Tjuntjuntjara was founded in the late 1980s. Cundeelee was being closed, so a group of elders led members back east to their homelands to set up a new community. The first choice for a location was Yakadunya (about of Tjuntjuntjara). A water bore was drilled and a temporary camp was formed, but there was not enough water in the ground. The community moved northward to what is now Tjuntjuntjara.