Akeyulerre
A place for healing
Back in 1999 a group of Arrernte elders met outside a house across the road from the old Alice Springs Jail. They talked about setting up a place where Arrernte people could come for traditional healing.
We needed a place where we could practice our own healing treatments. This is the place where Akeyulerre Healing Centre was established, named after the rocky hill behind the centre that marks an important cultural site.
We have been using that house for more than 20 years to do healing and to make bush remedies, and we run cultural camps on country so kids and young people can learn their culture from their elders on their country. This is what the old people who set this place up wanted and we are still doing it today.
In 2021 we knocked that old house down and now we are building a new place, the Arrernte Living Culture Centre where the language and culture of the Arrernte people can be maintained and strengthened. This will be a place to build understanding and respect for Arrernte culture amongst the broader community.