The Lizard Eaters

In 1957, officers from the Welfare Branch of Northern Territory Administration began patrolling the Gibson and Great Sandy Deserts. Here they found the Pintupi people, who had never been in touch with white civilisation. In 1963, the Melbourne Herald’s correspondent, Douglas Lockwood, was invited to join a patrol into the Gibson Desert to a point about 960km west of Alice Springs, and 230km across the Western Australian border.

The Lizard Eaters tells the fascinating story of that journey and the discovery of yet more Pintupi people.