Pormpuraaw (pronounced ''porm-pure-ow'') is a coastal town and a

locality Locality may refer to: * Locality (association), an association of community regeneration organizations in England * Locality (linguistics) * Locality (settlement) * Suburbs and localities (Australia), in which a locality is a geographic subdivis ...

in the

Aboriginal Shire of Pormpuraaw The Aboriginal Shire of Pormpuraaw is a special local government area which is located on western Cape York Peninsula in Queensland, Australia. It is managed under a Deed of Grant in Trust under the ''Local Government (Community Government Are ...

Queensland ) , nickname = Sunshine State , image_map = Queensland in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Queensland in Australia , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , established_ ...

, Australia. Pormpuraaw is an Aboriginal community situated on the west coast of

Cape York Peninsula Cape York Peninsula is a large peninsula located in Far North Queensland, Australia. It is the largest unspoiled wilderness in northern Australia.Mittermeier, R.E. et al. (2002). Wilderness: Earth’s last wild places. Mexico City: Agrupación ...

approximately halfway between

Karumba Karumba is a town and a coastal Suburbs and localities (Australia), locality in the Shire of Carpentaria, Queensland, Australia. In the , the locality of Karumba had a population of 531 people. Geography Karumba is in the Gulf Country region o ...

and

Weipa Weipa () is a coastal mining town in the local government area of Weipa Town in Queensland. It is the largest town on the Cape York Peninsula. It exists because of the enormous bauxite deposits along the coast. The Port of Weipa is mainly involv ...

on the

Edward River Edward River, or Kyalite River, an anabranch of the Murray River and part of the Murray–Darling basin, is located in the western Riverina region of south western New South Wales, Australia. The river rises at Picnic Point east of Mathoura, a ...

. It is by road from

Cairns Cairns (, ) is a city in Queensland, Australia, on the tropical north east coast of Far North Queensland. The population in June 2019 was 153,952, having grown on average 1.02% annually over the preceding five years. The city is the 5th-most-p ...

. Pormpuraaw currently has a 4-man police station. Formerly known as Edward River Aboriginal Mission, Pormpuraaw was an

Anglican Anglicanism is a Western Christian tradition that has developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the context of the Protestant Reformation in Europe. It is one of th ...

mission established in 1938. The people included

Thaayorre The Thaayorre, or Kuuk Thaayore, are an Australian people living on the southwestern part of the Cape York Peninsula, Queensland in Australia, primarily in the settlement Pormpuraaw, having its foundation in the Edward River Mission. Languag ...

, Wik, Pakanh and Yir Yoront. This was the third mission to be set up in the southwestern Cape York region. In 1967 control was passed from the church to the Queensland Department of Aboriginal and Islander Affairs. The community received

DOGIT 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 '' ...

status, and is governed by a community council. Pormpuraaw has been successful in developing a commercial

crocodile Crocodiles (family (biology), family Crocodylidae) or true crocodiles are large semiaquatic reptiles that live throughout the tropics in Africa, Asia, the Americas and Australia. The term crocodile is sometimes used even more loosely to inclu ...

farm, a

cattle Cattle (''Bos taurus'') are large, domesticated, cloven-hooved, herbivores. They are a prominent modern member of the subfamily Bovinae and the most widespread species of the genus ''Bos''. Adult females are referred to as cows and adult mal ...

operation and some

tourism Tourism is travel for pleasure or business; also the theory and practice of touring (disambiguation), touring, the business of attracting, accommodating, and entertaining tourists, and the business of operating tour (disambiguation), tours. Th ...

. In the , Pormpuraaw had a population of 749 people, 83% of whom were

Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander people 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 ...

History

Pormpuraaw (Porrm-puur-ow) was previously known as Edward River Mission and is situated on the west coast of Cape York Peninsula between the Chapman River and Mungkan Creek. The community is home to two groups of

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 Islands ...

people, the

(Thie-Orr) and the

Wik-Mungkan people The Wik-Mungkan people were the largest branch of the Wik people, an Aboriginal Australian group of peoples, speaking several different languages, who traditionally ranged over an extensive area of the western Cape York Peninsula in northern Queen ...

s, and includes 16 outstations.

