Groote Eylandt (
Anindilyakwa: ''Ayangkidarrba'' meaning "island" ) is the largest island in the
Gulf of Carpentaria
The Gulf of Carpentaria (, ) is a large, shallow sea enclosed on three sides by northern Australia and bounded on the north by the eastern Arafura Sea (the body of water that lies between Australia and New Guinea). The northern boundary i ...
and the fourth largest island in Australia. It was named by the explorer
Abel Tasman in 1644 and is Dutch for "Large Island" in archaic spelling. The modern Dutch spelling is ''Groot Eiland''.
The original inhabitants of Groote Eylandt are the
Anindilyakwa, an
Aboriginal Australian
Aboriginal Australians are the various Indigenous peoples of the Australian mainland and many of its islands, such as Tasmania, Fraser Island, Hinchinbrook Island, the Tiwi Islands, and Groote Eylandt, but excluding the Torres Strait I ...
people, who speak the
Anindilyakwa language
Anindilyakwa () is an Australian Aboriginal language spoken by the Anindilyakwa people on Groote Eylandt and Bickerton Island in the Gulf of Carpentaria in the Northern Territory of Australia. Anindilyakwa is a multiple-classifying prefixing ...
(also known as Amamalya Ayakwa). They consist of 14 clan groups which make up the two
moieties on the island. The clans maintain their traditions and have strong ties with the people in the community of
Numbulwar
Numbulwar, formerly known as Rose River Mission,https://www.ntlis.nt.gov.au/placenames/view.jsp?id=22449 is a small, primarily Aboriginal community on the Gulf of Carpentaria in the Northern Territory of Australia. The major language group o ...
and on
Bickerton Island
Bickerton Island is 13 km west of Groote Eylandt and 8 km east of the mouth of Blue Mud Bay in eastern Arnhem Land, in the Northern Territory of Australia. It is about 21 by 21 kilometres in size, with deep bays and indentations, and ...
. The island's population was 2,811 in the 2016 census.
There are four communities on Groote Eylandt. The mining company
GEMCO established the township of
Alyangula for its workers. The three main Aboriginal communities are
Angurugu and
Umbakumba, and
Milyakburra on
Bickerton Island
Bickerton Island is 13 km west of Groote Eylandt and 8 km east of the mouth of Blue Mud Bay in eastern Arnhem Land, in the Northern Territory of Australia. It is about 21 by 21 kilometres in size, with deep bays and indentations, and ...
. There are also a number of
outstations on the island.
The
Anindilyakwa Land Council is one of four
land councils in the Northern Territory. It is a representative body with
statutory authority
A statutory body or statutory authority is a body set up by law (statute) that is authorised to implement certain legislation on behalf of the relevant country or state, sometimes by being empowered or delegated to set rules (for example re ...
under the ''
Aboriginal Land Rights (Northern Territory) Act 1976'' and has responsibilities under the ''
Native Title Act 1993
The ''Native Title Act 1993'' (Cth) is a law passed by the Australian Parliament, the purpose of which is "to provide a national system for the recognition and protection of native title and for its co-existence with the national land managem ...
'' and the ''Pastoral Land Act 1992''.
Geography
Groote Eylandt lies about from the
Northern Territory
The Northern Territory (commonly abbreviated as NT; formally the Northern Territory of Australia) is an Australian territory in the central and central northern regions of Australia. The Northern Territory shares its borders with Western Aust ...
mainland and eastern coast of
Arnhem Land
Arnhem Land is a historical region of the Northern Territory of Australia, with the term still in use. It is located in the north-eastern corner of the territory and is around from the territory capital, Darwin. In 1623, Dutch East India Compa ...
, about from
Darwin, opposite
Blue Mud Bay. The island measures about from east to west and from north to south; its area is . It is generally quite low-lying, with an average height above sea level of , although Central Hill reaches an elevation of .
Politics and Administration
Electorates
Groote Eylandt is part of the federal
electorate of Lingiari, for which the current member is
Marion Scrymgour
Marion Rose Scrymgour (born 13 September 1960) is an Australian politician and the current MP for Lingiari. She was a member of the Northern Territory Legislative Assembly from 2001 to 2012, representing the electorate of Arafura. She was t ...
