Today it is an 11 hour drive from Darwin to reach Wave Hill. In 1966 travel to Wave Hill was more difficult and, during the wet season, sometimes impossible.
The area has been the traditional home of the Gurindji people for up to 60,000 years. The Gurindji call the places Kalkaringi and Daguragu. The area has many sites of special significance, including cave art, burial sites and places important in the Gurindji dream stories.
Wave Hill cattle station was first stocked by white pastoralists in 1883. Advertised for sale in 1913, the Wave Hill pastoral lease was 27,000 square kilometres, and by then was stocked with 75,000 mixed cattle and 1400 horses.
In 1914, Wave Hill was leased from the government by Vestey, an English group of companies that was pioneering refrigeration and cold storage.
In 1966, Vestey paid 55 cents per square mile for the lease.
Freedom Day Festival
www.freedomday50.com.au
In August, there will be a major event at Kalkaringi to mark the fiftieth anniversary. This site has images of Gurindji life today.