South Australian Museum - North Terrace, Adelaide, South Australia 5000

The APY Lands Success

On 4-14 September 2012 the South Australian Museum's Community Outreach Program will visit the Anangu, Pitjantjatjara and Yankunytjatjara (APY) Landsfor two weeks. This will be the third year the Museum has engaged with Anangu communities in the State's far north. The theme for the program this year will be Explore. 

We will be travelling through the Lands from east to west with nine staff, visiting six communities — Indulkana, Fregon, Mimili, Pukatja (Ernabella), Amata and Pipalyatjara. The program will also cater for 10 other communities incorporating Kenmore Park, Murputja, Watarru and Wingellina. 

The South Australian Museum first visited the APY Lands in 2010, a wonderful experience for all involved, and one of our greatest success stories in community engagement activity to date. In recognition of this, the program was awarded with a Ruby Award in the Community Impact (under $100,000) category, recognising the program for giving students in remote communities a unique educational experience.

Following the success of 2010, the South Australian Museum returned in 2011, travelling to nine schools for participatory teaching sessions. The learning experience was highly personalised for the communities, and we shared our knowledge, teaching the impacts of science and research on our everyday lives. 

Aboriginal people have a continuous history spanning more than 50,000 years and is one of the world's oldest living cultures. Their stories provide an irrevocable understanding of the birth of our continent, its ancient landscapes, spirituality and wonder.

The APY Lands span an area over 100,000km2 in the far north-west of South Australia. It is home to approximately 3,000 Anangu people where English is often the second or third language spoken.