Marlo Morgan self-published a book in 1990 titled "Mutant Message Down Under", which chronicles the journey of a middle-aged, white, American woman with a group of 62 desert Aborigines, the "Real People", across the continent of Australia. The author states the book was written after the fact inspired by actual experience.

Mutant Message Down Under quickly attained popularity with the New Age movement in the United States and consequently the book was picked up by giant publishing firm Harper Collins but marketed as "fiction." Nearly a million copies of the Harper Collins version have been sold around the world. Morgan completed many lecture tours promoting the book in the United States and Europe. In her lectures Ms Morgan speaks of her actual experience with the "Real People" and states she is an Aborigine.

According to the 90-page report published by the Perth-based Dumbartung Aboriginal Organisation, a survey of Aboriginal groups in Central and Western Australia failed to uncover any indication whatsoever of Ms Morgan’s presence in the area or of the existence of the "Real People" tribe. They claim that Aboriginal groups believe Ms Morgan’s desert journey to be fabricated and that her book and teaching lack credibility. The Dumbartung Aboriginal Organisation stated that it was deeply offensive to Aboriginal people for a white woman to be misrepresenting Aboriginal culture for self-promotion and profit. Aboriginal people expressed anger that Ms Morgan’s false message is being accepted as fact by a naive American and European market and were extremely concerned about the resulting long term implications for their culture.