The Aboriginal people of the western desert were nomadic people, moving around in search of food and water. This changed with the arrival of missionaries and the beginning of 'settlement' at Warburton in 1933.

By 1954, between 500 and 700 Aboriginal people were living at Warburton. Children stayed in the children's home and were sent to school where they were taught in English, a policy that contributed to the breakdown of traditional culture. Women and girls were trained in sewing, kitchen skills and cooking, and men made money by collecting dingo scalps or working as shearers or builders for the mission. A nearby copper mine drew even more people to the settlement and by the 1970s the last of the nomadic people had come in from the bush.

In 1973, the United Aborigines Mission handed control of the Warburton settlement to the Aboriginal people, and responsibility for economic development was undertaken by the Aboriginal Affairs Planning Authority of the state government of Western Australia. Since then, Warburton has worked under the umbrella of the Ngaanyatjarra Council.〔