The Kimberley Land Council Newsletter was published by the Kimberley Land Council in Kununurra, Western Australia. The Kimberley Land Council was formed in 1978 by Kimberley Aboriginal people as a political land rights organisation. It now works with about 25 native title groups to get native title recognition, to protect and enhance the high biodiversity values of the region, to pursue cultural enterprise development and  is one of the biggest employers in the Kimberley, employing about 130 staff across the divisions of native title, legal, land and sea management, corporate services and finance.

“I’m calling the people from everywhere who hear my voice. Now I’m saying all this word, what we come here for – because we’ve come here for talking about things that have been took away from us. And meaning that we’re going to try to bring these things back for our country. And white people from all over Australia they took our country away – that’s what we’ve come here for. To have a meeting amongst ourselves – to help us. That’s what we been call all these people for – to give us more power.”
Mark Moora at Halls Creek, April 1979.

In this first issue of the newsletter from 1979, articles include a report of the first meeting of the Kimberley Land Council, an account of the conditions of the Djaru people living at the notorious Gordon Downs pastoral station, the beginning of large scale mining in the Kimberleys – for minerals including bauxite, diamonds and oil, and a description of three new pieces of legislation which restrict Aboriginal rights.

The Commonweal Collection includes three issues of the Kimberley Land Council Newsletter, published in 1979, 1980 and 1986. Other materials in the Collection about Indigenous and Tribal Peoples (Nr) can be found on the catalogue here.

A full list of over 1,700 magazines, newsletters, bulletins and journals that are in the Collection can be found here.