European contact

European settlement on Cape York began with the establishment of

Somerset ( en, All The People of Somerset) , locator_map = , coordinates = , region = South West England , established_date = Ancient , established_by = , preceded_by = , origin = , lord_lieutenant_office =Lord Lieutenant of Somerset , lord_ ...

in 1865.C G Austin, ‘Early History of Somerset and Thursday Island’ (1949) ''Journal of the Royal Historical Society of Queensland'', 4, 2 <http://espace.library.uq.edu.au/eserv/UQ:212282/s18378366_1949_4_2_216.pdf(PDF)> at 8 April 2013. The settlement was formed at the tip of Cape York Peninsula after a recommendation from the

Queensland Governor The governor of Queensland is the representative in the state of Queensland of the monarch of Australia. In an analogous way to the governor-general of Australia at the national level, the governor performs constitutional and ceremonial functi ...

Sir

George Bowen Sir George Ferguson Bowen (; 2 November 1821 – 21 February 1899), was an Irish author and colonial administrator whose appointments included postings to the Ionian Islands, Queensland, New Zealand, Victoria, Mauritius and Hong Kong.R. B. Joy ...

that it would be a favourable location for a harbour of refuge and a well-positioned international trading port.

Frank Frank or Franks may refer to: People * Frank (given name) * Frank (surname) * Franks (surname) * Franks, a medieval Germanic people * Frank, a term in the Muslim world for all western Europeans, particularly during the Crusades - see Farang Curr ...

and Alexander Jardine overlanded a herd of cattle to establish a

pastoral station A pastoral lifestyle is that of shepherds herding livestock around open areas of land according to seasons and the changing availability of water and pasture. It lends its name to a genre of literature, art, and music (pastorale) that depicts ...

near Somerset to supply the settlement with meat. The Jardine brothers had several skirmishes with Aboriginal people on their journey to Cape York that culminated in what the Jardine brothers named the "Battle of the Mitchell". On arriving at the Mitchell River:

"Whilst the cattle halted … they came on to a number of blacks fishing, these immediately crossed to the other side, but on their return, swam across again in numbers, armed with large bundles of spears and some nullahs and met them ... The natives at first stood up courageously, but either by accident or through fear, despair or stupidity, they got huddled in a heap, in, and at the margin of the water, when ten carbines poured volley after volley into them from all directions, killing and wounding with every shot with very little return… About thirty being killed.’"

After this fatal encounter, the Jardine brothers continued north, crossing the Coleman and

Edward Edward is an English given name. It is derived from the Anglo-Saxon name ''Ēadweard'', composed of the elements '' ēad'' "wealth, fortune; prosperous" and '' weard'' "guardian, protector”. History The name Edward was very popular in Anglo-Sa ...

rivers and on to Somerset. Gold mining brought further European settlement to Cape York, after William Hann’s expedition found gold on the

Palmer River The Palmer River is a river located in Far North Queensland, Australia. The area surrounding the river was the site of a gold rush in the late 19th century which started in 1873. Course and features The headwaters of the Palmer River rise in ...

in 1872. In 1876, Robert Sefton found gold while prospecting at the

Coen River The Coen River is a river located in the Cape York Peninsula in Queensland, Australia. The headwaters of the river rise at the confluence of Pandanus Creek and an unnamed creek near Bend along the Peninsula Developmental Road in the Great ...

. His return to

Cooktown Cooktown is a coastal town and locality in the Shire of Cook, Queensland, Australia. Cooktown is at the mouth of the Endeavour River, on Cape York Peninsula in Far North Queensland where James Cook beached his ship, the Endeavour, for repairs ...

with 140 ounces in 1878 prompted a subsequent gold rush in Coen. The town of Normanton was established by 1868, and a

Native Police Australian native police units, consisting of Aboriginal troopers under the command (usually) of at least one white officer, existed in various forms in all Australian mainland colonies during the nineteenth and, in some cases, into the twentie ...

detachment was stationed there shortly afterwards. Native Police camps were established at

Highbury Highbury is a district in North London and part of the London Borough of Islington in Greater London that was owned by Ranulf brother of Ilger and included all the areas north and east of Canonbury and Holloway Roads. The manor house was situ ...

in 1885 and in Coen in 1888, which helped European settlement advance further into Cape York. In 1874, the Mitchell River was considered as a potential location for a port to service the

Palmer River Goldfields The Palmer River is a river located in Far North Queensland, Australia. The area surrounding the river was the site of a gold rush in the late 19th century which started in 1873. Course and features The headwaters of the Palmer River rise in ...

