NGURRANGGA TOURS CELEBRATES 10 YEARS OF OPERATIONS IN PILBARA

BY GERARD MAZZA

Clinton Walker delivers bush tucker tours at Murujuga, the Burrup Peninsula. Credit: Megan Boyce.

An Indigenous tourism company operating on Ngarluma and Yindjibarndi lands is celebrating its tenth anniversary this month.

Ngarluma-Yindjibarndi man Clinton Walker has been operating Ngurrangga Tours for a decade.

Credit: Megan Boyce.

Mr Walker and his staff have shared culture with tourists from all over the world through rock art tours, bushtucker tours and traditional dance performances.

Mr Walker said it was “quite surreal” to be celebrating ten years.

“When I first started, I wasn’t even sure how long I’d be doing the tours, whether they’d be successful or not,” he said.

“I thought I’d just give it a go.

Credit: Megan Boyce

“The main thing I wanted was to teach people about our culture, our country, our history.”

Mr Walker said tourism could help Indigenous people keep their cultures strong.

“A lot of [Aboriginal people] are working in the mining industry,” he said.

“They’ve got a 9-to-5 job, where that takes up all their time, so culture gets put to one side until certain times, and people make time for it as much as they can.

“When you’re working in tourism, you get to do it every day.”

Ngurrangga Tours will hold a celebration at the North West Brewing Company on Sunday June 25 to mark the anniversary.

The event will include the screening of three episodes of YouTube series Best Ever Food Review show featuring Clinton and other Ngurrannga Tours staff.

Gerard Mazza spoke to Mr Walker about the ten-year anniversary of Ngurranga Tours at the opening of Karratha’s Headspace Centre:

Credit: Megan Boyce.