The Kartudjara's traditional lands extended over 26,000 square kilometres (10,000 sq mi) from Madaleri, north of Kumpupintil Lake around Well 22 down southwest towards Pulpuruma (Well 12).
Their western boundary lay on the southern side of the Rudall River (Karlamilyi) as far as the Robertson Range and the eastern headwaters of both the Jigalong and Savory Creeks.
[1][2] Around the 1890s the Kartudjara pressured the Niabali to their northwest, off Savory Creek, forcing them to move roughly 97 kilometres (60 mi) to Balfour Downs.
[3] The Kartudjara became, in recent times, one of the two core constituent tribal groups forming the Martu.
That term actually signified "northerners", but originally was used primarily to denote people who had undergone initiation rites to become fully-fledged tribesmen.