Pura x Dutjahn: A Transportive Journey to Martu Ancestral Lands

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

Photos and story by James Roh

Post 4 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.

Every scent tells a story, and with the Pura x Dutjahn collection, that story is an ancient one. Each of the four fragrances centers around the sacred, deeply satisfying aroma of sandalwood, reflecting the spiritual connection of one of the world’s oldest living cultures to their beautiful ancestral homeland. Designed to transport you to the remote desert of Western Australia, these scents evoke a place rich in life, culture, and history.

For tens of thousands of years, the Indigenous Martu of Western Australia have revered dutjahn—their word for sandalwood—using its calming aroma for mental clarity during important rituals, ceremonies, and negotiations with neighboring tribes. And through their culture’s constant dedication and spiritual obligation to care for the land, Martu have safeguarded the sacred trees, enabling their natural population to flourish while simultaneously preserving the trees’ resilient DNA. 

Every drop of the Pura x Dutjahn collection features Dutjahn Sandalwood Oil, which is ethically sourced to protect fragile ecosystems, elevate Indigenous-led solutions, and respect sacred lands. Dutjahn Sandalwood Oils (DSO) is a 50% Indigenous-owned business that utilizes sustainable harvesting practices guided by Martu traditional ecological knowledge.

"Because of our Old People, we've used it for generations and it's special to us,” says Clinton Farmer, Martu leader and co-owner of DSO. “We want to share that story to the world.”

Unlike the more commonly cultivated Indian Sandalwood (santalum album) that’s quickly grown in tropical plantations, the wild, mature Australian Sandalwood trees (santalum spicatum) thrive in the arid climate, resulting in a unique scent found nowhere else in the world. Both varieties are creamy and woody, but Dutjahn sandalwood is distinct for its earthiness and hints of spice, leather, and smoke. 

In order to properly retain all of its unique attributes, DSO CEO Guy Vincent is unwaveringly protective of the integrity of the distillation process. The wood of the slow-growing variety is inherently heavier and denser than its relative, requiring a longer distillation to coax out the precious oil. If processed too quickly, the quality is lost.

“There’s a sacredness to it that I honor,” Vincent says, recognizing all of the effort that goes into stewarding the land and sustainably harvesting the trees in an incredibly remote part of the world. “I’m not going to waste or compromise any of that. There’s a significance to this ingredient that goes beyond what you’re smelling.”

Mara Dumski, Pura’s Chief Fragrance Experience Officer, recalls her first encounter with Dutjahn Sandalwood and reveling in its unique character. 

“There’s a lot of sandalwood used in perfumery, but this is the best sandalwood in the world,” Dumski says. 

The high-quality oil with its meaningful origins inspired Dumski to create a Pura collection that would bring sandalwood to the global market and share the story in a way that honors Martu and their land. The fragrances had to be transportive, uplifting, exciting, and one of a kind while also celebrating the beautiful dimensions of Western Australia and Martu culture. 

With such an important task, Dumski connected with fragrance house dsm-fermenich to enlist three of the world's finest master perfumers to help bring the collection to life—Clement Gavarry, Frank Voelkl, and Ashley Balavoine. Under the direction of Dumski, the perfumers focused on different aspects of the story resulting in four distinct fragrances while keeping Dutjahn Sandalwood as the versatile hero. Their names reflect Martu’s connection to the landscape: Somewhere Land, Touch the Night Sky, So Many Colours, and Ochre Heart.

“It’s like a raw diamond and you have to facet it,” Principal Perfumer Clement Gavarry explains. “You have to surround it with other ingredients that will make it shine even better.” 

Gavarry, who worked on Somewhere Land, was inspired by the red dirt and earthy root systems of Western Australia.

“My desire was to create a fragrance that mirrored the warmth, depth, and golden aura of the land,” Gavarry says. He achieved this goal by using notes of patchouli, vanilla, orris, clove, and cinnamon to transport you to the trunk of a sandalwood tree, growing in the expanse of the hot desert. It’s almost as if you’re on all fours, experiencing the landscape with your nose to the ground.

Ashley Balavoine, Senior Perfumer at dsm-fermenich, continues the transportive journey and immerses customers in the vastness of the desert air. Touch the Night Sky melds sea salt and aromatic cedar leaf with sandalwood to uplift and provide a burst of clean, crisp air. 

The fragrance So Many Colours emulates the feeling of optimism as the desert sun warms your face. Its scent embraces the radiance of neroli and amber to complement sandalwood’s creamy, comforting aroma. 

Finally, Ochre Heart brings it back to Martu and their relationship with dutjahn.

“I thought of Dutjahn Sandalwood Oil as the heart of the tree, much like Martu culture is the heart of the (desert) community,” says Principal Perfumer Frank Voelkl, who created Ochre Heart as a way to honor the sacred tree and connect customers with nature on a deeper level. Notes of lush plum and earthy patchouli accentuate the sandalwood’s inherent smoothness.

“Each fragrance encompasses a unique scent expression telling its own story, yet is harmonious with the other fragrances in the collection,” Voelkl says.

The Pura x Dutjahn collection of fine fragrances invites customers to be transported to the remote landscape of Western Australia, experience a charismatically rich variety of sandalwood, and deepen their appreciation for an ancient culture. 

Together, we’re redefining fragrance with a focus on humanity, respect for nature, and integrity.