Dry Lake Country

Alice Nampijinpa Henwood is among the last people to grow up in ancient Australia. She was born in the Tanami desert, one of the most remote, least visited parts of the world.

Anthony Ham travels to the Tanami to meet the Warlpiri elder, senior law woman, and giant in her community. He writes, 'This stubborn, grandmotherly figure looks out upon the world with mischief and a lived experience that gives her a deep knowledge about the land and a profound wisdom about the world.'

Her community stands at a critical historical crossroad. So, too, does their Country and its wildlife. Plundered and trampled by cattle, the fragile desert landscapes have become the wasteland we imagine them to be, but they never really were until now. Alice and her daughter Christine are using their finely honed bush skills to restore the lost marsupial species of the Australian inland. And it is working. The all but extinct miniature wallaby known as the mala is back, as are bettongs and many other endangered desert marsupials-and with them, the plants. Meanwhile Alice and other Warlpiri elders are finding new ways to transmit desert culture to the next generation.

It is a story of hope for the future, from Australia's desert heart.

'This story could be told nowhere else on earth. It is Australia's secret. The weight of it, the pulsing significance of it, made me tremble. This is not a book it is naked conscience.' Bruce Pascoe

'No better guide than Anthony Ham to this extraordinary country and those exceptional people.' Dean Ashenden