. The river was surveyed again in 1886, with a view to establishing a town to service the recently formed pastoral stations. However, neither of these surveys reportedly amounted to anything. In 1896, it was argued that, as the land from Albatross Bay down to the Gilbert River was not needed for European settlement, there was no need to establish a mission in the area. In 1900, the

Church of England The Church of England (C of E) is the established Christian church in England and the mother church of the international Anglican Communion. It traces its history to the Christian church recorded as existing in the Roman province of Britain ...

created the

Diocese of Carpentaria The Anglican Diocese of Carpentaria was an Anglican diocese in northern Australia from 1900 to 1996. It included most of northern Queensland, the islands of the Torres Strait and, until 1968, all of the Northern Territory. The see was based at Q ...

, based on

Thursday Island Thursday Island, colloquially known as TI, or in the Kawrareg dialect, Waiben or Waibene, is an island of the Torres Strait Islands, an archipelago of at least 274 small islands in the Torres Strait. TI is located approximately north of Cape ...

. Securing a grant from the Queensland Government,

Gilbert White Gilbert White FRS (18 July 1720 – 26 June 1793) was a " parson-naturalist", a pioneering English naturalist, ecologist, and ornithologist. He is best known for his ''Natural History and Antiquities of Selborne''. Life White was born on ...

(the first Bishop of the Diocese of Carpentaria), turned to

Ernest Gribble Ernest Richard Bulmer Gribble (23 November 186818 October 1957) was an Australian missionary. Though considered to be temperamentally unsuited to his vocation, he became a strong advocate for better treatment of Australian Aboriginal people, savin ...

for help in establishing a mission at Mitchell River. Gribble had considerable experience running the Yarrabah Mission near

. The land was gazetted as an

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 c ...

on 10 January 1903. In 1905, Gribble, Bishop White and their staff established a permanent mission at Mitchell River. In 1923, the Mitchell River Mission superintendent, Joseph Chapman, began to visit the large, semi-permanent Aboriginal camp at the mouth of the Edward River. In 1924, ''

The Queenslander ''The Queenslander'' was the weekly summary and literary edition of the '' Brisbane Courier'', the leading journal in the colony—and later, federal state—of Queensland since the 1850s. ''The Queenslander'' was launched by the Brisbane New ...

'' reported that:

"On the Edward River 50 miles north of the Mitchell River station, there are about 150 Aboriginals, who have had little association with whites. They live close to the sea, and behind them is a stretch of desert country, so that their habitation is more or less permanent. They have shown a decided tendency in the direction of agriculture, and any seeds given them have been cared for and planted. A Mission station has been started for the care and instruction of these people".

Chapman continued to visit the site during the 1920s, but the establishment of a permanent mission station was stalled because the Diocese of Carpentaria was unable to find the necessary funds. Chapman was keen to extend the missionary influence to the Edward River, to block attempts to have the area thrown open to pastoral selection.P Freier, ''Living With the Munpitch: The history of Mitchell River Mission, 1905-196'' (PhD Thesis, James Cook University, 1999), 202. Anglican missionary, Walter Daniels, attempted to establish a mission station at Coleman River during 1932, but this attempt also failed. In 1939, Joseph Chapman returned to the Edward River to establish a permanent mission station. By the late 1940s, the mission had a population of 301. The mission was largely self-sufficient with palm leaf houses and a farm that grew bananas, palms, sweet potatoes, yams, sugar cane and kitchen vegetables. The Aboriginal residents built fish traps and canoes that were used to supply the mission with fish.Queensland, ''Native Affairs – Information contained in Report of Director of Native Affairs for the Twelve Months ended 30th June, 1947'' (1947) 24. In 1950, cattle were introduced for meat, after 20 square miles of the reserve was fenced. Under the '' Aboriginal Protection and Restriction of the Sale of Opium Act 1897'', which granted the Home Secretary the power "to cause Aboriginals within any district to be removed to and kept within the limits of any reserve situated in the same or any other district"; there were 11 recorded removals from Edward River Mission to Palm Island. In the early days of the mission, the children were sent to Mitchell River Mission School. In 1950, a school was constructed at the Edward River Mission, and Reverend Brown commenced service as the teacher. By 1953, 32 students were enrolled, mostly young children. The older Edward River children continued to go to Mitchell River Mission and, into the 1960s, were still being housed in the Mitchell River dormitories for the purpose of schooling. In January 1952, the mission was hit by a cyclone and every building except the superintendent’s house was either blown down or badly damaged. It took several years for the mission to be completely rebuilt. In 1956, a cattle manager was appointed to establish a herd of mixed breeding cattle. Cattle produced were used for domestic consumption and the surplus sent to Mitchell River to be sold with their cattle. By 1964, cattle-raising was the main industry of the mission, which was run by Aboriginal stockmen supervised by head stockman, Jim Kendall. Mission superintendent, Joseph Chapman, returned to Mitchell River Mission in 1957 and was replaced by Reverend Pidsley, who was subsequently replaced by Gordon Green in 1958. In 1958, the southern part of the Aurukun reserve was added to the Edward River reserve, after an agreement was reached between the

