Gunbalanya (also spelt Kunbarlanja, and historically referred to as Oenpelli) is an Aboriginal Australian town in west

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 Compan ...

in the Northern Territory of Australia, about east of

Darwin Darwin may refer to: Common meanings * Charles Darwin (1809–1882), English naturalist and writer, best known as the originator of the theory of biological evolution by natural selection * Darwin, Northern Territory, a territorial capital city i ...

. The main language spoken in the community is Kunwinjku (a dialect of Bininj Kunwok). At the

2021 Australian census The 2021 Australian census, simply called the 2021 Census, was the eighteenth national Census of Population and Housing in Australia. The 2021 Census took place on 10 August 2021, and was conducted by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS). T ...

, Gunbalanya had a population of 1,177. Only accessible by air in the wet season, Gunbalanya is known for its

Aboriginal art Indigenous Australian art includes art made by Aboriginal Australian and Torres Strait Islander peoples, including collaborations with others. It includes works in a wide range of media including painting on leaves, bark painting, wood carving ...

, in particular

rock art In archaeology, rock art is human-made markings placed on natural surfaces, typically vertical stone surfaces. A high proportion of surviving historic and prehistoric rock art is found in caves or partly enclosed rock shelters; this type also ...

and

bark painting Bark painting is an Australian Aboriginal art form, involving painting on the interior of a strip of tree bark. This is a continuing form of artistic expression in Arnhem Land (especially among the Yolngu peoples) and other regions in the Top ...

. It has a range of services, including a police station, school and community arts centre,

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 wo ...

. It is the nearest town to the Awunbarna, also known as Mount Borradaile, an Aboriginal sacred site and the location of significant Indigenous Australian rock art.

Etymology and history

The area now known as Gunbalanya was originally called "Uwunbarlany" by Erre-speaking people, who were its original inhabitants. Oenpelli was the way Paddy Cahill (1863–1923), the founder of the original cattle station in the area, pronounced the local word. The present toponym is an anglisation of the word ''Kunbarlanja'' current in Kunwinjku, the language of the people who now live there, who began moving into the area from the east following the Cahill's establishment of his cattle station there in 1909. Oenpelli, as it was known then, was established by the Rev. Alfred Dyer as a mission in 1925 by the Church of England's Church Missionary Society, on the former cattle station. Dyer and his wife Mary established a typical mission station, with church, school, dispensary, garden and store, to which they added pastoral work with feral cattle and horses. Among those who attended the mission school was the celebrated Gagudju elder and interpreter of culture,

Bill Neidjie Big Bill Neidjie ( – 23 May 2002), nicknamed "Kakadu Man", was the last surviving speaker of the Gaagudju language, an Aboriginal Australian language from northern Kakadu, after which Kakadu National Park is named. He was an elder of the Ga ...

. The eldest son of the senior traditional owner of the land, Nipper Marakarra, Narlim, was born in 1909 and grew up at the mission. He continued to stay there as he wanted to have his children taught English, and also saw it as a way to stay on Country as traditional custodians. However, when a visiting policeman in the late 1930s found that Narlim had an infectious disease, he handcuffed him in order to chain him up with a group of others who were being sent to Darwin. Narlim was sent away under police escort, with his baby daughter on his shoulder. He never returned, but his daughter, Peggy did, and later became a community leader. In 1933, Nell Harris, a young woman of 29 years old, was taught Kunwinkju by the local people, and, along with Hannah Mangiru and Rachel Maralngurra, translated the

Gospel of Mark The Gospel of Mark), or simply Mark (which is also its most common form of abbreviation). is the second of the four canonical gospels and of the three synoptic Gospels. It tells of the ministry of Jesus from his baptism by John the Baptist to h ...

into the language. Oenpelli remained a mission until 1975, when responsibility was transferred to an Aboriginal town council and the name was changed to Gunbalanya. The

1948 American-Australian Scientific Expedition to Arnhem Land In February 1948, a team of Australian and American researchers and support staff came together in northern Australia to begin, what was then, one of the largest scientific expeditions ever to have taken place in Australia—the American-Australia ...

visited Oenpelli for three months and collected a large array of local artefacts, art, and specimens.

Use of the name Oenpelli

The large and uncommon Oenpelli python, '' Morelia oenpelliensis'', shares the historic name of this community, as does Oenpelli bloodwood, ''

Corymbia dunlopiana ''Corymbia dunlopiana'', commonly known as Dunlop's bloodwood, bongonyin, or Oenpelli bloodwood is a species of tree that is endemic to the Northern Territory. It has rough bark on the trunk and branches, a crown of sessile, juvenile leaves arra ...

''. A geological event known as the Oenpelli Dolerite intrusive event occurred about 1,720 million years ago.

