For Yalata ranger Tyson Edwards, seeing his Country from above has fostered a new sense of connection — but he never imagined it would uncover an ancient water source.
Rangers from this Aboriginal community on South Australia’s remote west coast are now using drones to care for their land, which is about the size of 200,000 AFL fields.
“It’s very helpful, because the cars can’t really get in through the bushes and all that, so the drone just has an eagle-eye view of the land,” Edwards told SBS News.
The investment in drone technology has led them to a new or long-forgotten ancient rock hole.
“We didn’t really know that there were rock holes out there,” he said. “But the drone found it for us.”
The rangers discovered the site north of Yalata on the track to the abandoned Ooldea settlement, where their families lived after colonisation.
The Yalata Anangu people were forced off their land and moved to a mission in Yalata when the British government began using Maralinga
With agreement from the Australian government, the people living on Maralinga Tjarutja lands were relocated and told they could not return.
Edwards said Maralinga was still home, and Yalata was “a home away from home”.
“[Nuclear testing] pushed us out from there, to the outer lands further away from the bomb,” he said.
Rangers discovered the site of the rock pool north of Yalata on the track to the abandoned Ooldea settlement, where their families lived after colonisation. Source: Supplied / Andrew Alderson
‘Rock holes are a place where we can survive’
Sources of fresh water were vital to the survival of their desert-dwelling ancestors. So, the rock hole discovery has excited the whole community.
“Rock holes are a place where we can survive,” Yalata Elder Russell Bryant said.
“For my people, if the water runs out, they go look for another place.”
Now, the younger generation will be custodians of this long-forgotten place.
A Yalata child visits the rock holes for the first time. Source: Supplied / Andrew Alderson
Drones and firewood: Yalata’s plan for self-sufficiency
The rangers have received specialised training to use large drones equipped with thermal technology to find seal colonies and hunt feral cats and foxes.
Head ranger Andrew Alderson said they had used the technology to help national parks staff with what is usually a time-consuming seal count.
“We were able to demonstrate instantly that you can fly along and spot the seals and do an accurate count very quickly,” Alderson said.
“That was a big win for the fellas and quite a proud moment.”
The investment in technology is part of the community’s broader aim of building self-sufficiency.
Five years ago, there were only 19 jobs at Yalata, which has a fluctuating population of up to 350 people.
Thousands of dead Acacia trees across the vast lands have provided an opportunity to change that.
One type of Acacia, Western myall trees or Kyatah — as it’s called by the Anangu — is a slow-burning wood traditionally used for fire and shelter.
Now, it’s also the raw material for a thriving firewood enterprise which has 20 people on the payroll. Only the dead trees that are not being used by wildlife are felled.
Bryant said the new work is a positive change for Yalata.
“It’s changed,” he said. “People are working together, they look after each other.
“When I look at the young people working, that was really good. They’re proud of that job.”
The community has also opened its own roadhouse, where it is selling work by Yalata artists.
‘We started with nothing’
John Bridley grew up in Yalata and said the firewood business helped him to get out of the house, made him “really busy” and provided an opportunity to help his family.
“It actually feels really good. It feels nice knowing that you are getting paid every week,” he said.
Bridley was one of four who set up the business.
“We started with nothing. It was just the trailer and the four guys and a chainsaw,” he said.
Now, they are trucking 22 pallets, each containing 66 bags of firewood, for sale around the country each month.
John Buckskin and John Bridley with bags of acacia chopped for firewood. Source: Supplied / Andrew Alderson
Bridley has also attained forklift, excavator and telehandler licenses.
He said the work and the support it provided helped other men move through stress in their lives.
“It makes them forget all their problems and things that are going on in community,” he said.
“When they come to work, it’s all gone.”
Operations manager John Buckskin also grew up in Yalata and has recently returned, with a passion to help the next generation.
“I see a lot of things that I went through in these young fellas,” Buckskin said.
“It’s quite humbling to see changes in the fellas after just a week or two of work. For many of them, this is their first job.
“The joy that I see in their eyes when they’re working, and their wife comes over during lunchtime, and the little baby is in the arms … it’s a beautiful moment.”
