Hermannsburg
is a small town in the outback of Australia, about 130 Ks west of Alice
Springs. It is an Aboriginal community and it is called Ntaria by the
traditional Aranda owners.
On this page you
will find:
· A map of the location of Hermannsburg
· A short history of Hermannsburg
· Information about Hermannsburg now
· Why am I interested in Hermannsburg
Hermannsburg is located in the Northern
Territory of Australia. You can see where the Northern Territory is on the map
below.
Within the Northern Territory, Hermannsburg
is located in the south, near Alice Springs. This means it is in the centre of
Australia, in the middle of the desert (see below). It is near the geographical
centre of Australia.
Hermannsburg is
located in between two old mountain ranges: The Western MacDonnell Ranges in
the north and the James Ranges in the south. The community can be reached by
sealed road, on the Larapinta Drive. Only the last stretch, about 10 Ks from
Ellery Creek to the community, has not been sealed yet. Alternatively,
Hermannsburg can be reached from Uluru and Kings Canyon via the Meereenie Loop
Road. This road is unsealed and you will need a permit to travel on it. You can
buy this permit at Kings Canyon or in Hermannsburg.
It is not going to
be as short as I thought, so I'm still busy, but it is coming up soon.
In modern times
Hermannsburg serves mainly as an Outstation Resource Centre. The community
itself has probably somewhere between 400 and 500 inhabitants (no-one knows,
really), but there are at least 600 people that rely on Hermannsburg for
services. This means that the community provides the most necessary services
for the outstations around it. An outstation is a small community where a small
group of Aborigines (usually one or a few families) lives in close connection
with the natural environment. Outstations were set up in an effort to bring
Aboriginal people back closer to their original lifestyle. The outstation
movement is quite successful: dozens of outstations have been created in the
Hermannsburg area in recent years.
Services in
Hermannsburg include:
·
two supermarkets (one
run by the council, the other by the former mission). The Ntaria Supermarket at
the entrance of town is open seven days a week
·
a take-away, also open
every day, next to the Ntaria Supermarket
·
a post office (well,
you can leave your letters at the council office)
·
a petrol station (open
every day, but 9 to 5 only)
·
a public phone (one in
the Ntaria Supermarket, and one near the police station)
·
a clinic
·
a police station (with
two white officers assisted by several Aboriginal officers)
·
a courthouse (a judge
will come out of Alice Springs once a month)
·
a mechanic (mainly for
car repairs)
·
the Tjuwanpa Outstation
Resource Centre
Then of course
there is the Historic Precinct; where the mission used to be. There is a church
here (with a bible translated into Aranda), there is an art exhibition and the
famous Kata-Anga Tea Rooms. Here you can get tea with Apfelstrudel, but you can
also look at and buy some Aboriginal art made by local painters. Prices are
quite reasonable.
If you
want to travel to Hermannsburg, be aware of local laws. The community and its surroundings are Aboriginal
Land and you do need a permit for access to Aboriginal Land. However, if you
only stay on the road and visit the community from Alice Springs, you will not
need a permit. But then again, if you want to travel on to Kings Canyon via the
Mereenie Loop Road, you do need a permit. You can buy this permit in the Ntaria
Supermarket or at the Tea Room. Please note that without a permit you are not
allowed to be in Hermannsburg after dark (and you will be thrown out).
It is also very
important to know that alcohol is prohibited in Hermannsburg. On Larapinta
Drive you will come up to a sign telling you that, but most people rush past
without looking. If you are caught by the police (they frequently control the
road: it's the only one in) they will confiscate your car, put you in jail and
your car will be up for auction. Don't say I didn't warn you!
Here's some links
about Hermannsburg and related subjects:
Links
about Aborigines and Land Rights
·
ATSIC; the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Commission. This
organisation manages Aboriginal business on federal level.
·
The Central Land
Council, who manages the Aboriginal
land in the centre of Australia.
Links
about Hermannsburg in particular:
·
You can click from here
to the Northern Territory
Tourist Commission site about Hermannsburg, with mostly practical
information
· Information about Hermannsburg at Any Point Australia
·
There appears to be a
site with pictures
about the history of Hermannsburg, but I can't read it.
Links about travelling to
Hermannsburg:
·
First try the NTTC page
listed above
·
Then there is some Information in German for people who want to go to Hermannsburg
·
Tours to Hermannsburg
are offered by (among others) Tracks Outback Expeditions.
Other interesting links:
·
Yothu Yindi, an Aboriginal band famous around the world for
their mix of traditional Aboriginal music and western-style dance and rock
music. They have an excellent web site!
·
The Central Australia
Archeology Project by the University of Sydney is conducted near
Hermannsburg
·
On this page you will
find some information about Warren Williams, a country
and western-singer and songwriter from Hermannsburg. He has put out two CD's so
far: Western Wind and Country friends and me. His albums are
available through CAAMA music.
·
In Australia Warren is
getting a bit famous after recording a duet with country star John
Williamson: Raining on the rock.
·
Warren's father Gus is
also a country music singer and can be found at the same sites as Warren. But
Gus Williams is not only a singer, he is first and foremost the chairman of the
Ntaria Council. They're not on the web (yet).
· Here's some information about Hermannsburg's most famous citizen: the Aboriginal painter Albert Namatjira
Well, the main
reason for making a homepage about Hermannsburg is because I've been there and
I think it's a very interesting place. From February to April 1997 I've been
working in the Ntaria Supermarket as a shop assistant. I come from Holland, but
by that time I was travelling around Australia on a working holiday. I was
lucky to find this job and it gave me the opportunity to experience some of the
Aboriginal culture and of the Outback ife. It was a great experience. I also
wrote about it and you can find what I wrote at this site, at http://home.introweb.nl/~hogensti/NTARIA.htm. Unfortunately, for now it is only in Dutch but
maybe I'll translate.
I did translate
some information about my working holiday, you can find that information here.
If you have suggestions or comment, you can mail me here.
Last updated: October
19, 2000
Created by Maarten
Hogenstijn