People and surrounds

The local people speak Kunwinjku (a dialect of Bininj Kunwok), and are a grouping of the Bininj peoples. At the 2016 Australian census, Gunbalanya had a population of 1,116. 88.6% of the population identified as Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander. Gunbalanya is the largest town in the area and the nearest population centre to Awunbarna, also known as Mount Borradaile, a mountain about above sea level about away. Awunbarna is a sacred site and the location of a significant number of rock paintings. A study published in 2020 recording the

Maliwawa Figures Indigenous Australian art includes art made by Aboriginal Australian and Torres Strait Islander peoples, including collaborations with others. It includes works in a wide range of media including painting on leaves, bark painting, wood carvin ...

describes paintings at 87 sites across western Arnhem Land from

Awunbarna Gunbalanya (also spelt Kunbarlanja, and historically referred to as Oenpelli) is an Aboriginal Australian town in west Arnhem Land in the Northern Territory of Australia, about east of Darwin. The main language spoken in the community is Kunwi ...

westwards to the

Wellington Range The Wellington Range is a mountain range located in the southeast region of Tasmania, Australia. The range is mainly composed of dolerite and features evidence of past glaciation. Prominent features in the range include the dual-named ''Kuna ...

Access, facilities and tourism

The sealed Arnhem Highway links Darwin to

Jabiru The jabiru ( or ; ''Jabiru mycteria'') is a large stork found in the Americas from Mexico to Argentina, except west of the Andes. It sometimes wanders into the United States, usually in Texas, but has been reported as far north as Mississippi. ...

, the town within Kakadu National Park. About before Jabiru, the sealed road turns off to Ubirr, the Border Store, Cahill's Crossing on the

East Alligator River Alligator Rivers is the name of an area in an Arnhem Land region of the Northern Territory of Australia, containing three rivers, the East, West, and South Alligator Rivers. It is regarded as one of the richest biological regions in Australia ...

and Oenpelli. The road is dirt from the East Alligator to just before Gunbalanya, a distance of about . While this road is generally navigable by four-wheel drive vehicle, the river crossing is a

causeway A causeway is a track, road or railway on the upper point of an embankment across "a low, or wet place, or piece of water". It can be constructed of earth, masonry, wood, or concrete. One of the earliest known wooden causeways is the Sweet Tra ...

which is closed by flooding during the wet season (November to April) and at high tides. Dry season travellers are able to drive the from Darwin in about three hours and from Jabiru in under an hour. Northern Land Council permits are required to cross the East Alligator River, the western boundary of Arnhem Land, and travel east to Gunbalanya, obtainable from offices in Darwin or Jabiru. These may take up to two weeks to finalise, and many visitors prefer to see Arnhem Land through an organised tour operation.

Oenpelli Airport Oenpelli Airport is located in Gunbalanya (formerly known as Oenpelli), Northern Territory, Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Austral ...

is a sealed all weather airstrip located in Gunbalanya, and a number of companies offer charter flights to and from this airport. The town is regarded as one of the major Aboriginal towns in Arnhem Land, and includes a school (pre-school to Year 12), health clinic, service station, police station, aged care, recreational clubs, community arts centre (Injalak Arts) and various stores. The ''Stone Country Festival'' (formerly Gunbalanya Cultural Open Day) is usually held in August and access for this is allowed without permit. Though an annual event, it is sometimes not able to be organised in a given year. The local radio station is called "RIBS" for Remote Indigenous Broadcasting Service.

Indigenous art

Rock art

Western Arnhem Land is home to some of the most significant

in the world. Local artistic traditions are continued and adapted by the Injalak Arts Centre.

is named after nearby Injalak Hill, which has many rock art galleries and is the main tourist attraction in Gunbalanya.

Bark painting

In the 1960s the mission at Oenpelli encouraged traditional rock painting artists to paint on bark. These painted barks were sold to

anthropologist An anthropologist is a person engaged in the practice of anthropology. Anthropology is the study of aspects of humans within past and present societies. Social anthropology, cultural anthropology and philosophical anthropology study the norms and ...

s and travellers. This soon became a

cottage industry The putting-out system is a means of subcontracting work. Historically, it was also known as the workshop system and the domestic system. In putting-out, work is contracted by a central agent to subcontractors who complete the project via remote ...

, and several important Aboriginal artists, including Lofty Bardayal, Mick Kubarrku and

Dick Murramurra Dick, Dicks, or Dick's may refer to: Media * ''Dicks'' (album), a 2004 album by Fila Brazillia * Dicks (band), a musical group * ''Dick'' (film), a 1999 American comedy film * "Dick" (song), a 2019 song by Starboi3 featuring Doja Cat Names ...

transferred their rock art skills to bark. These bark paintings are now held in art galleries in Australia and across the world. Exhibitions of bark paintings include "Old Masters" at the National Museum of Australia and "Crossing Country" at the

Art Gallery of New South Wales The Art Gallery of New South Wales (AGNSW), founded as the New South Wales Academy of Art in 1872 and known as the National Art Gallery of New South Wales between 1883 and 1958, is located in The Domain, Sydney, Australia. It is the most importa ...

In film

Parts of the 2020 film '' High Ground'' was filmed in the area, and the story reflects some of the history of the region, including a fictionalised version of the

Gan Gan massacre 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 Compan ...

Climate

Notes and references

Notes

References

* * * * *

External links

West Arnhem Regional Council

Injalak Stone Country Arts and Crafts

West Arnhem College Gunbalanya

Northern Land Council

Kunwinjku language

Online Kunwinjku dictionary
{{authority control Aboriginal communities in the Northern Territory Arnhem Land Australian Aboriginal freehold title Towns in the Northern Territory