About us
Owner and head guide, Tess Atie, is a local Aboriginal woman and former park ranger with an extraordinary knowledge of her country.
Tess's story
A lifetime in the Litchfield area
I am a Marrathiel aboriginal woman born in Darwin. I grew up travelling and camping with my family on our country to the south-west of Darwin. I have family all the way from Mandorah, across the harbour from Darwin, to Peppimenarti, beyond the Daly River. In 1986 the government proclaimed Litchfield National Park in part of this area.
My family
Sometimes I stayed at Woolaning Spring, near Wangi Falls. In 1949 my grandparents, Ray and Rosie Petherick, built a sawmill there, cutting paperbark and native pine for Darwin houses. They planted lots of trees around the spring, and hunted crocodiles in nearby rivers to sell their skins. My father Tommy hunted crocs too, before they became a protected species in 1971. They and their families are still there.
My mother Yilngi also grew up in that area and is now a very senior woman for cultural side. Yilngi's sister, my other mother Nancy Daiyi, was a wife to Max Sargent, who grew up with his sister, Aunty Esther, at Blyth Homestead. It is now a heritage place in Litchfield National Park.
Learning at a young age
I started to learn about the flora and fauna of the Top End while very young, travelling from place to place and camping with my family and old people. We hunted and collected food and other things we needed from our country. I learnt from my many relatives the very fine details of how plants and animals live, and how everything fits into the cultural side of things.
Working life
As a teenager I was lucky enough to go to good schools. Later I studied Lands, Parks and Wildlife Management at Northern Territory University. I worked for several years as a park ranger at Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park, and then around Darwin. Later I worked as a guide at the Territory Wildlife Park, Windows on the Wetlands, and the Museum and Art Gallery of the Northern Territory.
Today
I love meeting people from other parts of the world. I have a wonderful time showing and teaching them about my family's beautiful country, and about Aboriginal life in the old days and today.
I am training other local Aboriginal guides to lead these tours to help them create a livelihood and benefit their self-esteem.
