Papunya

History

Pintupi and Luritja people were forced off their traditional country in the 1930s and moved into Hermannsburg (Ntaria) and Haasts Bluff, where there were government ration depots. There were often tragic confrontations between these people, with their nomadic hunter-gathering lifestyle, and the cattlemen who were moving into the country and over-using the limited water supplies of the region for their cattle. The Australian Government built a water bore and some basic housing at Papunya in the 1950s to provide room for the increasing populations of people in the already-established Aboriginal communities and reserves. The community grew to over a thousand people in the early 1970s and was plagued by poor living conditions, health problems, and tensions between various tribal and linguistic groups. These festering problems led many people, especially the Pintupi, to move further west closer to their traditional country. After settling in a series of outstations, with little or no support from the government, the new community of Kintore was established about west of Papunya in the early 1980s. The term "Finke River Mission" was initially an alternative name for the mission at Hermannsburg, but this name was later often used to include the settlements at Haasts Bluff, Areyonga and, later, Papunya. It now refers to all Lutheran missionary activity in Central Australia since the first mission was established at Hermannsburg in 1877.

Most-observed species

• Zebra Finch

  Taeniopygia guttata (Vieillot, 1817) · Aves
  21
• Central Australian Rock Rat

  Zyzomys pedunculatus (Waite, 1896) · Mammalia
  20
• Willie-wagtail

  Rhipidura leucophrys (Latham, 1802) · Aves
  20
• Crested Pigeon

  Ocyphaps lophotes (Temminck, 1822) · Aves
  13
• Diamond Dove

  Geopelia cuneata (Latham, 1801) · Aves
  12
• Budgerigar

  Melopsittacus undulatus (Shaw, 1805) · Aves
  11
• Fat-tailed false antechinus

  Pseudantechinus macdonnellensis (Spencer, 1896) · Mammalia
  10
• Brown Falcon

  Falco berigora Vigors & Horsfield, 1827 · Aves
  10

Most recent

• M 4.1 — 2026-05-21
  220 km WNW of Larapinta, Australia
• M 2.8 — 2006-06-15
  223 km WNW of Larapinta, Australia