, who replaced the inaugural member
Warren Snowdon at the
2022 Australian federal election. The island is within the Northern Territory
electoral division of Arnhem. The current member for Arnhem is
Labor Party member
Selena Uibo, whose mother is a
Nunggubuyu and
Anindilyakwa woman.
Local government
With
Bickerton Island
Bickerton Island is 13 km west of Groote Eylandt and 8 km east of the mouth of Blue Mud Bay in eastern Arnhem Land, in the Northern Territory of Australia. It is about 21 by 21 kilometres in size, with deep bays and indentations, and ...
and a few smaller satellite islands, Groote Eylandt forms Anindilyakwa Ward of
East Arnhem Region. It contains the communities of
Angurugu,
Alyangula,
Umbakumba, Yadagba District, Uburamudja District and Sandy Hill (Groote Eylandt) and Milyakburra District (
Bickerton Island
Bickerton Island is 13 km west of Groote Eylandt and 8 km east of the mouth of Blue Mud Bay in eastern Arnhem Land, in the Northern Territory of Australia. It is about 21 by 21 kilometres in size, with deep bays and indentations, and ...
).
Outside the local government, subdivision is the mining company
GEMCO town of
Alyangula,
an unincorporated territory within the Northern Region of Northern Territory.
Environment
The whole of Groote Eylandt and its surrounding waters lie within the
Anindilyakwa Indigenous Protected Area. BirdLife International has classified an unnamed islet off the north-eastern coast as an
important bird area
An Important Bird and Biodiversity Area (IBA) is an area identified using an internationally agreed set of criteria as being globally important for the conservation of bird populations.
IBA was developed and sites are identified by BirdLife Inte ...
because of its global importance as a
roseate tern
The roseate tern (''Sterna dougallii'') is a species of tern in the family Laridae. The genus name ''Sterna'' is derived from Old English "stearn", "tern", and the specific ''dougallii'' refers to Scottish physician and collector Dr Peter McDo ...
breeding site.
Groote Eylandt has a variety of habitats: dense stands on monsoon forests rising behind coastal
sand dune
A dune is a landform composed of wind- or water-driven sand. It typically takes the form of a mound, ridge, or hill. An area with dunes is called a dune system or a dune complex. A large dune complex is called a dune field, while broad, f ...
s, alternating with
mangrove and
mudflat
Mudflats or mud flats, also known as tidal flats or, in Ireland, slob or slobs, are coastal wetlands that form in intertidal areas where sediments have been deposited by tides or rivers. A global analysis published in 2019 suggested that tidal f ...
s. Sandstone outcrops and
laterite
Laterite is both a soil and a rock type rich in iron and aluminium and is commonly considered to have formed in hot and wet tropical areas. Nearly all laterites are of rusty-red coloration, because of high iron oxide content. They develop by ...
provide excellent niches for shellfish.
Fauna
The island hosts 27 species of native mammal, making it the third most mammal diverse Australian island after
Melville Island and
Tasmania
)
, nickname =
, image_map = Tasmania in Australia.svg
, map_caption = Location of Tasmania in AustraliaCoordinates:
, subdivision_type = Country
, subdi ...
.
Fishing
Until recently, the island had been open to the public only with permission, and the local
Aboriginal Land Council
Land councils, also known as Aboriginal land councils, or land and sea councils, are Australian community organisations, generally organised by region, that are commonly formed to represent the Indigenous Australians (both Aboriginal Australians ...
did not encourage tourism. There is now a resort-style hotel on the island, and visitors are welcome. The island is becoming renowned for its fine Aboriginal rock art sites, arts and crafts and outstanding sport-fishing, including
sailfish,
marlin,
tuna
A tuna is a saltwater fish that belongs to the tribe Thunnini, a subgrouping of the Scombridae (mackerel) family. The Thunnini comprise 15 species across five genera, the sizes of which vary greatly, ranging from the bullet tuna (max length: ...
,
Spanish mackerel
Scomberomorini is a tribe of ray-finned saltwater bony fishes that is commonly known as the Spanish mackerels, seerfishes or seer fish. This fish closely resembles the King Mackerel. This tribe is a subset of the mackerel family (Scombridae) ...
