What once would have been an unremarkable home in Yuendumu, is now a shrine to young man whose death will be carried by the community for generations to come.
WARNING: Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander readers are advised that this article contains an image of a person who has died, used with the permission of their family.
House 511 — the Red House — has been seen thousands of times through the lens of a body-worn camera, in the moments before Kumanjayi Walker was shot by a police officer in its front room.
But this week, as the gaze of the inquest into the 19-year-old's death shifted to Yuendumu, the lawyers involved stepped inside what's now known as Memory House for the first time.
Hundreds of kilometres away from the Northern Territory coroner's courtroom, Western law met Warlpiri culture in a historic meeting of two worlds, at the same place where they fatally collided three years ago.
Eight weeks into the months-long inquest into the death of Kumanjayi Walker, the NT coroner, her counsel assisting team and the more than 20 lawyers involved in the inquiry were invited to Yuendumu to hear from Warlpiri elders.
This trip was not just about paying witness: after weeks of preparation, the community hoped the visit would be their opportunity to tell their story of November 9, 2019, in their own words and on their own terms.
On the community's invitation, the coroner travelled to Yuendumu to experience first-hand the cultural practices she had only heard about in a courtroom in Alice Springs.
In the shadow of the Memory House on Monday, coroner Elisabeth Armitage was painted with the ochre of Sorry Business by the senior Warlpiri women who raised Mr Walker — one of many ceremonies the community hopes she understands better when she leaves.
Earlier she was formally welcomed to the community by its senior men.
Over two days, the coroner plans to visit the places where Mr Walker was born, raised and died, hearing from those who knew him and his circumstances well.
"We ask that you focus on really listening: this means when you hear us, you do not challenge us in your mind, this is our story to listen to," Warlpiri Elder Robin Granites told the coroner in an opening address.
"This is the only way we can move forward."
Calls for deep listening
Before the inquest started in early September, the facts around the death of Mr Walker were well-known.
It was revealed throughout the long criminal trial, which acquitted Constable Zachary Rolfe of all charges, that the officer fired his Glock three times in response to Mr Walker stabbing him in the shoulder with a pair of scissors.
Why the attempt to arrest Kumanjayi Walker failed so tragically is now the focus of the coronial inquest, as the coroner looks broadly at the culture of the Northern Territory Police Force and the decisions that led to the shooting.
As the inquest moved to Yuendumu, the Warlpiri community — who have felt their voices are yet to be heard — told the coroner it was an opportunity to speak about their culture, law and perspective.
"We feel that the Kardiya system has failed, if you want to know about our culture and how the Kardiya system has failed Kumanjayi Walker, today is important," Mr Granites said.
The inquest has heard from several witnesses about Warlpiri cultural practices, but very few of the stories the coroner has heard have come from Warlpiri people.
Numerous police officers have told the inquest they feared what they understood to be "cultural payback" on the night Mr Walker was shot.
The coroner has heard that fear motivated a "ruse" which saw community members being led to believe Mr Walker was getting medical attention while he lay dead inside the police station in 2019.
The officer behind the plan stands by the decision, telling the court rocks had been thrown at the police station and a nurse was injured on the night, leading police to believe riots could have broken out.
In Yuendumu, Mr Granites said he wanted to correct the record, as he saw it, on what cultural payback meant.
"It's frustrating, in the court, the way it's spoken about," he said.
"Payback is not killing people, it's not immediate, there is a process and there are procedures."
The conversations the coroner had in Yuendumu will not form part of the formal inquest evidence, which will resume on Wednesday.
