Balgo, Western Australia

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Balgo
Western Australia
Balgo from the air.jpg
Balgo viewed from the air
Australia Western Australia relief location map.jpg
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Balgo
Balgo, Western Australia
Coordinates 20°08′24″S127°59′06″E / 20.14°S 127.985°E / -20.14; 127.985
Population
Time zone AWST (UTC+8)
LGA(s) Shire of Halls Creek

Balgo, previously Balgo Hills and Balgo Mission, is a community in Western Australia that is linked with both the Great Sandy Desert and the Tanami Desert. The community is in the Shire of Halls Creek, off the Tanami Road, and was established by German missionaries in 1939. In the 2021 census Balgo's population numbered 430.

Contents

History

The community was established following the arrival of German Pallottine Catholic missionaries in the region in 1939. Following the outbreak of World War II, the Australian government designated the missionaries "enemy aliens" and their radio transmitter and firearms were confiscated by police. [3] After earlier sites proved to be unsatisfactory, the present site was chosen, in 1942. [4]

The settlement was funded by the federal government as an outstation during the 1980s, along with Yagga Yagga outstation. [5]

Indigenous people and language

The name Balgo may have been derived from the Kukatja language word palkurr-palkurr, meaning rice grass, which grows nearby. The Kukatja dialect of the Western Desert Language is the first language for many people at Balgo, with the name deriving from the Kukatja (Gugadja) people. There is a Kukatja dictionary published by Luurnpa Catholic School, and at the school's Walkala Centre, audio books are created in both Kukatja and English. [6]

Balgo is a multicultural community of Aboriginal peoples, with seven other language groups besides Kukatja represented: there are Ngardi, Djaru, Warlpiri, Walmajarri, Wangkajunga, Pintupi and Ngaatjatjarra residents. [7]

In 2019, scientists from the University of Queensland were undertaking a research project on the Kukatja language, the local lingua franca which is fluently spoken "by residents of all ages and across at least seven tribal groups". Researchers were recording conversations and mapping the language, believing that Kukatja could provide clues to how languages are spread around the world. Dr Luis Miguel Rojas Berscia believed that the mission, as in other places such as the Amazon and West Africa could be the common thread, bringing different ethnic groups together in isolated spots. Work was being done on developing a dictionary and teacher's guide. [8]

Artists

During the 1980s, Balgo became famous for its artists' cooperative which was established when some of the original members of the Papunya Tula movement were allowed to leave Papunya. Some of the artists from Balgo include Susie Bootja Bootja Napaltjarri, Topsy Gibson Napaljarri, Eubena Nampitjin, Elizabeth Nyumi, Boxer Milner, Tjumpo (Bill) Tjapanangka, and "Helicopter" Tjungurrayi. [9]

Warlayirti Artists Aboriginal Corporation was established in Balgo 1987, and represents more than 300 artists in Balgo, Kururrungku (Billiluna), and Mulan, who work in a variety of media and styles. [7] [10] The art centre, which is the oldest of its kind in Western Australia, celebrated its 35th anniversary with a special exhibition, Ngurra Kutjuwarra (On Country Together), in August 2022, after being isolated for most of the two and a half years of the COVID-19 pandemic in Australia. As of 2022 the manager is UK-born Poppy Leaver. John Carty of the South Australian Museum has had a relationship with Warlayirti Arts since around 2002. [11]

In the early 1980sm a group of Kukatja and Warlpiri men in Balgo painted their stories on wooden boards, which somehow disappeared for years. [11] In 2019, more than 20 of these works by were discovered by chance in a sea container in Wyndham, 50 km (31 mi) away. After the South Australian Museum (SAM) was advised of the find, the paintings, which were in very poor condition, were carefully restored by Artlab Australia in Adelaide. In October 2021 they were included in an exhibition at the museum called Balgo Beginnings, which also included new works by descendants of the original artists. Sales of a monograph, Balgo: Creating Country, by John Carty of the SAM, was launched along with the exhibition, with royalties being donated towards providing a dialysis service in Balgo. [12]

Governance

The community is managed by Wirrimanu Aboriginal Corporation, which was incorporated on 6 September 1984 under the Aboriginal Councils and Associations Act 1976. [13]

Balgo falls within the determined Tjurabalan People (WCD2001/001) native title claim area.

