The Western Desert refers to a large tract of desert in the west of Australia, comprising the Gibson Desert, the Great Sandy and Little Sandy Deserts. A four wheel drive in the Gibson Desert The Gibson Desert is a Western Australian desert made up of sandhills and dry grass. ... The Great Sandy Desert is a 360,000 km² (223,700 mi²) expanse in northwestern Australia. ... The Little Sandy Desert is desert in Australia, located in Western Australia near the Great Sandy Desert. ...

Although it is not an offical Australian desert (see Deserts of Australia), it is a useful general term of reference to describe this area in Australia. Location of deserts in Australia Deserts of Australia cover a large portion of the land in Australia. ...

The Western Desert can be said to stretch from the Nullarbor in the south to the Kimberley in the north, and from the Percival Lakes in the west through to the Pintupi lands in the Northern Territory. NASA - Visible Earth, Nullarbor. ... The Kimberley is one of the nine regions of Western Australia, consisting of the local government areas of Broome, Derby-West Kimberley, Halls Creek and Wyndham-East Kimberley. ... Pintupi refers to an Australian Aboriginal group who are part of the Western Desert cultural group and whose homeland is in the area west of Lake MacDonald and Lake Mackay in Western Australia. ... Emblems: Sturts Desert Rose (floral) Motto: None Slogan or Nickname: The Territory, The NT, The Top End Other Australian states and territories Capital Darwin Government Const. ...

It is often used by anthropoligists when discussing Abororgines from this area, who include the Pintupi, the Warlpiri and the Martu, among others. Pintupi refers to an Australian Aboriginal group who are part of the Western Desert cultural group and whose homeland is in the area west of Lake MacDonald and Lake Mackay in Western Australia. ... Location of Warlpiri (light green) in the Northern Territory The Warlpiri are a group of Indigenous Australians, many of whom speak the Warlpiri language. ...

Linguists who study Aboriginal languages refer to langauges from this region as Western Desert Language. The following is a list of linguists, those who study linguistics. ... The Australian Aboriginal languages comprise several language families and isolates native to Australia and a few nearby islands, but by convention excluding Tasmania. ... Western Desert Language is the name used to refer to an otherwise un-named Australian Aboriginal language. ...

Apart from the Canning Stock Route and the Rabbit Proof Fence, white contact with this part of Australia was very rare, up until the 1960s: The Canning Stock Route is one of the toughest and most remote tracks in the world. ... Movie poster for Rabbit-Proof Fence Rabbit-Proof Fence is an Australian film based on the book of the same name by Doris Pilkington Garimara allegedly based on historical events about three young half-caste Aboriginal girls who ran away from a Western Australian settlement in which they were placed... The 1960s decade refers to the years from 1960 to 1969, inclusive. ...

No one had been out there. The desert, as far as the Department [WA Dept of Suppy] was concerned... was an unknown, as it was to the whole of Western Australia. The Warburton Ranges [were] as far as anybody got. People in those days knew absolutely nothing about Aborigines.^[1]

References

1. ^ Terry Long, Native Patrol Officer employed by Weapons Research Establishment (WRE) to help "clear" the desert beneath the trajectory of the Blue Streak missile, quoted in Davenport et al, below.

• Davenport, S, Johnson, P and Yuwali, Cleared Out: First Contact in the Western Desert, Aboriginal Studies Press, 2005 ISBN 0855754575