The Aboriginal Shire of Doomadgee is a special

local government area A local government area (LGA) is an administrative division of a country that a local government is responsible for. The size of an LGA varies by country but it is generally a subdivision of a federated state, state, province, division (politica ...

North West Queensland The Gulf Country or North West Queensland is the region of woodland and savanna grassland surrounding the Gulf of Carpentaria in north western Queensland and eastern Northern Territory on the north coast of Australia. The region is also ca ...

Queensland Queensland ( , commonly abbreviated as Qld) is a States and territories of Australia, state in northeastern Australia, and is the second-largest and third-most populous state in Australia. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Austr ...

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

. It is managed under a

Deed of Grant in Trust A Deed of Grant in Trust (DOGIT) is the name for a system of community-level land trust established in Queensland to administer former Aboriginal reserves and missions. They came about through the enactment by the Queensland Government of the '' ...

under the ''Local Government (Community Government Areas) Act 2004''. In the , the Aboriginal Shire of Doomadgee had a population of 1,387 people.

Geography

The shire is located within the

Gulf Country The Gulf Country or North West Queensland is the region of woodland and savanna grassland surrounding the Gulf of Carpentaria in north western Queensland and eastern Northern Territory on the north coast of Australia. The region is also ca ...

to the south of the

Gulf of Carpentaria The Gulf of Carpentaria is a sea off the northern coast of Australia. It is enclosed on three sides by northern Australia and bounded on the north by the eastern Arafura Sea, which separates Australia and New Guinea. The northern boundary ...

. It consists of two disconnected areas of land: the locality of Doomadgee which is inland and the locality of Gangalidda on the coast of the gulf. The shire was excised from the

Shire of Burke The Shire of Burke is a local government area in North West Queensland, Australia. The shire lies on the south coast of the Gulf of Carpentaria and abuts the border with the Northern Territory. It covers an area of , and has existed as a local ...

and is surrounded by the Shire of Burke.

History

The name Doomadgee derives from Dumaji, a 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, flat ...

in the traditional land of the Yukulta / Ganggalidda people.

Waanyi The Waanyi people, also spelt Wanyi, Wanji, or Waanji, are an Aboriginal Australian people from south of the Gulf of Carpentaria in Queensland and the Northern Territory. Language Although the Waanyi language was thought to be extinct, the 2016 ...

(also known as ''Wanyi'', ''Wanyee'', ''Wanee'', ''Waangyee'', ''Wonyee'', ''Garawa'', and ''Wanji)'' is an

Australian Aboriginal language The Indigenous languages of Australia number in the hundreds, the precise number being quite uncertain, although there is a range of estimates from a minimum of around 250 (using the technical definition of 'language' as non-mutually intellig ...

of the Gulf Country. The language region includes the western parts of Lawn Hill Creek and Nicholson River, from about the boundary between the

Northern Territory The Northern Territory (abbreviated as NT; known formally as the Northern Territory of Australia and informally as the Territory) is an states and territories of Australia, Australian internal territory in the central and central-northern regi ...

and Queensland, westwards towards Alexandria station, Doomadgee, and Nicholson River. It includes the local government area of the Aboriginal Shire of Doomadgee. The

Yukulta The Yukulta people, also spelt Jokula, Jukula, and other variants, and also known as Ganggalidda or Gangalidda, are an Aboriginal Australian people of the state of Queensland. They may be the same as the Yanga group. Country Norman Tindale ( ...

(also known as Ganggalida) language region is also of the Gulf Country, including the local government areas of the Aboriginal Shire of Doomadgee and Shire of Mornington. "Old Doomadgee Mission" was established in 1933 by the Akehursts, a

Christian Brethren The Open Brethren, sometimes called Christian Brethren, are a group of Evangelical Christian churches that arose in the late 1820s as part of the Assembly Movement within the Plymouth Brethren tradition. They originated in Ireland before spread ...

family, supported by the church and Queensland's

Chief Protector of Aboriginals The Australian colonies in the nineteenth century created offices involved in managing the affairs of Indigenous people in their jurisdictions. The role of Protector of Aborigines was first established in South Australia in 1836. The role becam ...

, to house primarily Gangalidda people who had ended up living on the fringes of the

Burketown Burketown is an isolated outback town and coastal Suburbs and localities (Australia), locality in the Shire of Burke, Queensland, Australia. It is located west of Cairns and west of Normanton, Queensland, Normanton on the Albert River (Gulf Sa ...

township. It was located at Dumaji at

Bayley Point Gangalidda is a coastal locality in the Aboriginal Shire of Doomadgee, Queensland, Australia, on the Gulf of Carpentaria. In the , Gangalidda had "no people or a very low population". Geography The waters of the ''Gulf of Carpentaria'' form ...

Aboriginal reserve, on Gangalidda land. After a cyclone in 1936 destroyed the settlement, and the decision was made to move the settlement to Nicholson River, where the later

Doomadgee Mission Doomadgee is a town and a locality in the Aboriginal Shire of Doomadgee, Queensland, Australia. It is a mostly Indigenous community, situated about from the Northern Territory border, and west of Burketown. The settlement began with the estab ...

was established at "new Doomadgee". Doomadgee's population increased greatly during the 1950s-1960s, and facilities including a store, bank, post office,

rodeo Rodeo () is a competitive equestrian sport that arose out of the working practices of cattle herding in Spain and Mexico, expanding throughout the Americas and to other nations. It was originally based on the skills required of the working vaqu ...

ground and a bakery were established. From a population of 138 in 1938, it had grown to 1257 by 2011. On 30 March 1985, the Doomadgee community elected five councillors to constitute an autonomous Doomadgee Aboriginal Council, and on 21 May 1987, under the ''Community Services (Aborigines) Act 1984'' the

Aboriginal reserve An Aboriginal reserve, also called simply reserve, was a government-sanctioned settlement for Aboriginal Australians, created under various state and federal legislation. Along with missions and other institutions, they were used from the 19th ...

was transferred from the

Queensland Government The Queensland Government is the state government of Queensland, Australia, a Parliament, parliamentary constitutional monarchy. Government is formed by the party or coalition that has gained a majority in the Queensland Legislative Assembly, ...

to the trusteeship of the Doomadgee Aboriginal Council, under a

(DOGIT). The area included the sites of both the former and current

mission Mission (from Latin 'the act of sending out'), Missions or The Mission may refer to: Geography Australia *Mission River (Queensland) Canada *Mission, British Columbia, a district municipality * Mission, Calgary, Alberta, a neighbourhood * ...

. On 1 January 2005, the Doomadgee Aboriginal Council became the Doomadgee Aboriginal Shire Council. In 2010 the Doomadgee Aboriginal Shire Council was established under the ''Local Government Act 2009''.

Demographics

In the , the Aboriginal Shire of Doomadgee had a population of 1,405 people. In the , the Aboriginal Shire of Doomadgee had a population of 1,387 people.

People

The majority of residents are Gangalidda or Waanyi people, but smaller populations of Gadawa, Lardil, Mingginda and Garawa are also resident within Doomadgee.

Mayors

* 2008-2016: Frederick O'Keefe * 2016-2020: Edric Walden *2020–present: Jason Grant Ned

References

External links

Archived Queensland regional profiles Doomadgee Aboriginal Shire Council: based on reformed local government boundaries / Office of Economic and Statistical Research
vi
State Library of Queensland
{{DEFAULTSORT:Doomadgee Shire Local government areas of Queensland Aboriginal communities in Queensland North West Queensland 1987 establishments in Australia