"The dogs here at Ali Curung are very important. They are connected to the ancestors. The ancestor dogs traveled this way in the spirit times, in dream times and they left behind the marks of where they went. Some dogs have special powers, some can talk and some can predict things like when some one will die. Dogs are important in ceremonies. The dogs here are not to be hurt or harmed in any way. They cannot be put down however old or sick they get. Dogs have to lead their own natural life without interference from any one." Lionel James, Vice President, October 2002.

Ali Curung was established in 1956. The original name was "Warrabri Settlement".The first groups to arrive in the settlement which is on Kaiditch land, were the Warlpirri and Warumungu. Today, the community consists of mainly four language groups, the Warlpirri, Warumungu, Kaiditch and Alyawarra. An uneasy peace in the new settlement was negotiated between language groups with the help of Kumantjai Jabaljari. He died in his nineties in 2002 but could remember the events surrounding the Coniston Massacre in 1928. He was with the groups fleeing their country and recalled walking through the Tennant Creek area before white people arrived. Tennant Creek was established in the 1930's.

After the 1928 Coniston massacre, most of the Warlpirri people fled their country never to return. They mainly settled around Phillip Creek and