Wiluna

Wiluna is a town in the Mid West region of Western Australia. It is situated on the edge of the Western Desert at the gateway to the Canning Stock Route and Gunbarrel Highway. It is the service centre of the local area for the local Aboriginal people, the pastoral industry, the Wiluna Gold Mine, and many more people who work on other mines in the area on a "fly-in/fly-out" basis. Wiluna's climate is hot and dry, with an annual rainfall of 254 mm (10 in). Mean maximum temperatures range from 19 °C (66 °F) in July, to 38 °C (100 °F) in January.OverviewWiluna has from 200 to 600 Indigenous people living within its community depending upon the nature, time and place of the traditional law ceremonies across the Central Desert region.The traditional Aboriginal owners were "settled" as a consequence of the British colonisation process that began in the 1800s. In the 1950s a church based group were supported by the government of the day to establish a mission. The traditional people lost their lands through many different processes, including the issuing of pastoral leases, the discovery of gold and the influx of non Aboriginal people onto their lands.Before and after the atomic nuclear testing near Maralinga in the 1950s, many Aboriginal people from at least three different tribal and language groups were "forced" to live within the mission site. This created many conflicts and the legacy continues today. Much traditional knowledge and skill exists today amongst the Aboriginal residents and visitors.