Yalata, South Australia

Yalata is an Aboriginal community on the coast of South Australia. It is about  west of Ceduna. The reserve, Yalata Aboriginal Land, covers  and spans about  of the Eyre Highway. It is one of 74 local government areas in South Australia.

The people who originally live in this region are Wirangu and Mirning. However, most of the people who live at Yalata are Pitjantjatjara, who originally come from the north (Anangu Pitjantjatjara Yankunytjatjara). They speak a southern dialect of the Pitjantjatjara language. This is spoken as a first language in most homes (58% in 2006).ABS 2006 Yearbook. Retrieved on 5 June 2008 The other groups making up the land's traditional owners are the Kokatha, Yankunytjatjara, Antakirinja, Pindiini and Ngalea, which are all nations of the Western Desert.

Pitjantjatjara were forced to move here by the Australian government in the 1950s. Large parts of their land in the north were made into the Woomera Test Range, a weapons testing area. The families were first moved south, to a Christian mission at Ooldea. They were moved to Yalata, even further south, in 1952.A toxic legacy : British nuclear weapons testing in Australia in:  This second move was done because of nuclear-weapon tests being done at Maralinga and Emu Field.United Kingdom Parliament, Atomic Test Site (South Australia) , House of Commons, 1 April 1993, columns 645–652, (Norman A. Godman, Member for Greenock and Port Glasgow). The title to the lands around Maralinga (Maralinga Tjarutja) was given back to the Aboriginal people by the South Australian Parliament in December 1984. People from Yalata and further inland resettled on the land in 1995.

A total of 82% of residents identify their main religion as Lutheran.

References

Other websites
Yalata Community 
Yalata Indigenous Protected Area 
Atlas of South Australia 

Category:Towns in South Australia
Category:Indigenous Australian communities
Category:Local government areas in South Australia
Category:Pitjantjatjara
Category:1994 establishments in Oceania
Category:1990s establishments in Australia