Kimberly Christen’s Aboriginal Business - Alliances in a Remote Australian Town was written for a group of Warumungu women she first met here in 1995.

It is the story of Tennant Creek’s Warumungu people including their past and their efforts to create a positive future for their people through alliance-making.

As a special tribute to the author, women with whom Christen had worked closely performed traditional dances and song, heralding the work which is deeply important to them.

Judy Nakkamarra Nixon, Michael Jampin Jones and Elliot McAdam delivered moving speeches, explaining to the crowd that the book connected the past and present and was there for young and old.

“This is an important work for everyone who lives in Tennant Creek,” Ms Nixon told the Tennant and District Times.

“We appreciate what Kimberly has done for us.

“She has put her whole heart into this and our history and our struggles have been documented from our own point of view.”

Christen had spent several summer holidays in Tennant Creek and even brought her family to live here for 18 months as she documented the history, views and insights of the women with whom she worked.

For Christen, the event was an emotional one for many reasons.

On her web blog, The Long Road, she wrote:

“The day before my book launch I was amazed and overwhelmed by the outpouring of support from a whole range of people in Tennant Creek and especially among the Warumungu people who were there.”

She continued: “Watching the sunrise as I drove out of Tennant Creek [some days after the launch] it was hard to recall a time when it was so difficult to leave, so hard to let go.

“I know I’ll be back and of course each trip yields new projects. But this was an ending of sorts - the finishing up of business for me and for all those around me that day of the launch and especially for those who were so much a part of my time in Tennant Creek but who are no longer with us.”