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 Company
The United East India Company ( nl, Verenigde Oostindische Compagnie, the VOC) was a chartered company established on the 20th March 1602 by the States General of the Netherlands amalgamating existing companies into the first joint-stock ...
captain
Willem Joosten van Colster (or Coolsteerdt) sailed into the
Gulf of Carpentaria and
Cape Arnhem
The Gove Peninsula is at the northeastern corner of Arnhem Land in the Northern Territory of Australia. The peninsula became strategically important during World War II when a Royal Australian Air Force base was constructed at what is now Go ...
is named after his ship, the ''Arnhem'', which itself was named after the city of
Arnhem in the Netherlands.
The area covers about and has an estimated population of 16,000, of whom 12,000 are
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. Two regions are often distinguished as East Arnhem (Land) and West Arnhem (Land), and North-east Arnhem Land is known to the local
Yolŋu people as Miwatj. The region's service hub is
Nhulunbuy, east of Darwin, set up in the early 1970s as a mining town
for
bauxite
Bauxite is a sedimentary rock with a relatively high aluminium content. It is the world's main source of aluminium and gallium. Bauxite consists mostly of the aluminium minerals gibbsite (Al(OH)3), boehmite (γ-AlO(OH)) and diaspore (α-AlO ...
. Other major population centres are
Yirrkala (just outside Nhulunbuy),
Gunbalanya (formerly Oenpelli),
Ramingining, and
Maningrida.
A substantial proportion of the population, which is mostly
Aboriginal, lives on small
outstations or homelands. This
outstation movement started in the early 1980s. Many Aboriginal groups moved to usually very small settlements on their
traditional lands, often to escape the problems of the larger towns. These population groups have very little Western cultural influence, and Arnhem Land is arguably one of the last areas in Australia that could be seen as a completely separate country. Many of the region's leaders have called and continue to call for a
treaty that would allow the Yolŋu to operate under their own traditional laws.
In 2013–14, the entire region contributed around or 7 percent to the Northern Territory's gross state product, mainly through bauxite mining.
In 2019, it was announced that
NASA
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA ) is an independent agency of the US federal government responsible for the civil space program, aeronautics research, and space research.
NASA was established in 1958, succeedin ...
had chosen Arnhem Land as the location for a
space launch facility, the
Arnhem Space Centre. On 27 June 2022, NASA launched the first rocket there, the first rocket launch from a commercial
spaceport outside the US, and two further launches followed within weeks.
History
Arnhem Land has been occupied by Aboriginal peoples for tens of thousands of years and is the location of the oldest-known stone
axe, which scholars believe to be 35,500 years old.
Macassan contact
At least since the 18th century (and probably earlier) Muslim traders from
Makassar of Sulawesi visited Arnhem Land each year to trade, harvest, and process
sea cucumbers or ''trepang''. This marine animal is highly prized in Chinese cuisine, for folk medicine, and as an
aphrodisiac.
This
Macassan contact with Australia is the first recorded example of interaction between the inhabitants of the Australian continent and their Asian neighbours.
This contact had a major effect on local
Aboriginal Australians
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 ...
. The Makassans exchanged goods such as
cloth,
tobacco,
knives,
rice, and
alcohol for the right to ''trepang'' coastal waters and employ local labour. Makassar
pidgin became a ''
lingua franca'' along the north coast among several indigenous Australian groups who were brought into greater contact with each other by the seafaring Makassan culture.
These traders from the southwest corner of
Sulawesi also introduced the word ''
balanda'' for white people, long before western explorers set foot on the coasts of northern Australia. In Arnhem Land, the word is still widely used today to refer to white Australians. The
Dutch started settling in Sulawesi Island in the early 17th century.
Archaeological remains of Makassar contact, including
trepang processing plants (drying, smoking) from the 18th and 19th centuries, are still found at Australian locations such as
Port Essington and
Groote Eylandt. The Makassans also planted
tamarind trees (native to
Madagascar
Madagascar (; mg, Madagasikara, ), officially the Republic of Madagascar ( mg, Repoblikan'i Madagasikara, links=no, ; french: République de Madagascar), is an island country in the Indian Ocean, approximately off the coast of East Afric ...
and
East Africa).
