Due to its links with the Northern Territory and proximity to the border, the APY Lands do 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.
Based on the climate records from Marla, Kaltjiti experiences summer maximum temperatures of an average of 37.1°C (98.8°F) in January and a winter maximum average temperature of 19.7°C (67.5°F) in June. Overnight lows range from a mean minimum temperature of 21.8°C (71.2°F) in January to 5.0°C (41.0°F) in June.
In 1986 the population was recorded as 268; in 1991, it was 310 and in 1996 it was 299, according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics' 1999 Yearbook.[3]
In 2006 and 2011, only the total count of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people for "Kaltjiti (Fregon) and Inintata Homelands" area is available, with a total of 212 in 2006[5] and 242 in 2011.[6]
History
19th century
The first recording by non-Indigenous Australians of a community at Kaltjiti was by explorer Ernest Giles. In September 1873 during his second trip into the South Australian interior, he and another party member, William Tietkens, encountered 200 male Aboriginal men. The Europeans fired shots, allegedly in retaliation for the throwing of spears. The Europeans escaped unharmed; there is no mention of Aboriginal casualties. Giles later acknowledged that Aboriginal aggression was usually due to white trespass on black land. Giles named the river where this occurred "The Officer", by which it was known until the 1930s when it was renamed Officer Creek.[7]
20th century
Harold Brown established the first European settlement in 1934 when he was granted the water permit for the Shirley Well block, 60kilometres south of Ernabella. The well on the north side of the Officer creek was dug near the existing bore and the Browns built their house on the south side.
Brown and his colleague Allan Brumby had been encouraged by R. M. Williams' stories of successfully hunting dingoes to facilitate a cull encouraged by Government bounties for dingo scalps to take up "dogging" themselves. In about 1929 they headed west on a dogging and prospecting trip that took them through the Musgrave and Mann Ranges and as far as Uluru. They climbed the rock and left a message in a bottle for the next visitors. By the early 1930s Brown had established a base-camp in the Petermann Ranges and was dogging as far west as the Rawlinson and Warburton Ranges. Brown sank a successful well near Officer Creek, south of the Musgrave Ranges, and claimed the government reward. He constructed a mud hut and a dug-out dwelling at Shirley Well and ran some sheep, but continued to make long dogging trips westwards. Brown had an Aboriginal wife and several children, but in 1934 he married a white woman in Alice Springs. He abandoned his Aboriginal wife and their children, and his new wife joined him at Shirley Well.[8]
The South Australian Government resumed Brown's lease in 1939, and Ernabella (now Pukatja) gained grazing rights there. After the abortive attempt in 1957 to jointly establish outstations west of Ernabella, it was decided in 1960 to establish an outstation on the Shirley Well block under the umbrella of Ernabella. Aboriginal people were camped at Shirley Well permanently, which made it easy to expand the sheep industry to include this area.
Fregon was built with government assistance in 1961 as a base for cattlemen and their families. According to tradition, the community took the name "Fregon" at that time in honour of a Mr Fregon of Victoria who donated £5-10,000 to help missionaries establish a bore at the site. A site was chosen 4-5kilometres south of Shirley Well on the Officer Creek about 60kilometres south west of Ernabella. The aim of the outstation was to provide training in cattle work and for the families to have access to traditional country in the sandhills to the west. Fregon was administered through Ernabella and it was not until 1968 that it had its own airstrip. It began with a school, a small hospital, a workshop, a small store and staff houses. There were four staff members including a schoolteacher, a nursing sister, an overseer and a cattle manager.
During the late 1970s to early 1980s, Victor Harbor Primary School started a yearly cultural exchange camp for their year 7 students. This camp involved a few days stay in Fregon where students would learn a little bit of local culture and language. This camp still runs as of 2021 and is an important experience for all students involved.
