Ara Irititja and Ara Winki in the APY Lands: connecting archives to communities through mobile apps on portable devices

Abstract

Ara Irititja is an enduring and multifaceted project that returns and collectively documents Anangu historical material and preserves it for the future. This paper explains why the archival project has been so effective in engaging Indigenous communities and what it is doing to ensure its longevity. In particular, the paper provides details about a new pilot project which has resulted in a software application entitled Ara Winki No. 1, ‘a whole lot of stories’, specifically for use on portable electronic devices, which delivers historical and cultural content of relevance​ to Anangu in local languages and works to connect the existing archive to younger generations.