Cleared Out

In 1964, a group of 20 Aboriginal women and children in the Western Desert made their first contact with European Australianspatrol officers from the Woomera Rocket Range, clearing an area into which rockets were to be fired. They had been pursued by the patrol officers for several weeks, running from this frightening new force in the desert. Yuwali Nixon, 17 at the time, remembers every detail of the dramafirst seeing these 'devils' and their 'rocks that moved' and escaping the strange intruders. Her sharp recollections are complemented in a three-part diary of the chase by the colorful official reports of the patrol. These reflect similar arguments within government about the treatment of desert inhabitants and public skepticism about the government's intent. Line drawn maps and black & white illustrations complement the text. Yuwali's story also resonates in today's debate about the future of many Indigenous desert communities. Cleared Out combines three oral histories, detailed a