The land around Officer Creek is part of the traditional homeland of the Pitjantjatjara and Yankunytjatjara. In September 1873, the explorer Ernest Giles and his team came to the creek during his second trip into the centre of Australia. At Kaltjiti, they encountered a large group of Aboriginal men. The Europeans fired shots from their rifles, allegedly because the Aboriginal people were throwing spears at them. Giles' group escaped unharmed, but did not report whether any of the Aboriginal men were hurt. He later acknowledged that aggression from the locals toward White people was usually due to them trespassing on sacred land. Giles may have interrupted an initiation or another kind of ceremony. Giles named the river "The Officer", and it was known by this name until the 1930s when it was renamed Officer Creek.