Cleared Out: First Contact in the Western Desert

by Sue Davenport, Yuwali, Peter Johnson

In 1964, a group of 20 Aboriginal women and children in the Western Desert made their first contact with European Australians — patrol officers from the Woomera Rocket Range, clearing an area into which rockets were to be fired. They had been pursued by the patrol officers for several weeks, running from this frightening new force in the desert.


Yuwali, 17 at the time, remembers every detail of the drama – first seeing these ‘devils’ and their ‘rocks that moved’, escaping the strange intruders. Her sharp recollections are complemented in a 3-part diary of the ‘chase’ by the colourful official reports of the patrol. These reflect a similar drama – arguments within Government about the treatment of desert inhabitants and public scepticism about the Government’s intent. Line-drawn maps and black & white illustrations complement the text.


Yuwali’s story also resonates in today’s debate about the future of many Indigenous desert communities. Cleared Out combines three oral histories, detailed archival research and a wealth of photographs and rare film footage from the patrol. Through one extraordinary episode, the multiple perspectives on the moment of contact are revealed.

Genres: Indigenous

224 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2005

Reviews

[Elliot Condous · Rating 5 out of 5]

The United Kingdom wanted to use Australia's large western desert as a missile firing range during the height of the cold war and Australia obviously did what the UK wanted. This was all decided upon despite Martu people still living within the firing range, many of them having never even seen a whitefella before. The missiles simply had to be tested. So something had to be done about the people living there. Cleared Out goes into the details of what happened when a group of about twenty Martu women and children were discovered in 1964.

What makes this such a great book is the extensive recollections of Yuwali, one of the Martu girls in that group. 17 years old at the time. Her first hand account of what happened is cleverly paired with the diaries of the Native Patrol Officers whose job was to look for people in the test fire zone. One of the NPOs, Walter MacDougall, had a strong appreciation for the Martu, and he took heaps of photos which pair up beautifully with the events being recalled.

Also looks at how Martu society has reworked itself and adapted to the encroachment of the Western world and how the West is still unable to understand the fundamental differences of the Martu's worldview. Particularly how governments continue to assume that everything will be done on their terms.

[Ray Norris · Rating 5 out of 5]

An incredible true story of first contact between a group of aboriginal people, who have never seen a car, and whitefellas. The most amazing thing about this book is that this occurred in the sixties. The second most amazing thing about this book is the counterpoint between the account by the aboriginal ladies and the account by the ranger. Brilliant!