After processing, the
sea cucumbers were traded by the Makassans to
Southern China.
In 2014, an 18th-century Chinese coin was found in the remote area of
Wessel Islands off the coast on a beach on
Elcho Island during a historical expedition. The coin was found near previously known
Macassan trepanger fishing sites where several other Dutch coins have been discovered nearby, but never a Chinese coin. The coin was probably made in Beijing around 1735.
Florida Station
In 1884, 10,000 square miles of Arnhem Land was sold by the colonial British government to
cattle grazier,
John Arthur Macartney. The property was called Florida Station and Macartney stocked it with cattle overlanded from Queensland. Monsoonal flooding, disease and strong resistance from the local Aboriginal population resulted in Florida Station being abandoned by Macartney in 1893. The first manager of the property, Jim Randell, bolted a swivel cannon to the verandah of the homestead to keep the Indigenous people away, while
Jack Watson, the last manager of the property, reportedly "wiped out a lot" of "the blacks" living on the coast at
Blue Mud Bay.
During the period of Watson's management, another large massacre is recorded to have happened at Mirki on the north coast of Florida Station. The
Yolngu people today remember this massacre where many people including children were shot dead.
Eastern and African Cold Storage Supply Company
From 1903 to 1908, the property rights of much of Arnhem Land were held by the
Eastern and African Cold Storage Supply Company. This Anglo-Australian consortium leased the region under the name of Arafura
cattle station and attempted to construct a massive cattle raising and meat production industry. The company employed roving gangs of armed men to shoot the resident Aboriginal population.
Land rights
In 1971, the
Gove land rights case (''Milirrpum v Nabalco Pty Ltd'') was the first litigation on
native title in Australia, and the first significant legal case for
Aboriginal land rights in Australia.
Geography
The area is from
Port Roper on the Gulf of Carpentaria around the coast to the
East Alligator River, where it adjoins
Kakadu National Park. The major centres are
Jabiru on the Kakadu National Park border,
Maningrida at the
Liverpool River mouth, and
Nhulunbuy (also known as Gove) in the far north-east, on the Gove Peninsula. Gove is the site of large-scale bauxite mining with an associated
alumina refinery. Its administrative centre is the town of Nhulunbuy, the fourth-largest population centre in the Northern Territory.
The climate of Arnhem Land is tropical monsoon with a wet and dry season. The temperature has little seasonal variation; however, it can range from overnight lows of in the dry season (April to September) to daily highs of in the wet season (October to March).
Indigenous population and culture
In 1931, an area of was proclaimed as an
Aboriginal reserve, named Arnhem Land Aboriginal Reserve. the Land Trust held about as Aboriginal freehold land (with the exception of mining leases);
it remains one of the largest parcels of Aboriginal-owned land in Australia and is perhaps best known for its isolation, the art of its people, and the strong continuing traditions of its Aboriginal inhabitants.
Arnhem Land is composed of many different Aboriginal
countries and
language groups. North-east Arnhem Land is home to the Yolngu people, one of the largest Indigenous groups in Australia, who have succeeded in maintaining a vigorous traditional culture, and whose name for this area is Miwatj.
In West Arnhem Land, large groups include the
Bininj people and the
Maung people of the
Goulburn Islands.
Economy
In 2013–14, the entire region contributed around or 7% to the Northern Territory's gross state product, mainly through bauxite mining.
In 2019, it was announced that
NASA
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA ) is an independent agency of the US federal government responsible for the civil space program, aeronautics research, and space research.
NASA was established in 1958, succeedin ...
had chosen Arnhem Land as the location for a space launch facility. The
Arnhem Space Centre was built near Nhulunbuy, employing mostly local labour, and on 27 June 2022, NASA launched the first rocket there, which was the first rocket launch from a commercial
spaceport outside the US. Two further launches followed, the third on July 11. Other space companies are interested in using the rocket launch pad, and NASA confirmed that it will use the facility again in the future.
Film
The 2006 film ''
Ten Canoes
''Ten Canoes'' is a 2006 Australian drama film directed by Rolf de Heer and Peter Djigirr and starring Crusoe Kurddal. The title of the film arose from discussions between de Heer and David Gulpilil about a photograph of ten canoeists poling a ...
