Travel guidebooks for indigenous central Australia
Melbourne-based Lonely Planet is the best source of guidebooks for exploring central Australia. Lonely Planet Northern Territory & Central Australia is a solidly researched regional guidebook that includes history and travel resources for this classic outback region of Australia. For indigenous travel information, the best single source of travel and cultural information is Lonely Planet Aboriginal Australia (though at times its political jeremiads tend to get repetitive). Finally, if you think a language phrasebook isn't necessary in an English-speaking country, think again: The pocket-sized Lonely Planet Australian Phrasebook not only has insightful sections on indigenous languages—it also contains consistently useful information on white Aussie vernacular.

Travel and history books about indigenous Australia
Bruce Chatwin's central-Australia travel classic, The Songlines, is still insightful and impressively well-observed 20 years after it was first published. Critics have questioned the veracity of Chatwin's writing—but if you have any doubts about The Songlines, just visit Iris Harvey in the Arunta Art Gallery and Book Shop at 70 Todd Street in Alice Springs. Now 90 years old, and as sharp as ever, the woman Chatwin called "Enid Lacey" will assure you that (except for a few changed names) every word is fact. She'll also be able to sell you Triumph of the Nomads: A History of Aboriginal Australia, by Geoffrey Blainey, a candid and well-researched history of Australian aboriginal cultures before the arrival of European settlers.

Central Australia tour and travel information
Alice Springs Tourism and Travel, located near the library in Alice Springs, is a good information source for area tours, including Bob Taylor's RT Tours (e-mail ), Dreamtime Tours, and the Ooraminna Station Homestead. Indigenous-art galleries and organizations in the Alice Springs area include Mbantua Gallery & Cultural Museum, Papunya Tula Artists, Aboriginal Australia Art and Culture Centre, and Dreaming Art Centre of Utopia.

Near Uluru, the most popular indigenous tours are Anangu Tours and Desert Tracks Pitjantjatjara Tours. For general Australian indigenous tourism information, try the Aboriginal Tourism Association or Diverse Travel Australia. Tourism NT: Northern Territory Tourism is another good resource for travelers planning a trip to central Australia.