The Last Nomads of Pintupi

At the heart of The Last Nomads of Pintupi is a precious opportunity to hear the first-person voice of the world’s oldest living culture. The last 4 Pintupi elders, all willing central characters in the film, are the last 4 First Nations Australians to live in the traditional ways before (in 1984) their culture became entwined into, and morphed by, the western world. By following the family into the deep desert of their homeland in the Great Sandy Desert we will be able to capture for the first, as perhaps last time, the elder’s traditional practices and knowledge in their own words. Along the way they will discuss theme sof mining exploitation on their homeland and the exploitative elements of the Indigenous art industry. But primarily the elders are excited that by documenting their story this film offers a unique and priceless contribution to the cultural heritage of Australia.

The Last Nomads of Pintupi represents our last chance to hear the first-person voice of the world’s oldest living culture. Very few Australians are aware that a small number of First Nations groups remained uncontacted by the western world as late as 1984. The Last Nomads of Pintupi is a chance to give those last few elders who have a pre-contact story the ability to share their heritage with a broad audience. Whether experienced as a television documentary on Australian terrestrial televise or at film festivals and accompanying educational package, this invaluable record should be cherished not only by the Pintupi community but all indigenous and non-indigenous Australians.

The Pintupi 9’s ‘contact story’ has been retold a number of times by press outlets – Australian and foreign, print and online. But the goal of the current film project is to capture a seminal and definitive visual and audio record of the PRE-contact Pintupi culture. Far beyond a dry anthropological record The Last Nomads of Pintupi will be a cinematically stunning and universally appealing long form film narrative. Only by spending extensive time with the family in the deep desert, on the exact country where they spent their nomadic pre-contact youth, can the film explore the deeper and richer palette of the Pintupi’s relationship with the land and do it justice. For the extended Pintupi mob this is a love letter to their heritage. The family see the current film not just as a gift for their descendants but an invaluable record for all Australians, and even a global audience.

I’ve been friends with the ‘Pintupi 9’ family elders for more than 4 years now. In that time I have visited their remote community of Kiwirrkurra a number of times, conducted extensive interviews with 3 of the 4 surviving ‘first contact’ elders, spent time camping with multi-generations of the family on the their deep desert homeland, and completed numerous planning, research and translation trips to Alice Springs, where I have collaborated with the english speaking relatives of the Pintupi 9. The elders themselves have all signed development agreements in support of the current film project.

One key storyline is the land use issues happening on the Pintupi homelands. The massive salt lake, Lake Mackay, is the traditional dreaming of Walala, one of the 4 pre-contact elders. The lake is now being mined but the community have the opportunity to make decisions about the future extent of the mining. This film will offer the first and more through opportunity to demonstrate to the Western Australian state government that the Pintupi homeland is not empty but actually a vital and sacred part of a 60,000 year old culture – a precious and timeless treasure in Australia’s history beyond short-term mining goals.

The film will also shed a light on some of the exploitative aspects of the indigenous tractional art industry. A powerful message to any working in or interested in Aboriginal art to follow official, approved and sanctioned channels for buying traditional paintings.