'' captures life in Arnhem Land through a story tapping into the Aboriginal mythic past; it was co-directed by one of the indigenous cast members. The film and the documentary about the making of the film, ''The Balanda and the Bark Canoes'', give a remarkable testimony to the indigenous struggle to keep their culture alive – or rather revive it in the wake of considerable relative modernisation and influence of white (''balanda'') cultural imposition.
''
High Ground (2020 film)'', a 2020
feature film
A feature film or feature-length film is a narrative film (motion picture or "movie") with a running time long enough to be considered the principal or sole presentation in a commercial entertainment program. The term ''feature film'' originall ...
directed by
Stephen Maxwell Johnson
Stephen Maxwell Johnson is an Australian filmmaker, best known for his films ''Yolngu Boy'' (2001) and ''High Ground'' (2020). He is also known for directing Yothu Yindi's music videos in the late 1980s to early 1990s.
Early life and educatio ...
, based on historical fact and reflecting the history and culture of Yolngu people, was filmed in Arnhem land.
Art
The Aboriginal community of
Yirrkala, just outside Nhulunbuy, is internationally known for
bark paintings, promoting the rights of
Indigenous Australians
Indigenous Australians or Australian First Nations are people with familial heritage from, and membership in, the ethnic groups that lived in Australia before British colonisation. They consist of two distinct groups: the Aboriginal peoples ...
, and as the origin of the ''
yidaki'', or
didgeridoo. The community of
Gunbalanya (previously known as
Oenpelli) in Western Arnhem Land is also notable for bark painting. The indigenous inhabitants also create temporary
sand sculptures as part of their sacred rituals.
Arnhem Land is also notable for Aboriginal
rock art, some examples of which can be found at
Ubirr Rock,
Injalak Hill, and in the
Canon Hill area. Some of these record the early years of European explorers and settlers, sometimes in such detail that
Martini–Henry rifles can be identified. They also depict axes, and detailed paintings of aircraft and ships. One remote shelter, several hundred kilometres from Darwin, has a painting of the wharf at Darwin, including building and boats, and Europeans with hats and pipes, some apparently without hands (which they have in their trouser pockets). Near the East Alligator River crossing, a figure was painted of a man carrying a gun and wearing his hair in long
pigtails down his back, characteristic of the Chinese labourers brought to Darwin in the late 19th century.
One Yolngu prehistoric
stone arrangement at Maccasans Beach near Yirrkala shows the layout of the Macassan ''praus'' used for
''trepang'' (sea cucumber) fishing in the area. This was a legacy of Yolngu trade links with the people on the Indonesian island of
Sulawesi. The trading relationship antedated European settlement by some 200 years.
Aboriginal artists in Arnhem Land are primarily represented by
Aboriginal Art Centres, nonprofit, community-owned organisations. In East Arnhem Land, primarily
Yolngu Matha-speaking artists are promoted by
Buku-Larrnggay Mulka in Yirrkala, Bula'bula Arts in
Ramingining, Elcho Island Arts and Crafts on
Elcho Island, Gapuwiyak Culture and Arts in
Gapuwiyak and Milingimbi Art and Culture on
Milingimbi Island. In Central Arnhem Land, Maningrida Arts & Culture in
Maningrida promotes the work of a diverse range of
Kuninjku,
Burarra, and
Gurrgoni artists, amongst others. In West Arnhem Land,
Injalak Arts
Injalak Arts (also known as Injalak Arts and Crafts) is a non-profit, community owned Aboriginal art centre located in Gunbalanya in West Arnhem Land in the Northern Territory of Australia. It was incorporated in 1989. It is known for artists ...
in
Gunbalanya represents mainly
Kunwinjku artists. Ngukurr Arts is located on the
Roper River in Southern Arnhem Land. Art is also produced on the many islands of Arnhem Land, and there are art centres on the
Anindilyakwa speaking
Groote Eylandt (Anindilyakwa Art) and the
Maung speaking
Goulburn Islands (Mardbalk Arts & Crafts).