,
giant trevally
The giant trevally (''Caranx ignobilis''), also known as the lowly trevally, barrier trevally, ronin jack, giant kingfish or ''ulua'', is a species of large marine fish classified in the jack family, Carangidae. The giant trevally is distribute ...
,
queenfish, and
coral trout
The leopard coral grouper (''Plectropomus leopardus''), also known as the common coral trout, leopard coral trout, blue-dotted coral grouper or spotted coral grouper, is a species of marine ray-finned fish, a grouper from the subfamily Epinephel ...
.
History
Traditional Owners
The
traditional owners
Native title is the designation given to the common law doctrine of Aboriginal title in Australia, which is the recognition by Australian law that Indigenous Australians (both Aboriginal Australian and Torres Strait Islander people) have right ...
of Groote Eylandt, the
Anindilyakwa people
The Anindilyakwa people (''Warnumamalya)'' are Aboriginal Australian people living on Groote Eylandt, Bickerton Island, and Woodah Island in the Gulf of Carpentaria in the Northern Territory of Australia.
Names
The accepted names for the Tr ...
, have 14 clan groups, which make up the two
moieties on Groote Eylandt. The Anindilyakwa people have inhabited the island for thousands of years. The clans maintain their traditions and have strong ties with the people in the community of
Numbulwar
Numbulwar, formerly known as Rose River Mission,https://www.ntlis.nt.gov.au/placenames/view.jsp?id=22449 is a small, primarily Aboriginal community on the Gulf of Carpentaria in the Northern Territory of Australia. The major language group o ...
and on
Bickerton Island
Bickerton Island is 13 km west of Groote Eylandt and 8 km east of the mouth of Blue Mud Bay in eastern Arnhem Land, in the Northern Territory of Australia. It is about 21 by 21 kilometres in size, with deep bays and indentations, and ...
.
In 1856, the Jurambunga tribe, a local aboriginal conglomerate would regularly pass the island.
Macassan Traders
There had been regular
contact
Contact may refer to:
Interaction Physical interaction
* Contact (geology), a common geological feature
* Contact lens or contact, a lens placed on the eye
* Contact sport, a sport in which players make contact with other players or objects
* C ...
between local Aboriginal people and
Macassan traders who would visit the area searching for trepang from around the early to mid-1700s. They introduced culinary delights such as tamarinds, chilli and beer. The trade continued until the Australian Government introduced the
White Australia Policy in 1906.
There is still evidence of the Macassans, such as the wild
tamarind trees, which the traders introduced to the area. Some Groote Eylandt settlements, such as Umbakumba, can trace their names back to
Macassan origin.
[Van Egmond, M-E. (2012). "Enindhilyakwa phonology, morphosyntax and genetic position." Doctoral thesis. University of Sydney. pp. 314–70.]
Machado-Joseph Disease (MJD)
The first recorded European sighting of Groote Eylandt was in 1623, by the
Dutch ship
''Arnhem'', under Willem van Coolsteerdt. However, the relative prevalence of the hereditary
Machado-Joseph Disease (MJD) in the Groote Eylandt community (a condition otherwise mainly found in the
Azores
)
, motto =( en, "Rather die free than subjected in peace")
, anthem= ( en, "Anthem of the Azores")
, image_map=Locator_map_of_Azores_in_EU.svg
, map_alt=Location of the Azores within the European Union
, map_caption=Location of the Azores wi ...
) was previously suggested as evidence of early contact with Portuguese sailors. (Contact with Chinese traders has also been suggested as a cause.) Recent genetic studies showed that the Groote Eylandt families with MJD shared a haplogroup with some families from Taiwanese, Indian, and Japanese families.
European Colonisation
Church Mission Society
The first European settlement on the island was a Christian mission established by the
Church Missionary Society
The Church Mission Society (CMS), formerly known as the Church Missionary Society, is a British mission society working with the Christians around the world. Founded in 1799, CMS has attracted over nine thousand men and women to serve as mission ...
at Emerald River in 1921. In 1943, after a cyclone swept through the mission, CMS decided to move the settlement south of the Angurugu River. The local Anindilyakwa people called the chosen location "Mungwardinamanja". However, as it was difficult for the European missionaries to pronounce, the local Anindilyakwa men guiding them chose the name of the Angurugu River mouth "Angurrkwa", which was later Anglicised to Angurugu.
