Ampilatwatja Explained

Ampilatwatja
Coordinates:-21.658°N 135.2266°W
State:NT
Type:town
Pop:515
Pop Year:2021
Postcode:0872
Elevation:397
Elevation Footnotes:[1]
Timezone:ACST
Utc:+9:30
Lga:Barkly Regional Council
Region:Barkly Tableland

Ampilatwatja is a small community in the Northern Territory of Australia located northeast of Alice Springs.

Governance and description

Ampilatwatja is administered by the Barkly Regional Council and is within the Utopia aboriginal homeland.[2] The community has a school and the Ampilatwatja Health Centre.[3]

There have been ongoing infrastructure issues affecting the community for years, including water quality, internet and mobile access, as well as road access issues.[4]

Demographics

Ampilatwatja lies within the land of the Alyawarre people.

As of 2021 there were 515 people, with a median age of 24. 90.4% of residents were Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander people. There were 77 households and 82% spoke Alyawarr language at home.[5]

Art

Artists of Ampilatwatja is an art centre, founded in 1999. The paintings produced by the artists are distinctive, "due to the application of fine dots and the often bright and child-like figurative depiction of the land". Most of the artists paint Arreth, meaning "strong bush medicine", showing their deep connection to country.[6]

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Ampilatwatja topographic maps, elevation, terrain . 2023-09-20 . Topographic maps . en.
  2. Web site: BushTel – Remote Communities of the NT . bushtel.nt.gov.au . 6 March 2023.
  3. Web site: Remote Central Australian community desperate for fix to phone, internet outages . ABC News . 6 March 2023 . en-AU . 8 June 2022.
  4. Web site: Remote Northern Territory town hit by food shortages amid flood and Covid crises . The Guardian . 6 March 2023.
  5. Web site: 2021 Ampilatwatja, Census . Australian Bureau of Statistics, Quickstats . 6 March 2023.
  6. Web site: About . Artists of Ampilatwatja . 22 October 2014 . 28 January 2024.