Mimili had a population of 243.
Pipalyatjara is an Aboriginal community in the Anangu Pitjantjatjara Yankunytjatjara Lands in South Australia, comprising one of the six main communities on "The Lands". Other smaller communities include Nyapari, Kanpi, Kalka, Yunyarinyi. At the 2016 census, Pipalyatjara had a population of 189. The residents are mainly Anangu who speak Pitjantjatjara as their first language.The closest community is Kalka to the West.
Umuwa is an Aboriginal community in Anangu Pitjantjatjara Yankunytjatjara in South Australia, serving as an administrative centre for the six main communities on "The Lands", as well as the outlying communities.
Pukatja is an Aboriginal community in the Anangu Pitjantjatjara Yankunytjatjara Lands in South Australia, comprising one of the six main communities on "The Lands".
Kaltjiti is an Aboriginal community in Anangu Pitjantjatjara Yankunytjatjara in South Australia, comprising one of the six main communities on "The Lands".
Indulkana is an Aboriginal community in the Anangu Pitjantjatjara Yankunytjatjara Lands in South Australia, comprising one of the six main communities on "The Lands". At the 2016 Australian census, Indulkana had a population of 256.
Watarru Community is an Aboriginal community in the Anangu Pitjantjatjara Yankunytjatjara (APY) lands in South Australia. Watarru Community sits at the foot of Mount Lindsay and the community has at times been known as "Mount Lindsay".
The Anangu Pitjantjatjara Yankunytjatjara Land Rights Act 1981 grants certain land and other rights to the Anangu Pitjantjatjara Yankunytjatjara in South Australia. It began its life as the Pitjantjatjara Land Rights Act and commenced operation on 2 October 1981. Its long name title is "An Act to provide for the vesting of title to certain lands in the people known as Anangu Pitjantjatjara Yankunytjatjara; and for other purposes". The Act has since had several amendments, the latest in 2017.
Yunyarinyi is an Aboriginal homeland on the Aṉangu Pitjantjatjara Yankunytjatjara Lands in South Australia. It is located about 45 kilometres (28 mi) south of the border with the Northern Territory, 320 km (200 mi) south of Alice Springs.
Murputja is an Aboriginal community in the Anangu Pitjantjatjara Yankunytjatjara in South Australia.
Tarnanthi is a Festival of Contemporary Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Art held in Adelaide, South Australia, annually. Presented by the Art Gallery of South Australia (AGSA) in association with the South Australian Government and BHP. It is curated by Nici Cumpston.
Barbara Mbitjana Moore is an Anmatyerre woman who grew up in Ti-Tree in the Northern Territory, moving later to Amata in South Australia's Anangu Pitjantjatjara Yankunytjatjara (APY) Lands. In April 2003, Moore began painting at Amata's Tjala Arts, and, since then, has received widespread recognition. Moore won a National Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander Art Award in 2012 and has been a finalist in many other years. Moore has also been a finalist for the Wynne Prize.
Yaritji Young is a Pitjantjatjara woman from Pukatja, a community within the Anangu Pitjantjatjara Yankunytjatjara Lands and she now lives at Rocket Bore; a homeland north of Amata. Young is a significant Australian Aboriginal artist and senior law women who is to committed to fostering law and culture and this forms a core part of her artistic practice. Most of Young's paintings are drawn from the Tjala Dreaming.
Tjala Arts, formerly known as Minymaku Arts, is an Aboriginal Australian-owned and -managed arts centre located in the remote community of Amata in the Anangu Pitjantjatjara Yankunytjatjara Lands in the remote north-west of South Australia.
Nyurpaya Kaika Burton OAM is an artist and educator from the Anangu Pitjantjatjara Yankunytjatjara Lands of Central Australia.
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