Niiwalarra, formerly known as Sir Graham Moore Island, is located off the

Kimberley Kimberly or Kimberley may refer to: Places and historical events Australia Queensland * Kimberley, Queensland, a coastal locality in the Shire of Douglas South Australia * County of Kimberley, a cadastral unit in South Australia Ta ...

coast of

Western Australia Western Australia (WA) is the westernmost state of Australia. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to the south, the Northern Territory to the north-east, and South Australia to the south-east. Western Aust ...

. The island encompasses an area of . It is situated within the Sir Graham Moore Islands group, about north of Kalumburu. The Juarinanda people were recorded as early inhabitants of the island, but they were decimated by disease in the 19th century, with the remainder of the population moving to Drysdale River Mission.

Wunambal The Wunambal (Unambal), also known as Wunambal Gaambera, Uunguu (referring to their lands), and other names, are an Aboriginal Australian people of the northern Kimberley region of Western Australia. People The Wunambal were, according to Norma ...

, Gaambera and Kwini people made journeys to islands in the area by

dugout canoe A dugout canoe or simply dugout is a boat made from a hollowed-out tree. Other names for this type of boat are logboat and monoxylon. ''Monoxylon'' (''μονόξυλον'') (pl: ''monoxyla'') is Greek''mono-'' (single) + '' ξύλον xylon'' (tr ...

s originally bought from Makassan traders, who began visiting the Kimblerley coast sometime between 1669 and 1763. Both Aboriginal and Makassan peoples harvested and processed

sea cucumber Sea cucumbers are echinoderms from the class (biology), class Holothuroidea ( ). They are benthic marine animals found on the sea floor worldwide, and the number of known holothuroid species worldwide is about 1,786, with the greatest number be ...

. The Juarinanda incorporated several Malay words into their language. Today, by succession, the

traditional owners Native title is the set of rights, recognised by Australian law, held by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander groups or individuals to land that derive from their maintenance of their traditional laws and customs. These Aboriginal title rig ...

of the island are the

Balanggarra The Yeidji, also spelt Yiiji and other variants, commonly known as Gwini or Kwini, are an Aboriginal Australian people of the Kimberley area of Western Australia, who also self-identify as . Name In contemporary accounts, the Yeidji are often ...

(aka Kwini) people, of the Worrorran language group, whose name for the island is ''Niiwalarra''. They have visited the island for

millennia A millennium () is a period of one thousand years, one hundred decades, or ten centuries, sometimes called a kiloannum (ka), or kiloyear (ky). Normally, the word is used specifically for periods of a thousand years that begin at the starting p ...

. Traditional owners have been assisting with archaeological assessments of the island in 2021, for the first time since Ian Crawford did his research in the 1960s. Evidence of pottery and other artefacts from new excavations on the island are being complemented by the

oral histories Oral history is the collection and study of historical information from people, families, important events, or everyday life using audiotapes, videotapes, or transcriptions of planned interviews. These interviews are conducted with people who pa ...

of the Kwini people. A number of

hearth A hearth () is the place in a home where a fire is or was traditionally kept for home heating and for cooking, usually constituted by a horizontal hearthstone and often enclosed to varying degrees by any combination of reredos (a low, partial ...

s are a record of where the trepang was cooked on the beach in large iron pots, with activity especially picking up around 1800. The group and island were named in 1819 by

Phillip Parker King Phillip Parker King (13 December 1791 – 26 February 1856) was an early explorer of the Australian and Patagonian coasts. Early life and education King was born on Norfolk Island, to Philip Gidley King and Anna Josepha King ''née'' Coo ...

, after Sir Graham Moore, who held a seat of the board of the English

Admiralty Board The Admiralty Board is the body established under the Defence Council of the United Kingdom for the administration of the Naval Service of the United Kingdom. It meets formally only once a year, and the day-to-day running of the Royal Navy is ...

. A

LORAN LORAN (Long Range Navigation) was a hyperbolic navigation, hyperbolic radio navigation system developed in the United States during World War II. It was similar to the UK's Gee (navigation), Gee system but operated at lower frequencies in order ...

radar site was established on the north west corner of the island during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

by American and Australian forces. The site consisted of a

radar Radar is a system that uses radio waves to determine the distance ('' ranging''), direction ( azimuth and elevation angles), and radial velocity of objects relative to the site. It is a radiodetermination method used to detect and track ...

building, radio building, a powerhouse and a campsite. The concrete pad for the main building are all that remain today. There were unsuccessful attempts at

cotton Cotton (), first recorded in ancient India, is a soft, fluffy staple fiber that grows in a boll, or protective case, around the seeds of the cotton plants of the genus '' Gossypium'' in the mallow family Malvaceae. The fiber is almost pure ...

farming on the island. The island once supported a population of

feral pig A feral pig is a domestic pig The pig (''Sus domesticus''), also called swine (: swine) or hog, is an omnivorous, domesticated, even-toed, hoofed mammal. It is named the domestic pig when distinguishing it from other members of the g ...

s, but by 2009 they had died out, apparently from the only fresh water source becoming

saline Saline may refer to: Salt-related * Saline (medicine), a liquid with salt content to match the human body * Saline water, non-medicinal salt water * Saline, a historical term (especially American) for a salt works or saltern Places United States ...

following erosion from a

cyclone In meteorology, a cyclone () is a large air mass that rotates around a strong center of low atmospheric pressure, counterclockwise in the Northern Hemisphere and clockwise in the Southern Hemisphere as viewed from above (opposite to an ant ...

References

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