Kumanjayi Little Baby is believed to be taken from her bed in the night while visiting a town camp near Alice Springs with her mother. This is how town camps came to be and what it is like to live in one.
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What is a town camp? The site of Kumanjayi Little Baby's tragic alleged abduction
By Indigenous communities reporter
Nakari Thorpe and Indigenous affairs team's
Stephanie Boltje
Around the outskirts of Alice Springs, there are
sixteen communities known as town camps, populated by Aboriginal families.
The town camps are organised to provide homes for distinct families and language groups. For example, at Inarlenge Little Sisters, the residents are Arrernte, Warlpiri, Luritja, Pitjantjatjara speakers.
The Old Timers camp is small, with nine houses.
"There's a mixture of language groups there, including the Warlpiri Aboriginal group, plus some southern speaking Aboriginal tribes," Mr Shaw said.
Town camps were created out of necessity because of discriminatory policies and attitudes that prevented Aboriginal people from entering Alice Springs.
Many were denied the same rights as other territorians, to freely move about, work and participate in social activities.
Mr Shaw, a fourth-generation town camp resident, said the camps were officially recognised in the 70s because Aboriginal people were not provided with necessary government services, such as secure houses, running water, sewerage and garbage removal.
"So, the old people fought to secure land tenure arrangements throughout Alice Springs, and that's the inception of the town camps," he said.
"Later down the track, they established Tangentyere Council to provide services that were inadequately provided by the government in those days."
The NT government's website said it had invested $116 million in recent years in town camps, specifically in Alice Springs.
