The town of Tennant Creek was established in the wake of the gold rush and by 1935 the population was between five to six hundred non-Aboriginal people. Advertisements went out across Australia in 1934-35 proclaiming the riches to be had in the Centre. At that time, Aboriginal people were living on the Warramunga Reserve to the northeast of town. For the first years of the town';s life, it functioned as a place for miners and pastoralists to congregate to locate both supplies and workers for their ventures. By the mid-forties the town boasted two hotels with pubs attached, a cinema, police station, post office and small school. During this time government workers worried about Aboriginal people (especially women) “mixing” with white settlers (CRS F1/0 1952/487; CRS F126/59).

To keep the town white, the government used Section 10 of the 1918 Aboriginal Ordinance to officially exclude Aboriginal people from town boundaries, unless they were employed. However, Aboriginal people were allowed into to town from the Phillip Creek mission twice a week to see movies. Several men and women worked in town for businesses and white families doing domestic work and manual labor. There were a string of Warumungu men who acted as police trackers. These men lived at the police station in town and traveled to the surrounding Aboriginal camping areas to patrol and hand out rations. Aboriginal men were also part of the labor force that built the Stuart Highway during the 1940s.

In 1956, the government moved Warumungu and other Aboriginal people in the area south to the Warrabri settlement (Alekarenge). Many Warumungu people ignored the sanctions by leaving Warrabri and camping at the edges of town. By 1966 there were two non-government sanctioned bush camps on the outskirts of town and one government run camp (known as the Village). While many town residents fought this encroachment on the grounds of social ills and economic worries, their claims were now set against a national wave of Aboriginal movements for land rights, citizenship benefits and fair wages.

During the 1970s and 1980s as Aboriginal land rights movements swept across the nation, the Warumungu filed their own claim. Emerging partially victorious, they were able to embark on new projects and land-ventures including mining and tourism. During this time, the Warumungu also started many successful Aboriginal organizations including a health clinic, and language center and a housing center all aimed at aiding Aboriginal people in Tennant Creek and the surrounding areas.