Mount Doreen Station

22°05′20″S 131°25′19″E / 22.089°S 131.422°E / -22.089; 131.422 (Mount Doreen) Mount Doreen Station is a 7,337-square-kilometre (2,833 sq mi) pastoral lease operating as a cattle station in the Northern Territory of Australia.

Mount Doreen

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Location in the Northern Territory

It is situated about 142 kilometres (88 mi) north east of Papunya and approximately 319 kilometres (198 mi) north west of Alice Springs just off the Tanami Track in the central region of the Northern Territory. The property shares a boundary with Yunkanjini Aboriginal Land Trust to the south, the Yuendumu Aboriginal Land Trust to the east (with Yuendumu the closest settlement^[1]), the Mala Aboriginal Land Trust to the north and the Lake Mackay Aboriginal Land Trust to the west. The nearest leases are Newhaven Sanctuary (formerly Station) to the south and Mount Denison to the east.^[2]

Vaughan Springs, known to the Warlpiri people as Pikilyi, is a large and important natural spring on the property.^[3][4][5][6]

Early history

The traditional owners of the area are the Warlpiri people.^[7] Vaughan Springs is an important sacred site for ceremonies, at the junction of a number of different Dreamings, including Possum, Snake, Two Kangaroos, Flying Ant and Yam, which are represented in the work of artist Kumantje Jagamara.^[8]

The Warlpiri received recognition for their native title of the area in 2014.^[7] The initial application had been filed with the Federal Court in 2005, then later withdrawn in 2011 and filed again shortly afterwards, with recognition being awarded in 2013.^[9] A minor variation was registered in August 2020.^[10]

The station was established by William Braitling, better known as Bill, and his wife Doreen Braitling in 1932. They acquired the lease after a few years working as drovers in the Territory. The property is named after Doreen.^[11] In 1945 Bill Braitling was charged with assault for tying an Aboriginal man to a tree and, "thrash[ing] him with four heavy mulga waddies".^[12] Braitling was acquitted by the Supreme Court in 1946 and unsuccessfully claimed improper police methods were used.^[13]

Doreen Braitling applied for a mineral lease in 1947.^[14] Bill Braitling stood as the candidate for Stuart in the 1951 Northern Territory Legislative Council election.^[15] In 1953, Bill Braitling attempted to establish the Northern Territory's first Arab stud at Mount Doreen.^[16][17] Bill lived on Mount Doreen Station until his death in Alice Springs in 1959.^[18]

Recent history

The property was put on the market in 2012^[19] but was later withdrawn from sale.^[20]

Matthew Braitling took over the station and 2013. He was charged with animal cruelty after an incident that had occurred in 2012 where he failed to alleviate the suffering of a cow with a deformed head and another that had an ingrown horn.^[21][22] He pleaded guilty to the charge and was later found guilty, but had no conviction recorded.^[23]

Since 2007, it has been located with the locality of Lake Mackay.^[24][25][2]

Geology

Mount Doreen is in the Ngalia Basin. In 1971, a type of quartzite was identified, named as Vaughan Springs quartzite.^[26]

Notable people

• Artist Kumantje Jagamara AM, designer of the mosaic forecourt at Parliament House, Canberra, was born at Vaughan Springs.
• Artist Pauline Nakamarra Woods, the first Indigenous Australian woman to have her work used on an Australian postage stamp, was born at Vaughan Springs.

