{"id":771501,"date":"2026-05-04T00:49:28","date_gmt":"2026-05-04T00:49:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/771501\/"},"modified":"2026-05-04T00:49:28","modified_gmt":"2026-05-04T00:49:28","slug":"healing-ceremonies-across-northern-territory-grieve-death-of-five-year-old-kumanjayi-little-baby","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/771501\/","title":{"rendered":"Healing ceremonies across Northern Territory grieve death of five-year-old Kumanjayi Little Baby"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Northern Territory is continuing to grieve the short life of a five-year-old girl today, with crowds in Alice Springs to pay tribute by donning her favourite colour.<\/p>\n

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander readers are advised that this article contains the image of an Indigenous person who has died, used with the permission of her family.<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

In the wake of her disappearance, a large search party looked for Kumanjayi Little Baby last week. (Supplied: NT Police)<\/p>\n

The girl, referred to since her death as Kumanjayi Little Baby for cultural reasons, disappeared from the Old Timers \/ Ilyperenye town camp in Central Australia last weekend.<\/p>\n

Her body was found about 5 kilometres south of the town camp on Thursday by a large-scale search operation, the Alice Springs mayor said, was bolstered by “hundreds of volunteers”.<\/p>\n

Speaking to ABC Radio National this morning, Mayor Asta Hill said Aboriginal organisations, businesses, police and emergency services had searched “through difficult country, shoulder-to-shoulder” and the town was now “carrying that strength forward with us”.<\/p>\n

Ms Hill said Alice Springs had continued to feel “really still and sombre” over the weekend, as locals continued “processing this unthinkable trauma”.<\/p>\n

\"Flowers<\/p>\n

Floral tributes have been laid outside the town camp where she lived. (ABC News: Will Green)<\/p>\n

“There is this sense of collective grieving and respect being paid to the family and kin who are in sorry business right now,” she said.<\/p>\n

“There is also a really palpable determination to support one another, particularly the family.”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The mayor said local community members had offered up donations for Kumanjayi Little Baby’s funeral, and food drops had been established to support the town camp where she lived.<\/p>\n

\"An<\/p>\n

The home Kumanjayi Little Baby went missing from is located near Alice Springs. (ABC News: Jessica Henderson)<\/p>\n

Pink parade pays tribute<\/p>\n

Ms Hill said a local vigil would be held on Thursday, “where we will wrap our arms around the family and each other”, but the girl’s life would also be commemorated at today’s Bangtail Muster parade.<\/p>\n

Typically, an annual parade through the main street of Alice Springs, the decades-long public holiday tradition will be marked with pink ribbons this year.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

Asta Hill says the local community is grieving. (ABC News: Victoria Ellis)<\/p>\n

“We’ve been informed by the family that they would like the Bangtail Muster to go ahead, and I think they were conscious of the fact this is a family friendly children’s event,” Ms Hill told the ABC yesterday.<\/p>\n

“It just shows the absolute generosity of spirit of this family as they deal with the absolute worst.<\/p>\n

“They have asked that we wear pink ribbons in honour of Kumanjayi Little Baby because that was her favourite colour, so we’ll all be doing that.”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

In Darwin earlier today, about 30 people attended a saltwater ceremony where they paid tribute to the young girl at Lee Point beach.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

Larrakia traditional owner Richard Fejo invited the community to heal together. (ABC News: Michael Donnelly)<\/p>\n

Traditional owner Richard Fejo said this morning’s ceremony was about healing, and Larrakia elder Christine Fejo-King said it was organised after members of the community contacted them to share their “trauma, grief and sorrow”.<\/p>\n

“We need to be there to help when our people are traumatised and when healing is necessary,” Dr Fejo-King said.<\/p>\n

“What happened is not a part of our culture.<\/p>\n

“Our grandfathers, our uncles, our fathers love us and that is the message. That is there the love of family and community.”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\"Two<\/p>\n

In Darwin, about 30 people attended a saltwater ceremony paying tribute to Kumanjayi Little Baby. (ABC News: Michael Donnelly)<\/p>\n

She said the ceremony had called on Larrakia ancestors, asking them to help the healing process and bless the people participating in the ceremony.<\/p>\n

“We don’t care \u2026 what your ethnic background is. If you’re in grief, if you’re in sorrow, this is the ceremony that helps to heal your heart and your soul.”<\/p>\n

\"People<\/p>\n

The community has been invited to come together for the healing ceremony at Lee Point beach. (ABC News: Jacqueline Breen)<\/p>\n

‘Complex’ local scene<\/p>\n

Local riots were sparked on Friday<\/a> after Jefferson Lewis, 47, was arrested in relation to Kumanjayi Little Baby’s death.<\/p>\n

Mr Lewis has been charged with the girl’s murder and remains in custody in Darwin.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

Jefferson Lewis has been charged with murder. (Supplied: NT Police)<\/p>\n

He is also facing two other charges, which cannot be shared publicly for legal reasons, and will face court in Alice Springs via video link on Tuesday.<\/p>\n

Ms Hill described the unrest in Alice Springs and allegations of looting<\/a> as “extremely complex”.<\/p>\n

Police release CCTV of ‘looting’ in Alice Springs businesses<\/a><\/p>\n

NT Police have released CCTV footage of the “outright looting” of businesses caught up in rioting following the arrest of Jefferson Lewis for the murder of Kumanjayi Little Baby.<\/p>\n

“I want to first acknowledge the outpouring of emotion and the horror felt by members of our community when Kumanjayi Little Baby’s body was found on Thursday after five days of searching,” she said.<\/p>\n

“This should never happen to a child and no family or community should be put in a position of processing this.<\/p>\n

“That doesn’t discount the fact that our frontline workers should be able to do their job safely so they can help those in need, or that businesses should be safe from looting.”<\/p>\n

She said people charged over the unrest would be dealt with by the criminal justice system, and “our absolute focus right now is on a town that is in distress”.<\/p>\n

Ms Hill said she wanted to “echo and really commend the strong calls of Kulmanjay’s family and community leaders” who were urging calm<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Northern Territory is continuing to grieve the short life of a five-year-old girl today, with crowds in…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":771502,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[4740,316334,316332,316331,313779,316328,316329,316330,305886,83529,50,316333],"class_list":{"0":"post-771501","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-news","8":"tag-australia","9":"tag-bangtail-muster","10":"tag-girl-murdered","11":"tag-jefferson-lewis-charges","12":"tag-kumanjayi-little-baby","13":"tag-lewis-jefferson","14":"tag-little-baby-alice-springs","15":"tag-little-girl-missing-alice-springs","16":"tag-may-day","17":"tag-missing-girl","18":"tag-news","19":"tag-sorry-business"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/116513563453943695","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/771501","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=771501"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/771501\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/771502"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=771501"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=771501"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=771501"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}