Presbyterian Church Presbyterianism is a part of the Reformed tradition within Protestantism that broke from the Roman Catholic Church in Scotland by John Knox, who was a priest at St. Giles Cathedral (Church of Scotland). Presbyterian churches derive their nam ...

(which ran the Aurukun Mission) and the

Anglican Church Anglicanism is a Western Christian tradition that has developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the context of the Protestant Reformation in Europe. It is one of the ...

(which ran the Edward River Mission).Queensland, Native Affairs – ''Information contained in Report of Director of Native Affairs for the Twelve Months ended 30th June, 1958'' (1958) 1 This effectively doubled the size of the Edward River Reserve from 554,880 acres to 1,152,000 acres. In 1966, the Anglican Church approached the government to take control of the mission. Responsibility for the mission was handed over to the Queensland Government on 1 May 1967. In 1971, a pilot crocodile breeding research project was established in the area. In 1972, a crocodile farm was established with

Australian Government The Australian Government, also known as the Commonwealth Government, is the national government of Australia, a federal parliamentary constitutional monarchy. Like other Westminster-style systems of government, the Australian Government i ...

funding by Applied Ecology Pty Ltd. By 1975, the farm contained 1,012 crocodiles.

Local government

On 30 March 1985, the Edward River community elected 5 councillors to constitute an autonomous Edward River Aboriginal Council established under the ''Community Services (Aborigines) Act 1984''. The Act conferred local government type powers and responsibilities upon Aboriginal councils for the first time. On 23 July 1987 the council area, previously an Aboriginal reserve held by the Queensland Government, was transferred to the trusteeship of the council 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 '' ...

(DOGIT). Also in 1987, the Edward River Mission community changed its name to Pormpuraaw, taken from a local

dreamtime The Dreaming, also referred to as Dreamtime, is a term devised by early anthropologists to refer to a religio-cultural worldview attributed to Australian Aboriginal mythology, Australian Aboriginal beliefs. It was originally used by Francis Ja ...

story in the

Kuuk Thaayorre language Kuuk Thaayorre (Thayore) is a Paman language spoken in the settlement Pormpuraaw on the western part of the Cape York Peninsula, Queensland in Australia by the Thaayorre people. As of 2006, 250 of the 350 ethnic Thaayorre speak the language. It ...

of the Thaayorre people, about a burnt hut or "Pormpur". On 1 January 2005, under the ''Local Government (Community Government Areas) Act 2004'', Pormpuraaw Aboriginal Council became the Pormpuraaw Aboriginal Shire Council. According to the 2006 census, the population of the community was 600, with 536 of them being

Indigenous Indigenous may refer to: *Indigenous peoples *Indigenous (ecology), presence in a region as the result of only natural processes, with no human intervention *Indigenous (band), an American blues-rock band *Indigenous (horse), a Hong Kong racehorse ...

. In the , Pormpuraaw had a population of 749 people, 83% of whom were

Language

Stanford cognitive psychologist, Dr.

