One October day in 1984, the Department of Aboriginal Affairs in Canberra was advised by radiophone:

“We have a first contact here.”

Located in the Gibson Desert, nine Pintupi people had been picked up in a four-wheel drive and taken to Kintore, near Alice Springs. They had never seen a non-Indigenous person, let alone cars and towns.

Wearing human hair belts and armed with spears and boomerangs, the Pintupi Nine quietly stepped out of the desert and into modern-day society. They are believed to be the last people to have lived a traditional Ancient Australian lifestyle.