kukatja is an ethno-linguistic group of the western desert people in central australia. the people who speak the kukatja language live in the tanami and great sandy deserts in western australia. their lands are south of halls creek, around balgo and lake gregory. they neighbour the pintupi and ngarti (east), the yulparitja and walmatjarri (west), and the jaru (north). in the 1996 census, about 580 people spoke the language.