Martu country covers 136,000km.

It is located in the Western Desert region

of WA
The Martu people were among the last
Aboriginal people to come into contact with
non-Indigenous Australia (in the 1950s and
1960s)
Traditional knowledge about important places, stories and
practices is commonly held by the elders of the community.
Traditionally, they pass on this knowledge to the younger
generations in quite structured ways. However, in some
communities this no longer occurs, and important cultural
knowledge is being lost.
This is an issue that has created concern amongst
the elders of the Martu people who are fearful that
contemporary ways of life, and modern distractions like
computer games and night clubs, are disrupting the
traditional ways of knowledge sharing. They are working to
solve this problem.
Kanyirninpa Jukurrpa operates three programs: the Martu
ranger program, the Caring for Country (Mankarr) program,
and the Return to Country (Jukurrpa Ninti) initiative.
Martu elders have been involved with the design and
implementation of all of these programs. They actively share
their knowledge about Martu culture with the younger Martu
people who carry out the work.
The programs recognise and acknowledge the experience
and skills of the older members of the community. This
demonstrates for them that they are valued and respected.
Younger members of the community are encouraged to
work with their elders in carrying out important work on
country. They earn a living while absorbing the knowledge of
their elders.
Martu People, Western Desert, WA
Transmission of
Cultural Knowledge
and Practices
MANAGING OUR HERITAGE
A Guide for Indigenous Land Managers
Kanyirninpa Jukurrpa is a Martu organisation dedicated to
maintaining Martu culture and creating a sustainable
economy for Martu people. Here they are taking
GPS coordinates for Jukurrpa Places.
CASE STUDY
The Martu Ranger Program
Many younger members of the Martu community are
employed as rangers. This work is supported through the
Working on Country Program. They patrol large areas
in four-wheel drives and helicopters, identifying and
addressing land management issues. They often draw
on the knowledge of their elders to devise management
strategies when issues are identied.
Caring for Country
The concept of caring for country is reinforced in the minds
of younger Martu people by their work with their elders.
Caring for Country teams complement the work of the Martu
rangers. They monitor water resources, native plants and
animals, and sources of traditional food.
The abundance and location of bush tucker is recorded
by Caring for Country teams so these resources can be
managed according to traditional practices. Passing on
knowledge about bush foods is an important part of the
Caring for Country program. Older team members do bush
tucker presentations for young students at South Newman
Primary School.
Caring for Country teams also monitor water quality at
waterholes using a variety of scientic tests combined with
traditional knowledge. From knowledge passed down by
elders, the teams now know which animal and plant species
to look for to establish whether a waterhole is healthy or not.
Caring for Country teams are involved in monitoring
threatened species such as the Great Desert Skink and the
Bilby. They have worked closely with scientists to install
sensor cameras at Bilby burrows, and night cameras to
detect Bilby activity. Data on tracks, scats, sleeping places,
and eating places have been recorded using hand-held
Cybertracker units.
One of the responsibilities of the rangers is to take care of
important resources on Martu country, such as stands of
trees that are good for making spears, boomerangs and tools.
Elders identify these important locations for the rangers.
Martu rangers map important waterholes and record the
location of signicant cultural places in company with their
elders. Once recorded, the rangers monitor the places and
repair any damage caused by tourists, feral
animals, and weeds.
Stands of buffel grass, which choke out native plants
and damage food supplies for native animals, are
removed by rangers.
Return to Country
The Return to Country program is funded through the
Australian Governments Indigenous Heritage Program. The
program is designed to re-introduce younger members of
the community to culturally signicant places on country. It is
an important form of on-country learning, guided by elders.
It emphasises the importance of both physical and spiritual
connection to country.
Martu people travel in helicopters or four wheel drive vehicles
to remote Jukurrpa (Dreaming) places, known only to older
members of the community, where cultural information can be
passed to younger people in the form of stories and songs.
Participants are also introduced to the requirements of
heritage and conservation planning.
Young community-members are also taken on organised
camping and hunting trips during the school holidays,
where they learn about their country from older people. The
approach draws on traditional ways of sharing knowledge,
including the need to learn in stages. Once young people
have demonstrated their commitment to the knowledge
sharing program, they are taken back to signicant places to
receive more and deeper knowledge. Sometimes, younger
Martu people are given permission by the elders to make
digital sound and image recordings of their songs and stories.
Recently, under instruction from Martu elders, a large
ranger crew cleaned a Jukurrpa (Dreaming) place where
rubbish had been dumped.
To manage re risk in the summer and to promote
healthy vegetation, traditional re management
practices have been introduced by the Martu rangers,
under the supervision of knowledgeable elders.
Many women, particularly senior women, are involved in the
Caring for Country program. They pass on their knowledge
about natural resources (especially bush tucker and bush
medicine) to younger Martu participants.
Positive Results
The Martu programs have proved a great success. A
recent Social Return on Investment analysis showed that
for every dollar spent on these programs, there is a four-
fold increase in social benet to the Martu community.
Martu elders express considerable pride in the younger
Martu generation and the elders themselves say that they
feel that they are fullling their responsibility to pass on their
cultural knowledge.
Younger Martu people also express pride and self-
condence arising out of the trust shown in them by
elders. School students have positive role models in the
community.
Many Martu rangers report that they go to town less often
and come back to their country quickly because of their
desire to continue with the ranger work. There are now
so many young Martu people wanting to be involved in
the Ranger, Caring for Country and Return to Country
programs that Kanyirninpa Jukurrpa struggles to keep up
with the demand.
Rangers have developed a program where young Martu
community-members are taken on camping and hunting trips
during the school holidays, to share knowledge about Country.
Elders make an assessment of any conservation
work required at culturally signicant places. It is the
responsibility of the Martu rangers to carry out this work
(fencing, erecting signs, stabilising eroding sites, and
cleaning signicant rock holes).
Commonwealth of Australia 2013
Published June 2013
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