Western Desert (Australia)

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The Western Desert refers to a large tract of desert occurring mainly in the Western Australia, comprising the Gibson Desert, the Great Sandy and Little Sandy Deserts.

Although it is not an official Australian desert (see Deserts of Australia), it is a useful general term of reference to describe this area in Australia.

The Western Desert can be said to stretch from the Nullarbor in the south to the Kimberley in the north, and from the Percival Lakes in the west through to the Pintupi lands in the Northern Territory.

It is often used by anthropologists when discussing Aborigines from this area, who include the Pintupi, the Warlpiri and the Martu, among others.

Linguists who study Aboriginal languages refer to languages from this region a Western Desert Language.

Apart from the Canning Stock Route and the Rabbit-proof fence, white contact with this part of Australia was very rare, up until the 1960s:

No one had been out there. The desert, as far as the Department [WA Dept of Suppy] was concerned... was an unknown, as it was to the whole of Western Australia. The Warburton Ranges [were] as far as anybody got. People in those days knew absolutely nothing about Aborigines.^[1]

[edit] References

1. ^ Terry Long, Native Patrol Officer employed by Weapons Research Establishment (WRE) to help "clear" the desert beneath the trajectory of the Blue Streak missile, quoted in Davenport et al, below.

• Davenport, S, Johnson, P and Yuwali, Cleared Out: First Contact in the Western Desert, Aboriginal Studies Press, 2005 ISBN 0-85575-457-5