The town plan, Balgo Layout Plan No. 3, was prepared in accordance with State Planning Policy 3.2 and was endorsed by the community and the Western Australian Planning Commission in 2005. [14]

Facilities

It has a petrol station, supermarket, Catholic parish, Luurnpa Catholic School (K–10), Kutjungka Trade Training Centre, clinic and police station. [6] The Wirrimanu Community Store is a small independent business which is owned and operated by a local Indigenous corporation. Goods are trucked in once every two weeks via Adelaide and Alice Springs, owing to quarantine regulations. Being such a small outlet, there are no economies of scale for suppliers, leading to high prices for the locals (such as A$28 for a large pumpkin in 2023). [15]

Balgo Hill Airport is located 1 nautical mile (1.9 km; 1.2 mi) south of Balgo. [16]

In January 2020 the Australian Government announced an upgrade to the Tanami Road and its feeder roads. Conversion of the main road from gravel into a sealed road would improve safety and comfort for drivers on the 300-kilometre (190 mi) stretch from the Halls Creek junction, which is the only route to nearby regional centres and for the transport of essential supplies to the community. A new tourist road in Balgo would be used by local tour guides taking visitors to sacred lands. [17]

Related Research Articles

Dorothy Napangardi was a Warlpiri speaking contemporary Indigenous Australian artist born in the Tanami Desert and who worked in Alice Springs.

Yuendumu is a town in the Northern Territory of Australia, 293 km (182 mi) northwest of Alice Springs on the Tanami Road, within the Central Desert Region local government area. It ranks as one of the larger remote communities in central Australia, and has a thriving community of Aboriginal artists. It is home to Pintubi Anmatjere Warlpiri (PAW) Media, which produced the TV series Bush Mechanics.

Mulan is a small Aboriginal community in Western Australia's east Kimberley. The community is in the Shire of Halls Creek, 44 km to the southwest of Balgo and about 10 km east of Lake Gregory. At the 2006 census, Mulan had a population of 114.

Susie Bootja Bootja Napaltjarri was an Indigenous artist from Australia's Western Desert region. Born south-west of Balgo, Western Australia, in the 1950s Susie Bootja Bootja married artist Mick Gill Tjakamarra, with whom she had a son, Matthew Gill Tjupurrula.

Peggy Rockman Napaljarri is a Warlpiri-speaking Indigenous artist from Australia's Western Desert region. Born on what is now Tanami Downs pastoral station in the Northern Territory, she learned English when working as a child with a white mining family; Peggy Rockman and her family were subsequently relocated by government authorities to Lajamanu, a new community west of Tennant Creek. Peggy Rockman is one of the traditional owners of Tanami Downs.

Takariya Napaltjarri is an Indigenous artist from Australia's Western Desert region. She has painted with Papunya Tula artists' cooperative. First exhibited in 1996, her work is held in the collection of the Art Gallery of New South Wales.

Parara Napaltjarri was a Pintupi-speaking Indigenous artist from Australia's Western Desert region. Her paintings are included in the collection of the Art Gallery of New South Wales.

Louisa Lawson Napaljarri (Pupiya) (c. 1930–2001) was a Warlpiri-speaking Indigenous artist from Australia's Western Desert region. Louisa commenced painting at Lajamanu, Northern Territory in 1986. Her work is held by the National Gallery of Victoria.

Helen Nelson Napaljarri, also known as Helen White Napajarri or Helen Spencer Napaljarri, is a Walpiri-speaking Aboriginal artist from Australia's Western Desert region. A literacy worker in Yuendumu, Northern Territory, Napaljarri began painting with Warlukurlangu Artists in the 1980s. Her paintings are held by the Art Gallery of South Australia and South Australian Museum. She has contributed to several bilingual language books in Walpiri and English.

Kitty Pultara Napaljarri is an Anmatyerre-speaking Indigenous artist from Australia's Western Desert region. Born at Napperby Station east of Yuendumu, Northern Territory, she worked on the station and first learned to paint there around 1986. Her work is held in the collections of the Art Gallery of South Australia and South Australian Museum.

Sheila Brown Napaljarri was a Warlpiri-speaking Indigenous artist from Australia's Western Desert region. A contributor to major collaborative paintings by Indigenous communities, her works are also held by the Art Gallery of New South Wales and the South Australian Museum.

Valerie Lynch Napaltjarri is an Indigenous Australian artist from Papunya in Australia's Northern Territory. She is a painter and printmaker whose work has been collected by the National Gallery of Australia.

Topsy Gibson Napaltjarri, also known as Tjayika or Tjanika, is a Pintupi-speaking Indigenous artist from Australia's Western Desert region.

Nora Andy Napaltjarri is a Warlpiri- and Luritja-speaking Indigenous artist from Australia's Western Desert region. Like her mother Entalura Nangala, Nora has painted for Indigenous artists' cooperative Papunya Tula. Her work has been exhibited at the Gauguin Museum in Tahiti, and is held by Artbank.

