Martu have visited Roebourne Regional Prison every month over the last six months to lead an ongoing conversation about alcohol. 

The rangers are forming firm friendships with the crew members from the Department of Biodiversity and Conservation fire crews of the Swan Coastal District. 

KJ’s applied linguist, Duke (Garry Earl-Spurr), recently visited the University of Western Australia (UWA) to give a seminar about KJ’s language program. He spoke to the audience about where Martu are from, and about how Martu are still looking after the languages they belong to the “right-way”.

VIC Police received the national request to reduce Aboriginal deaths in custody and by default, assumed reducing Aboriginal incarceration was a parallel objective. Their first steps? They invited one of KJ’s team over to learn more about the work between the MLP and WA police and the success of this program.

The Women & Families Program is in full swing and the team are using the Abecedarian Approach to early childhood education! They also received a visit from rangers and older school kids and together looked for minyarra: a small sweet bush onion.

Vehicle inspections are an important job for the rangers. To start, a large tarp has to be laid down before work can begin to ensures tools and parts don’t get lost. But these checks would fall monthly, sometimes daily. So it was no surprise when the rangers devised a solution — the Kunawarritji car wash!

The partnership between BHP and KJ provides social, cultural and environmental programs to conserve and protect Martu culture, land and heritage. It has generated significant employment opportunities for Martu, primarily through a ranger program. Martu elder, Thelma Judson, was asked what this partnership has meant to her.

Rangers have been involved in successful helicopter mapping activities to relocate waterholes out of Punmu and Kunawarritji. The work was combined with waru (fire) work to look after the country.

Martu rangers and staff from Punmu and Kunawaritji schools came together recently (alongside many rangers and elders in Parnngurr) to learn and record elders’ language and stories.

KJ rangers teamed up with a crew of Trackcare volunteers in Kunawarritji to help build toilet facilities on the Canning Stock Route.