First Nations peoples generally wanted to stay on their land their lives were so connected to the environment there was an existential need for them to remain on Country. Traditional ways of life came under intense pressure in this clash between Western and First Nations land usage. This pattern was repeated across Australia as pastoralists took possession of First Nations lands and stocked them with cattle and sheep. This put incredible pressure on the environment, and the system of land management the Gurindji had developed over many millennia started to break down. In 1884, 1,000 cattle were moved onto the land and 10 years later there were 15,000 cattle and 8,000 bullocks. The Gurindji would have had no appreciation that someone from outside their community ‘owned’ part of their country. The Gurindji people had lived on their homelands in what is now the Victoria River area of the Northern Territory for tens of thousands of years when in 1883 the colonial government granted almost 3,000 square kilometres of their country to the explorer and pastoralist Nathaniel Buchanan.
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