It was reported in early 2019 that a new water source had been found at a site near Kaljiti in a "palaeo-valley", where groundwater is held about 90metres below the surface (existing sources being about 30m down). Core drill samples have been dated at 5–10million years old. Pipes were temporarily capped, but elder Witjiti George said that he hoped the water could be used to support a cattle herd, helping to create jobs and an ongoing industry for isolated communities. The new source could also provide much needed drinking water. APY Lands general manager Richard King said the origin of the water was yet to be established, but the water is pure, with low salinity. Government experts were working with Flinders University and the CSIRO to learn more about the source.[10]
Facilities
Kaltjiti does not have a permanent police presence. South Australia Police are based at Mimili and run patrols in the area. There is a rudimentary shed structure that serves as a police station when police are present.[11]As of April 2007[update], the community was served by one community constable.
There is a police station at Umuwa, though it has not been permanently staffed.[12]As of 2020[update] a new, permanent policing complex is being built at Umuwa. It will accommodate officers with specialist response capabilities, as well provide a base for a mobile unit which will be deployed in Kaltjiti, Indulkana and Pipalyatjara. The service will work closely with child protection service agencies address child abuse and family violence issues.[13][14] The 2019–2020 Government of South Australia agency budget estimates the completion date as June 2021, with a total spend of A$4.28million.[15]
Electrical power to the community is supplied from the central powerhouse at Umuwa, while water is provided from six bores—a portion of which is desalinated—and placed in storage tanks for pumping to the community. The desalinated water is supplied to the clinic, hot water services and dedicated drinking water taps in private houses and the store, while untreated water is supplied for other uses in dwellings and around the community. All water supplied to the community is disinfected using UV sterilisation.[citation needed] The desalination plant was commissioned in 2005 by SA Water and has a total capacity of 160 kilolitres (5,700cuft) per day.[16]
Kaltjiti has the Fregon Anangu School. Technical and further education (TAFE) opportunities are provided to the community.
There is a health clinic run by Nganampa Health Council with a doctor who visits both Fregon and Pukatja communities, and a general store supplied weekly via road train and forming the main supply for the APY lands.
A permit is required for a member of the public to visit any community on the APY Lands, as they are freehold lands owned by the Aboriginal people.
Art centre
The community runs Kaltjiti Arts.[17] It is one of ten Indigenous-owned and -governed art centres that go to make up the APY Art Centre Collective,[18] established in 2013.[19]
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.
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.
Amata is an Aboriginal community in the Anangu Pitjantjatjara Yankunytjatjara Lands in South Australia, comprising one of the six main communities on "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".
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".
Kaltukatjara, also known as Docker River, is a remote Indigenous Australian community in the Northern Territory of Australia. It is southwest of Alice Springs, west of the Stuart Highway, near the Western Australia and Northern Territory border. The township is on a wadi called the Docker Creek on the north side of the west end of the Petermann Ranges in the southwest corner of the Northern Territory of Australia.
Mintabie is an opal mining community in the Anangu Pitjantjatjara Yankunytjatjara in South Australia. It was unique in comparison to other communities situated in the APY Lands, in that its residents were largely not of Aboriginal Australian origin, and the land had been leased to the Government of South Australia for opal mining purposes since the 1980s.
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.
Kaṉpi is an Aboriginal community in the Aṉangu Pitjantjatjara Yankunytjatjara Lands in South Australia. It is located about 20 km (12 mi) south of the Northern Territory border at the base of the Mann Ranges. The nearby town of Nyapari is 15 km (9.3 mi) to the east.
Nyapaṟi is an Aboriginal community in the Aṉangu Pitjantjatjara Yankunytjatjara Lands in South Australia. It is located about 20 km (12 mi) south of the Northern Territory border at the base of the Mann Ranges. The nearby community of Kanpi is 15 km (9.3 mi) to the west.
Milyika Carroll, also known as Alison Carroll, Alison Milyika Carroll, or "Windlass" Carroll, is an Aboriginal Australian artist. She is also a community leader on the Aṉangu Pitjantjatjara Yankunytjatjara Lands in South Australia.
Murputja is an Aboriginal community in the Anangu Pitjantjatjara Yankunytjatjara in South Australia.
Pantjiti Unkari McKenzie is a senior Pitjantjatjara woman from the Anangu Pitjantjatjara Yankunytjatjara (APY) Lands. She has worked as an artist, film maker, actor, teacher, oral historian and recorder of cultural heritage, Ngangkari and as a senior law woman in her community. In 2019, she was awarded the Order of Australia Medal for her “service to the Indigenous community of the Northern Territory”.
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