Kalkarindji
Kalkarindji is a town and locality in the Northern Territory of Australia, located on the Buntine Highway about south of the territory capital of Darwin and located about south of the municipal seat in Katherine.
History
Kalkarindji and the nearby settlement of Daguragu are the population centres of the land formerly held under the Wave Hill Cattle Station. In 1966, the Aboriginal station workers, led by Vincent Lingiari, staged the Gurindji strike, also known as the Wave Hill Walk Off, in protest against oppressive labour practices and land dispossession. A portion of land was returned to the Gurindji people in by UK-based station owners, the Vestey Group, after negotiations by the Whitlam government in 1975.Kalkarindji reportedly began in 1972 as the "Wave Hill Aboriginal Township". On 5 October 1976, land was associated with existing settlement was proclaimed under the Northern Territory’s Crown Lands Ordinance as a town named "Kalkaringi". In 1985, the spelling of the town’s name was changed to "Kalkarindji" after a review of the original spelling by tribal elders.
As of 2006, Daguragu Community Government Council provided "municipal and other services to the township and surrounds of Kalkaringi and to Daguragu, a community settled on land under the Aboriginal Land Rights Act 1976". The total council area was about. Kalkaringi was within a gazetted township area, with the land being leasehold under the auspices of the Northern Territory Government.
The existing boundaries and name were gazetted by the Northern Territory Government under the Place Names Act on 4 April 2007.
Heritage sites
The Wave Hill walk-off route was listed on the Northern Territory Heritage Register on 23 August 2006 and on the Australian National Heritage List on 9 August 2007. There are also seven other associated sites on the National Heritage List, of which five are in the Kalkaringi area and two within Daguragu.Freedom Day
The Freedom Day Festival celebrates the Wave Hill walk-off and Gurindji culture each year in Kalkarindji.Demographics
The 2016 Australian census which was conducted in August 2016 reports that Kalkarindji had 334 people living within its boundaries of which 285 identified as "Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander peoples".Geography and flooding
Kalkarindji is located on the Buntine Highway, about south of Darwin and about south-west of the municipal seat in Katherine.Kalkarindji is located on the left floodplain of the Victoria River, making it prone to flooding when extreme weather events occur. In February 2001, ex-tropical cyclones Winsome and Wylva caused major flooding, and many properties and roads in Kalkarindji were inundated.
2023 flooding
In late February to early March 2023, heavy rains fell over the area, with Kalkarindji recording of rain in the 24 hours to 1 March. The upper Victoria River exceeded major flood levels, standing at ; the major flood stage is. Evacuations were ordered for residents of Daguragu, Kalkarindji, Pigeon Hole, and Palumpa. An emergency was declared for district. First, Daguaragu and Pigeon Hole were fully evacuated to Kalkarindji, whence two aeroplanes of the Australian Defence Force carried evacuees out of Kalkarindji to Katherine. They then travelled by bus to Darwin, to be accommodated at the Centre of National Resilience in Howard Springs. On 7 March it was reported that it could be a month or longer before residents of some communities would be able to return home, as many houses and infrastructure had been so severely damaged by the floodwaters; however, only about half of homes in Kalkarindji had been affected. Around 700 people had been evacuated, while 80 to 100 dogs had been left behind. Contractors later delivered food to the dogs.Precious artworks and historical artefacts, kept in the art centre, were saved from flood damage by moving them to safe storage.
Governance
Kalkarindji a town and locality in the Northern Territory, located within the federal division of Lingiari, the territory electoral division of Stuart and the local government area of the Victoria Daly Region. The council office for the ward of Kalkarindji/Daguragu is located in Kalkarindji, and is also the service centre for Daguragu, which is north-west of Kalkarindji, adjacent to Wattie Creek.The Gurindji Aboriginal Corporation is a Registered Native Title Body Corporate owned by the communities of Kalkaringi and Daguragu, a total of about 700 people of mainly Gurindji, Mudburra and Warlpiri heritage. It oversees a number of community-owned enterprises, such as the Kalkaringi Store and Caravan Park.
Daguragu community is situated on Aboriginal land held under perpetual title.