See also

• List of ranches and stations
• List of the largest stations in Australia

References

1. "Yuendumu – Major". BushTel. Northern Territory Government. Retrieved 17 March 2021.
2. (PDF). Northern Territory Government. 2003. Archived from the original (PDF) on 9 April 2015. Retrieved 5 April 2015.
3. "Pikilyi Dreaming by Steven Japanangka". Spirit Gallery. Retrieved 17 March 2021.
4. Mackett, Paul (2003). "Mount Doreen 1963 - 1968". Centre for Indigenous Family History Studies. Retrieved 17 March 2021. National Archives of Australia, Darwin Office CRS E944/0 Item Mt Doreen CA 7112: Aboriginal Population Records
5. Peterson, Nicolas (2016). "9: What was Dr Coombs thinking? Nyirrpi, policy and the future". In Peterson, Nicolas; Myers, Fred (eds.). Experiments in self-determination: Histories of the outstation movement in Australia. Map shows Pikilyi, with the symbol for Homestead (as shown in the legend). ANU Press. ISBN 9781925022902.
6. "Vaughan Springs". Google Maps. Retrieved 17 March 2021.
7. "Walpiri owners receive land back". Central Australian Aboriginal Media Association. 2014. Retrieved 4 March 2015.
8. "Vale: Kumantye Jagamara". QAGOMA Blog. 14 February 2021. Retrieved 16 March 2021.
9. "Native Title recognition at Mount Doreen Station". Central Land Council. 2 July 2013. Retrieved 4 March 2015.
10. "National Native Title Register Details: DCD2013/002 - Mt Doreen Perpetual Pastoral Lease". National Native Title Tribunal. 7 October 2010. Retrieved 17 March 2021.
11. "Doreen Braitling". Northern Territory Government. Retrieved 7 March 2015.
12. "Allegedly Assaulted Native". Army News. Vol. 4, no. 1271. Northern Territory, Australia. 6 August 1945. p. 2. Retrieved 22 August 2016 – via National Library of Australia.
13. "Enquiry Into Braitling Case, Justifies Police". Northern Standard. Vol. 1, no. 23. Northern Territory, Australia. 1 November 1946. p. 7. Retrieved 22 August 2016 – via National Library of Australia.
14. "Advertising". Centralian Advocate. Vol. 1, no. 1. Northern Territory, Australia. 24 May 1947. p. 4. Retrieved 22 August 2016 – via National Library of Australia.
15. "Commonwealth of Australia". Northern Standard. Vol. 6, no. 254. Northern Territory, Australia. 20 April 1951. p. 3. Retrieved 22 August 2016 – via National Library of Australia.
16. "An Arab for the N.T." Centralian Advocate. Vol. VII, no. 340. Northern Territory, Australia. 11 December 1953. p. 1. Retrieved 22 August 2016 – via National Library of Australia.
17. "N.T.'s first Arab stud". Centralian Advocate. Vol. VIII, no. 393. Northern Territory, Australia. 17 December 1954. p. 9. Retrieved 22 August 2016 – via National Library of Australia.
18. "Doreen Braitling". Territory Stories. Northern Territory Government. Retrieved 22 August 2016.
19. James Nason (28 March 2014). "NT Kimberley Property - 15 pastoral holdings for sale". Beef Central. Nascon Media Pty Ltd. Retrieved 4 March 2015.
20. "Mount Doreen Station, Alice Springs NT 0870". HomeHound. Retrieved 22 August 2016.
21. Caddie Brain (3 June 2013). "NT pastoralist charged with animal cruelty". Australian Broadcasting Corporation. Retrieved 7 March 2015.
22. "In Court for Cow cruelty" (PDF). Centralian Advocate. Northern Territory Government. 4 June 2013. Retrieved 9 October 2015.
23. Caddie Brain (7 August 2015). "Pastoralist found guilty of animal cruelty". Australian Broadcasting Corporation. Retrieved 9 October 2015.
24. "Place Names Register Extract for Lake Mackay (locality)". NT Place Names Register. Northern Territory Government. Retrieved 13 January 2020.
25. "Localities within the Tanami sub-region (CP 5083)". NT Place Names Register. Northern Territory Government. Retrieved 13 January 2020.
26. "Stratigraphic Unit Details: Vaughan Springs Quartzite". Australian Stratigraphic Units Database, Geoscience Australia. Australian Government. Retrieved 18 March 2021.   Text may have been copied from this source, which is available under a Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) licence.