The Last of the Nomads

Partners for life, Warri and Yatungka were believed to be the last of the Mandildjara tribe of desert nomads to live permanently in the traditional way. Their deaths in the late 1970s marked the end of a tribal lifestyle that stretched back more than 30,000 years.

The Last of the Nomads tells of the journey of Mudjon, a Mandildjara elder, and anthropologist W.J. Peasley, as together they searched for the exiled couple. This is the extraordinary story of the rescue of Warri and Yatungka, and how they survived for thirty years in the unrelenting western Gibson Desert.

W.J. Peasley was born in the central west of New South Wales and spent his boyhood on his father’s farm. While working as a flying doctor in Western Australia he developed a strong interest in Indigenous history. W.J. Peasley was born in the central west of New South Wales and spent his boyhood on his father’s farm. While working as a flying doctor in Western Australia he developed a strong interest in Indigenous history.