Town camps, initially established on the fringe of Alice Springs,
Northern Territory, have long being a feature of the town. They are the direct result of the dispossession of Aboriginal people from their traditional lands, and there is a strong history of opposition to them. Despite this opposition the camps survived, avoiding measures to remove or assimilate them, and from the 1970s have campaigned to actively assert their rights, demanding land tenure, shelter, essential services and
self-determination. In order to do this the council was established in 1974 as Tunkatjira, and it was officially recognised in 1977 before finally being incorporated as Tangentyere Council on 6 February 1979. It is unknown why the spelling was changed at this time. The organisation soon developed to incorporate the provision of family, community and social services.
Tangentyere is a derivative of
tunkatjira an
Arrernte word meaning "all speaking together", and it aimed to unite Aboriginal people in Central Australia from all of the language and people groups, including
Warlpiri,
Anmatyerre,
Kaytetye,
Pitjantjatjara,
Luritja,
Alyawarre and
Pintupi. ==Description==