As the sunset turns the open sky a deep shade of purple, the outback community of Yuendumu is relatively quiet.
WARNING: Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander readers are advised that this article contains the name and image of a person who has died, used with the permission of the family.
The streets are mostly empty, save for a few barefoot kids running to catch up to their friends, who are gathered at the basketball court in the middle of town.
Free-range camp dogs wander the bitumen and red dirt, occasionally running, barking, onto the road to chase cars.
There is sorry business – funeral ceremonies – in the community this week, locals tell the ABC, and men's business on the outskirts of town, so the streets are quieter than usual.
They are the main reasons residents aren't around to talk, but there is also an element of exhaustion, and apprehension, when media crews turn up to the remote community 300 kilometres from Alice Springs.
While the ABC received permission to visit, some people say they are sick of questions from fly-in reporters and tired of reading about themselves in national news.
"Media makes it more stressful," says Bruno Jupurrula Wilson, a Warlpiri man on the Parumpurru Select Committee, a group of leaders elected to represent the community.
"It makes people feel not trustful of the media and story that goes out. We would love the media to be straightforward."
Many people outside of the Northern Territory had never heard of Yuendumu until three years ago, when 19-year-old Kumanjayi Walker was shot and killed by policeman Zachary Rolfe, during an attempt to arrest him for breaching a suspended sentence and assaulting police.
Since that night — November 9, 2019 — Yuendumu has been all over the news for all the wrong reasons.
Mr Wilson, who gave evidence to the inquest into Mr Walker's death last year, doesn't shy away from the troubles Yuendumu faces: there's violence and unrest, shocking levels of overcrowding and poverty, as well as crime that has previously driven service providers away.
Yuendumu is not the only community in the NT struggling with such issues.
It is, however, one that has been pushed under a microscope amid tragedy.
Community unrest quelled
Yuendumu has been quiet for a couple of months, Mr Wilson says, since the coronial inquest into the death of Mr Walker adjourned for Christmas.
Last year, tactical police were deployed several times to quell fighting in the community, as tension between family groups escalated to property crime and violence with weapons.
There was a period when the main shop in the town was only open to certain factions at certain times, to avoid conflict.
The fighting was unrelated to the coronial court proceedings, Mr Wilson says, and he is not concerned about it reigniting when the inquest resumes in Alice Springs on Monday.
But the proceedings do take a toll.
"People are feeling intense about [the inquest] starting again. It's going to be all out there on the media [and] the Yuendumu community will be more anxious about the court," Mr Wilson says.
Three years going 'in and out'
In the more than three years since Mr Walker died, members of his family and community have travelled hundreds of kilometres to get to courts in Alice Springs and Darwin to watch proceedings.
They watched Constable Rolfe get charged with murder and committed to stand trial, then, last year, they watched as he was acquitted by a Supreme Court jury of murder, manslaughter and engaging in a violent act causing death.
Now, they watch as the NT coroner examines Mr Walker's life and death, as well as the life of the man who fired the fatal shots.
As the ABC drives around the community, Anyupa Butcher, a Warlpiri-Luritja woman behind the "Justice for Walker" campaign and GetUp's First Nations Justice team, leans into car windows and calls out to community members from afar: "Court is happening again on Monday!" she tells them.
It has been an unrelenting role over the past three years, Ms Butcher says, helping to keep the community informed of what is going on in courtrooms hundreds of kilometres away.
The entire inquest has been live streamed on YouTube and key pieces of evidence translated into Warlpiri, so people in the desert community can watch along.
But the lawyers in court speak too quickly and not all of Mr Walker's family speak Warlpiri or English, so Ms Butcher says a lot of people still rely on word-of-mouth updates about the court case.
"It's really frustrating and difficult to keep going in and out [to travel to court]," Mr Wilson says.
"We want to see this end soon."
What was expected to be a three-month inquest in Alice Springs, from September to December 2022, no longer has a firm finish line in sight.
When she reopens her court on Monday, Coroner Elisabeth Armitage will hear from police officers and public servants, who will provide two more weeks of evidence, as the inquiry's focus stretches well beyond the events of November 9, 2019.
In the first three months of hearings last year, the coroner heard from around 80 witnesses.
There was explosive evidence about "blatantly racist" texts found on Constable Rolfe's phone and probing by the coroner's team into NT Police culture.
The poverty into which Mr Walker was born, and the poor housing, health and education he received, was laid bare.
Mr Wilson says there is hope in Yuendumu that Judge Armitage's findings at the end of the inquest will lead to genuine change in the community, and beyond.
But he also says this will not be the first time recommendations are to be made about how to improve the lives of Indigenous people in the bush.
"In Yuendumu there's not enough housing available for people living here, therefore it leads from the housing to the health, to poor education and then that's how the crime comes," Mr Wilson said.
"Yuendumu community has been listening to this sort of stuff before, government-related stuff, and they tell the community to be patient.
"This time the community wants it to be different with the inquiry, they want to see the outcome come quick and see the results."
It is unclear when the coroner will hand down her findings, with further hearings now scheduled for July and August.
Rolfe to be called later this year
Constable Zachary Rolfe is not expected to be called to give evidence to the coroner until at least July, but there is a Supreme Court appeal set between now and then when the constable's lawyers will challenge a judge's decision to compel him to take the stand.
Constable Rolfe has argued he should not be forced to answer questions that may result in disciplinary action at work.
After the Court of Appeal hands down its decision, it is still open to the officer, or any other party involved, to apply for special leave to appeal to the High Court of Australia.
Constable Rolfe’s father, Richard Rolfe, says his son is currently overseas, taking a break for his own health — a year after he stood trial and was acquitted of murdering Mr Walker.
Mr Rolfe says he expects his son will return before he is required to give evidence to the inquest.
In a lengthy public statement released late last week, Constable Rolfe apologised for some of the language used in his private messages and said the NT Police had notified him of an intention to "medically retire" him from the force.
As the media spotlight remains on Central Australia, Yuendumu could be in focus for quite some time yet.
