Areyonga, Northern Territory
Areyonga is a small town in the Northern Territory of Australia. It is located about 220 km west of Alice Springs. It has a population of about 195, most of whom are Aboriginal. The people are mostly Pitjantjatjara, with some Arrernte and Walpiri families. The town is governed by Areyonga Aboriginal Community.
Areyonga was founded during the 1920s. A long drought forced Pitjantatjara families to leave Kaḻṯukatjara and other places in the Petermann Ranges. They originally moved to Hermannsburg and then set up a new community at Areyonga. A Lutheran mission was established in the settlement in the 1940s. In the 1970s, many people from the mission moved back to the community at Kaḻṯukatjara. The Lutheran mission at Areyonga was closed in 1990, and the land was given back to the native people as part of the Haasts Bluff Aboriginal Land Trust.
Areyonga is in the valley of a deep and spectacular gorge, and has an abundant flora and fauna life along its creekbed and waterholes, including a large wild donkey population who bray day and night, adding to the town's charm. It has a thriving Community Arts Centre with sought after artists, and the town encourages visitors. It is only a 20 km detour from the Mereenie Loop for visitors coming through from Kings Canyon.
Pitjantjatjara artist, Bill Whiskey Tjapaltjarri worked at Areyonga.
The 2016 Australian census which was conducted in August 2016 reports that Areyonga had 195 people living within its boundaries of which 176 identified as “Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander people.”
Areyonga is located within the federal division of Lingiari, the territory electoral division of Stuart and the local government area of the MacDonnell Region.