Homelands
Arnhem Land is also known for embracing the homeland movement, sometimes referred to as the
outstation movement. For many decades prior to 1970, the East Arnhem Land Yolngu people lived on
mission stations, such as Yirrkala. From April 1972, Yolngu families began moving away, back to their traditional clan lands. This was instigated by Yolngu people, before there was government support for the outstation movement. The people cleared land for
airstrip
An aerodrome (Commonwealth English) or airdrome (American English) is a location from which aircraft flight operations take place, regardless of whether they involve air cargo, passengers, or neither, and regardless of whether it is for publ ...
s and built their own houses from local timber, with the help of non-Indigenous people from the mission. The elders of the clans aimed to determine their own futures, basing their societies on Yolngu law, while living and raising their children on their lands in a sustainable and self-sufficient way. In 1985, Laynhapuy Homelands Aboriginal Corporation (LHAC), an
Aboriginal corporation, was established to assist the homelands.
Homelands are tiny communities where members of related clan groups live on their traditional land, living according to Yolngu
rom (law). There are benefits to the people to be living in these homelands, including:
Homelands also reduce pressure on other Indigenous communities, which are already suffering from problems in the housing, health and education services areas.
[
In the early 21st century, a focus governments about the "viability" of the homelands has caused tensions and uncertainty within the Arnhem Land community.
In September 2008, then Darwin correspondent for '']The Age
''The Age'' is a daily newspaper in Melbourne, Australia, that has been published since 1854. Owned and published by Nine Entertainment, ''The Age'' primarily serves Victoria (Australia), Victoria, but copies also sell in Tasmania, the Austral ...
'', Lindsay Murdoch, wrote: "Elders tell of their fears that Yolngu culture and society will not survive if clans cannot continue to live on and access their land through homelands. They warn that if services are cut, many of the 800 people in the Laynhapuy homelands will be forced to move to towns such as Yirrkala on the Gove Peninsula, creating new law and order problems, while those who stay will be severely disadvantaged."
In response to changes made by the Northern Territory government surrounding reduced support for the homelands in 2009, the Indigenous leader Patrick Dodson
Patrick Lionel Djargun Dodson (born 29 January 1948) is an Australian politician representing Western Australia in the Australian Senate. He is a Yawuru elder from Broome, Western Australia. He has been chairman of the Council for Aboriginal R ...
criticised the Northern Territory Government's controversial new policy on remote Aboriginal communities, describing it as a "die on the vine" plan that will "slowly but surely" kill indigenous culture.
Born in the 1930s, Dr Gawirrin Gumana AO is a leader of the Dhalwangu clan, renowned for his artwork and knowledge of traditional culture and law. In May 2009, he had the following to say about the significance of the homelands to his people:
Despite facing government concerns and policy confusion, a number of people have developed commercial enterprises that have centred on using the best elements of their homelands. Indigenous tourism ventures incorporating the controlled use of homelands are now showing signs of success for a select number of Yolngu.
Communities
*Gan Gan, aka Gangan, is a remote inland riverside community, in the traditional lands of the Dhalwaŋu people. There are several well-known artists in the community, notably Malaluba Gumana, Nongirrnga Marawili, Gawarrin Gumana and Garawan Wanambi. Gan Gan is also the site of an event known as the Gan Gan massacre that occurred in 1911, when over 30 men, women and children were killed by colonial police and settlers.[
*Cannon Hill - family outstation]
See also
* Arnhem Land tropical savanna
* Gabarnmung – Aboriginal archaeological and rock art site
* Kakadu National Park
**Flora of Kakadu National Park
This is a list of plants commonly found in Kakadu National Park, Northern Territory of Australia. Where known, common names are given in English and in Gun-djeihmi, a commonly spoken indigenous language in the area, are given in parentheses. ...
* Protected areas of the Northern Territory
* Ubirr
*Wongalara Sanctuary
Wongalara Sanctuary is a nature reserve in the Top End of the Northern Territory of Australia.
Location
It is a pastoral lease on the southern border of Arnhem Land, and is south-east of Kakadu National Park. The sanctuary shares a boundary wi ...
References
*Arnhem Land. Its History and Its People. 1954. R. M. & C. H. Berndt. F. W. Cheshire, Melbourne.
External links
*
Arnhem Region
Gove Online Community Website
Bawaka
{{Authority control
Regions of the Northern Territory
Arafura Sea
Gulf of Carpentaria