Arabic version: أليس سبرينغز تودّع كومانجاي ليتل بيبي

According to SBS News, hundreds of people gathered in Alice Springs on 15 August for the funeral of five-year-old Warlpiri girl Kumanjayi Little Baby, nearly four months after her death.

People wore pink, her favourite colour, as the community remembered a child described by family as beautiful, loved and treasured. Warlpiri Elder and family spokesperson Robin Granites said the colour recalled the clothes she wore and the pink clouds seen at sunset and early in the morning.

Pastor Rejeili Paulo-Smith, speaking for Kumanjayi Little Baby’s mother, asked that she be remembered “for who she was, not simply for the tragedy of how her life ended”. She said the family and community felt “both broken and grateful” — broken by the loss of a precious life and grateful that she was known, loved and mattered.

Granites thanked Australians and people overseas who supported the family during the search and in the months that followed. He said the response reflected the Warlpiri concept of Jintangka, meaning “we’re all in one, everyone together”.

A memorial service was held on 14 August, followed by public funeral proceedings and an intimate burial service on 15 August. Kumanjayi Little Baby was remembered as her mother’s “little princess”, who loved rainbows, pink, music and cuddling puppies, and as “forever five, forever young”.