A Vision to Heal

*First Nations Australians and Torres Strait Islander people should be aware that this website contains images, voices, and names of deceased persons.

A Vision to Heal

Post 1 of 6. The Dutjahn blog series shares the beauty of Australian First Nation Martu culture, traces the sandalwood used in the Pura x Dutjahn collection, and explores Pura’s partnership with K Farmer Dutjahn Foundation (KFDF). 

Clinton Farmer, Martu leader and KFDF Chairman, hosted members of the Pura team to connect with the community on Australian sandalwood lands, host a painting workshop, and discuss a shared vision for KFDF.

Photos and story by James Roh

This scene is exactly what Ken Farmer envisioned for the future before he passed.

Here, under the brilliant night sky, Indigenous Martu people are gathered on their ancestral land in Australia’s Western Desert. They’re telling stories around a campfire, cooking a traditional delicacy, goanna lizard, on the coals, and embracing their rich cultural heritage. A sense of ease and contentment radiates from the group. Tomorrow, they’ll paint, hunt for more bush food, visit a cherished water hole, and care for the land in a myriad of ways—just like their ancestors did. 

Described as compassionate and playful, Ken, whose Martu name was Kutawarujanu, was part of the last generation of Martu to live as traditional hunter-gatherer nomads—a way of life for First Nations Australians that dates back tens of thousands of years. By the time he was born in the 1940s, his ancestors had accumulated profound ecological knowledge and an intimate connection to nature and its expansive Western Australian landscape, which Martu respectfully refer to as “Country.”

However, in the late 1970s, the remaining nomads migrated to townships and peri-urban settlements on the junctions of roadways and outside the vast landscapes of their traditional desert home. This was a critical turning point that meant all Martu now lived in towns. A multitude of factors led to this abrupt transition, including colonial assimilation practices like privatization of land and compulsory education, an encroaching extractive industry, fear of settler violence, government bomb tests, missionary activity, resource scarcity, and the allure of modern conveniences. 

Though this relocation was beneficial in some ways, Ken could also see that it was causing significant problems and the steady erosion of Martu culture. Away from Country, the new lifestyle brought challenges that no elder had experienced before—poverty, required Western formal classroom settings, lack of culturally relevant education, multi-generational trauma, and a deep sense of loss. Ken made it his life’s mission to preserve Martu wisdom and his people’s connection to Country, intent on ensuring the ~40,000-year legacy of Martu culture withstood this shock and could endure long into the future.  

Sandalwood, the Martu’s only renewable resource, would play a key role in healing his people.

Ken fought hard for Indigenous rights and worked tirelessly to navigate confusing government bureaucracy. In 2010, he helped to successfully petition the Australian government to formally recognize Martu land title and stewardship rights. He died later that year. 

Ken’s son, Clinton Farmer, has since continued in his father’s footsteps and taken the reins of the sandalwood operations on Country. And just like his father, Clinton is using dutjahn, the Martu name for sandalwood, to improve the lives of Martu and other local First Nations people. 

In 2017, Clinton expanded on his father’s vision by helping found the K Farmer Dutjahn Foundation (KFDF) in honor of his late father. 

Core-funded by Dutjahn Sandalwood Oils, and other select partnerships, the foundation supports Indigenous-led initiatives. Through a community-led model, KFDF identifies needs and builds programming that is implemented at a local level. This approach empowers the community to work toward sustainable solutions and build agency, whether it’s urgent issues like transferring knowledge and oral history from the last first-contact Martu elders or multi-generational priorities such as environmental protection, economic wellbeing, and the preservation of cultural heritage. KFDF provides culturally relevant education initiatives, economic opportunities and livelihoods development with a special focus on youth and women, and return-to-Country programs that are designed to strengthen and maintain connection to ancestral land. These initiatives aim to foster strong, resilient communities that are deeply connected to their Indigenous heritage and Country—all while promoting healing from the trauma of losing their traditional, nomadic way of life.

“I wish my dad was still with us today to see this,” Clinton says with pride and a tinge of sadness. “He’d be really happy and proud to see […] the foundation.”

Dutjahn Sandalwood plays a critical role in K Farmer Dutjahn Foundation’s model—not only by providing a predictable revenue stream to fuel community programming and scale their impact, but by raising awareness about one of the oldest living cultures in the world today. By sourcing Dutjahn Sandalwood Oil, Pura is able to help bring sandalwood to the global market—sharing the story in a way that honors Martu community, culture, and Country. To complement the education and awareness, this partnership represents three meaningful income streams for KFDF. 

1. Dutjahn Sandalwood Oils contributes a percentage of their annual revenue to KFDF, which is boosted by Pura’s purchase of Dutjahn Sandalwood Oil. 

2. Pura has invested in KFDF’s work through annual charitable grants since 2023.

3. With the launch of the Pura x Dutjahn collection, Pura will be donating an additional grant totaling 8% of net revenue from the collection’s sales to KFDF annually.   

As part of this growing partnership between Dutjahn and Pura, KFDF invited the Pura team to Martu ancestral land, deep in the Gibson Desert of Western Australia—not just to learn about the sandalwood featured in the Pura x Dutjahn collection, but to also better understand Martu culture, the foundation’s vision for the future, and what’s at stake for the Indigenous communities of Western Australia. The invitation represents trust and is an absolute honor. Pura is the first group to have been invited by KFDF onto Martu native land to camp alongside the community, learn traditional Martu ways of life, witness the land stewardship practices that are preserving Dutjahn Sandalwood and the broader ecosystem, and deepen our partnership and shared vision for the future. 

Mungali, the base camp for Clinton’s wild sandalwood harvesting operations, was once a critical stopping point for nomadic Martu. Named after a pair of life-sustaining water holes, the small structures and heavy machinery now stand out among the vast desert landscape of red dirt, open blue sky, and sparse vegetation. Clinton also maintains a personal connection to this location—it is his maternal grandmother’s land.

Swatting away hordes of flies thrilled about the recent rains, he explains that to visit this culturally significant area of Country and live like the Old People—a collective noun used to reference all respected elders before them—requires a highly concerted effort and 12+ hours of driving, including on the Gun Barrel Highway. Initially constructed to connect remote areas in Central and Western Australia for the purpose of military operations and testing during the 1950s, the desert track cuts through First Nations land. It introduced weapons testing, construction, and exploration to previously undisturbed lands.  

This encroachment by the government—along with cattle drivers, missionaries, and miners—marked the beginning of rapid change, displacement, and challenges for Martu people. Despite Martu culture’s extensive history and precedence in the area, it only took a few decades for the impact of colonization to significantly disrupt their connection to Country. 

“When you take away that connection, the people are lost,” Clinton succinctly explains. Clinton is soft-spoken, but his words are carefully considered and wise. They’re based in realism yet remain fiercely optimistic. Despite the ongoing challenges facing his community, Clinton insists on finding solutions.