The post-contact history of Martuthunira is one that has led to their almost complete extinction in little more than a hundred years. Their decline is part of a general pattern which has seen the people of the coastal Pilbara and Ashburton River districts almost completely wiped out while inland groups such as the Panyjima and Yindjibarndi continue to boast thriving communities. The demise of the coastal groups can be attributed both to introduced disease and, perhaps, to a general despair following the complete breakdown of social structure following European settlement. There were only three remaining speakers of Martuthunira [in 1981]…While this grammar of Martuthunira allows the interpretation of the literal meaning of narrative texts and, to a lesser extent, the texts of songs, a full understanding and evaluation will never be possible. Too much of the cultural context which gives them their deeper meaning has been lost. (Alan Dench, 1995)

About 97% of the world's people speak about 4% of the world's languages; and conversely, about 96% of the world's languages are spoken by about 3% of the world's people. (‘Language Vitality and Endangerment’, a report by the UNESCO Ad Hoc Expert Group on Endangered Languages, 2003, citing H. Russell Bernard, 1996:142)