Each of our museum collections share unique parts of who we are and where we have come from.
Dioramas
When we thought of how we could tell our story, we were lucky to get some help from the South Australian Museum who came up here to help us. However the ideas for each of our dioramas have come from our community. They tell different parts of our story, in the way that we like it to be told.
There are some sad stories and some good stories here. See the scenes from the Tennant Creek Gold Rush, Stolen Generation, the Banka Banka Station, the Telegraph Station, cultural dancing, our famous Night Patrol and much more.
Bush food & bush medicines
This is a display of bush foods and bush medicines. This is our bush tucker, including the orange, the tomato, bush coconut, sultana, bush banana, blackberries, lemon grass, carrots, beans, sweet potato. Our bush medicine is also on display. Book a tour to explore all the various uses of this incredible display from our country.
Animals
We have a special collection of some of our native animals including the Nyinkka with her spiky tail, it’s the shape the centre is built in. We’ve got a kid python, a Filofax pigeon, the budgerigar, we’ve got our oysters, we’ve got the crab and the centipede, and the thorny devil and much more.
Wurrmulalkki
Returned Histories
‘I am happy, smiling with all my heart. Many of the objects displayed here were taken away a long time ago to various locations, both interstate and international. The removal and dispossession of our ancestor's’ belongings - things they made and used, gave and received as gifts, objects associated with Dreamings and dreaming sites - left an empty space. We, their descendants, went on trips to the store rooms of the South Australian and Melbourne museums, where many of these objects were located, and held discussions with the curators about the artefacts and other materials held in their collections. They agreed to return the materials to us to store here at Nyinkka Nyunyu. Now our children have access to these objects, resources and language materials.’ - Dianne Stokes Nampin 2002
If you have other artefacts from the Barkley Region that you want to return to us, contact us here.