Ada Andy Napaltjarri is a Warlpiri– and Luritja–speaking Indigenous artist from Australia's Western Desert region. Ada was born near Haasts Bluff, Northern Territory, and has lived in several Northern Territory communities. She began painting in the early 1980s at Alice Springs and probably played a role in the development of interest in painting in the communities in which she has lived.

Molly Jugadai Napaltjarri (c.1954–2011) was a Pintupi- and Luritja-speaking Aboriginal artist from Australia's Western Desert region. Her paintings are held in major collections, including the National Gallery of Australia.

Mona Rockman Napaljarri is a Warlpiri-speaking Indigenous artist from Australia's Western Desert region. Her paintings and pottery are held in the collection of the National Gallery of Victoria.

Norah Nelson Napaljarri is a Warlpiri-speaking Aboriginal artist from Australia's Western Desert region. Norah Nelson began painting in 1986 and has exhibited her works both in Australia and other countries. Her paintings and pottery are held in the collection of the National Gallery of Victoria.

The Kukatja people, also written Gugadja, are an Aboriginal Australian people of the Kimberley region of Western Australia.

The Ngardi, also spelled Ngarti, are an Aboriginal Australian people of the Northern Territory and Western Australia.

References

  1. ↑ Australian Bureau of Statistics (28 June 2022). "Balgo (urban centre and locality)". Australian Census 2021.  OOjs UI icon edit-ltr-progressive.svg
  2. ↑ Australian Bureau of Statistics (28 June 2022). "Balgo (Indigenous Location)". Australian Census 2021.  OOjs UI icon edit-ltr-progressive.svg
  3. ↑ "Balgo (1940-1965) | German Missionaries in Australia".
  4. ↑ D. Choules Edinger and G. Marsh, "Reassessing the missions: Balgo – its history and contributions" (PDF), Kimberley Society, 3 November 2004.
  5. ↑ Parliament of Australia. House of Representatives Standing Committee on Aboriginal Affairs; Blanchard, Allen (March 1987). Inquiry into the Aboriginal homelands movement in Australia. Published online 12 June 2011. ISBN   0-644-06201-0 . Retrieved 16 August 2020.{{cite book}}: |website= ignored (help) PDF
  6. 1 2 "Communities". Shire of Halls Creek. Retrieved 31 December 2019.
  7. 1 2 "Warlayirti Artists Aboriginal Corporation". Desert River Sea. Retrieved 14 October 2021.
  8. ↑ Bamford, Matt (28 December 2019). "Researchers map ancient language in West Australian outback". ABC News (ABC Kimberley). Australian Broadcasting Corporation. Retrieved 31 December 2019.
  9. ↑ "Full list of artists". Warlayirti Artists. Archived from the original on 7 January 2009. Retrieved 10 September 2009.
  10. ↑ "Home". Warlayirti Artists. 31 January 2021. Retrieved 14 October 2021.
  11. 1 2 Mills, Vanessa (1 September 2022). "WA's first Indigenous art centre celebrates 35 years of supporting Kimberley artists". ABC News. Australian Broadcasting Corporation . Retrieved 1 September 2022.
  12. ↑ Mills, Vanessa (13 October 2021). "A cache of art, missing for almost 40 years, will be unveiled for the first time". ABC News. Australian Broadcasting Corporation . Retrieved 14 October 2021.
  13. ↑ "Aboriginal Councils and Associations Act 1976 Wirrimanu Aboriginal Corporation". Government Gazette (Australia) . No. B22. Australia. 1 June 2004. p. 1254. Retrieved 29 January 2021– via National Library of Australia.
  14. ↑ "Balgo Layout Plan No.3". Perth, Western Australia: Western Australian Planning Commission. 4 October 2005. Retrieved 26 July 2012.
  15. ↑ Schubert, Steven (18 June 2023). "Cost-of-living pressures hitting remote Indigenous Australians hard as freight price surges". ABC News (Australia) . Retrieved 26 June 2023.
  16. ↑ YBGO – Balgo Hill  (PDF). AIP En Route Supplement from Airservices Australia , effective 13 June 2024 "Aeronautical Chart" (PDF). 27 August 2009. Archived from the original (PDF) on 10 April 2012.
  17. ↑ Bamford, Matt (4 January 2020). "Outback adventure track Tanami Road on a $235 million path to being sealed". ABC News. Retrieved 5 January 2020.

Further reading

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