Umbakumba
Mr Fred H. Gray, a
pearl
A pearl is a hard, glistening object produced within the soft tissue (specifically the mantle) of a living shelled mollusk or another animal, such as fossil conulariids. Just like the shell of a mollusk, a pearl is composed of calcium carb ...
and
trepang trader, established the Umbakumba Native Settlement on an old Macassan trading post in 1938. The place-name itself ''Umbakumba'' comes from the Malay word ''ombak-ombak'', which means ‘lapping of waves’. He used the settlement as a base for
trepanging and employed many of the Aboriginal locals during the 20s and 30s.
World War II
During
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...
, in 1943, the mission moved to
Angurugu, as the
RAAF required the use of the mission's airstrip: the ruins of the RAAF base are still evident today.
Qantas
Qantas Airways Limited ( ) is the flag carrier of Australia and the country's largest airline by fleet size, international flights, and international destinations. It is the world's third-oldest airline still in operation, having been founde ...
used the island as a
flying boat
A flying boat is a type of fixed-winged seaplane with a hull, allowing it to land on water. It differs from a floatplane in that a flying boat's fuselage is purpose-designed for floatation and contains a hull, while floatplanes rely on fuselag ...
base.
Following the
Aboriginal Land Rights (Northern Territory) Act 1976, Groote Eylandt was converted to Aboriginal freehold title land. In 1979, control of the island was transferred to the local Aboriginal Town Council.
Mining
The majority of Australia's
manganese
Manganese is a chemical element with the Symbol (chemistry), symbol Mn and atomic number 25. It is a hard, brittle, silvery metal, often found in minerals in combination with iron. Manganese is a transition metal with a multifaceted array of ...
reserves are located on the western side of Groote Eylandt. Special mining leases were granted to the
Groote Eylandt Mining Company (GEMCO), a wholly-owned subsidiary of the
BHP but has become a part of
South32 since 18 May 2015.
GEMCO has been operating a large
manganese
Manganese is a chemical element with the Symbol (chemistry), symbol Mn and atomic number 25. It is a hard, brittle, silvery metal, often found in minerals in combination with iron. Manganese is a transition metal with a multifaceted array of ...
mine near the community of
Angurugu since the 25th July 1964. The mine produces more than 3.8 million tonnes annually – about a quarter of the world's total. Mining rights are renewed every 21 years, with operations expected to continue until 2027.
Groote Eylandt Mining Company (GEMCO) established the town of
Alyangula as the residence for the mining company workers in the late 1960s.
Present-day
On May 20, 2008, the federal government signed a deal with local Aboriginal people from Groote Eylandt to lease land to the government for 40 years. In return, the government will spend money in the community to improve housing, education, and health in the area.
Notable people
*
Donald Thomson (1901–1970), Australian anthropologist and biologist.
*
David Warren (1925–2010), inventor of the
flight data recorder, born on Groote Eylandt.
*
Nick Kenny (1982–), former
Brisbane Broncos rugby league player who moved to Groote Eylandt.
*
Norman Tindale
Norman Barnett Tindale AO (12 October 1900 – 19 November 1993) was an Australian anthropologist, archaeologist, entomologist and ethnologist.
Life
Tindale was born in Perth, Western Australia in 1900. His family moved to Tokyo and lived ther ...
(1900–1993), Australian anthropologist, archaeologist, entomologist and ethnologist.
*
Emily Wurramara, singer-songwriter, born on the island.
*
Kaye Aldenhoven, a poet who lived and taught on the island
See also
*
Groote Eylandt Airport
*
List of islands of Australia
References
External links
Alyangula Area SchoolAlyangula Area SchoolAngurugu Community Government Council siteEast Arnhem Regional CouncilEylandt EchoGEMCO – The Groote Eylandt mining companyGEMCO publication with map
{{Authority control
Islands of the Northern Territory
Australian Aboriginal freehold title
Maritime history of the Dutch East India Company
Unincorporated areas of the Northern Territory
Arnhem Land tropical savanna
IBRA subregions