Lera Boroditsky Lera Boroditsky (born c.1976) is a cognitive scientist and professor in the fields of language and cognition. She is one of the main contributors to the theory of linguistic relativity. She is a Searle Scholar, a McDonnell Scholar, recipient of ...

, studied the language of the people in Pormpuraaw,

Kuuk Thaayorre Kuuk Thaayorre (Thayore) is a Paman language spoken in the settlement Pormpuraaw on the western part of the Cape York Peninsula, Queensland in Australia by the Thaayorre people. As of 2006, 250 of the 350 ethnic Thaayorre speak the language. It ...

, due to its unique way of using cardinal directions instead of the more common 'left' and 'right' to explain direction. She explores the people's ability to always know where true North lies, as well as the effect of this directional understanding on the language. She discussed her findings on an episode of

NPR National Public Radio (NPR, stylized in all lowercase) is an American privately and state funded nonprofit media organization headquartered in Washington, D.C., with its NPR West headquarters in Culver City, California. It differs from other ...

's ''

Radiolab ''Radiolab'' is a radio program produced by WNYC, a public radio station in New York City, and broadcast on public radio stations in the United States. The show is nationally syndicated and is available as a podcast. Live shows were first offe ...

''. ''Yir Yiront'' (also known as ''Yiront'', ''Jirjoront'', ''Yir-yiron''t, and ''Kokomindjan'') 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 ...

. Its traditional language region is in Western Cape York within the local government areas of

Aboriginal Shire of Kowanyama The Aboriginal Shire of Kowanyama is a special local government area which is located on western Cape York Peninsula in Queensland, Australia. It is managed under a Deed of Grant in Trust under the ''Local Government (Community Government Areas) ...

and

Shire of Cook The Shire of Cook (The Shire) is a local government area in Far North Queensland, Australia. The Shire covers most of the eastern and central parts of Cape York Peninsula, the most northerly section of the Australian mainland. It covers an area ...

, in the catchments of the

Coleman River Coleman River is a U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map, accessed April 26, 2011 stream that is located in the Blue Ridge Mountains, mostly within Rabun County, Georgia. It is one of ...

and Mitchell River. Following the removal of Aboriginal people from their traditional lands, it is also spoken in Pormpuraaw and

Kowanyama Kowanyama is a town and coastal locality in the Aboriginal Shire of Kowanyama, Queensland, Australia. It is the site of the former Mitchell River Mission, founded in 1916, after the nearby Trubanamen Mission (established not far away on Tops ...

Education

There is a State primary school which caters for children from Years 1 to 7 with classes from differing year levels combined. There is one preschool and one day care centre which is operated by an Aboriginal corporation. There is no high school or TAFE in the division.

Utilities

Electricity is supplied by a generator. Electricity is paid up front via the use of power cards which are purchased from the Coffee Shop and Australia Post Post Office. Power is very expensive with an average cost of A$40 to A$45 per week when running air conditioners. Town water is supplied by a bore and pumped into tanks. The water is of reasonable quality and high in minerals which gives it a strong flavour. Both police residences have rain water tanks that are suitable for drinking. Water pressure from both water sources is low.

Sewage Sewage (or domestic sewage, domestic wastewater, municipal wastewater) is a type of wastewater that is produced by a community of people. It is typically transported through a sewer system. Sewage consists of wastewater discharged from residenc ...

is by pumping stations to settling ponds.

Facilities

The Pormpuraaw Aboriginal Shire Council operates the Thaayorre-Munkan Library located at Thaayorre-Munkan Library and Arts and Crafts Gallery, Pormpuraaw Street, Pormpuraaw. There is a

women's refuge A women's shelter, also known as a women's refuge and battered women's shelter, is a place of temporary protection and support for women escaping domestic violence and intimate partner violence of all forms. The term is also frequently used to ...

called Pormpur Paanthu, meaning "women's house",which was established in 1991/1992 after cousins Myrtle Foote and May Ballie lobbied the council, having been taking in female victims of

domestic violence Domestic violence (also known as domestic abuse or family violence) is violence or other abuse that occurs in a domestic setting, such as in a marriage or cohabitation. ''Domestic violence'' is often used as a synonym for ''intimate partner ...

into their homes for some time previously. In October 2020 the two women won the Local Government Association of Queensland's inaugural Alison Woolla Memorial Award. The award was named after Wik woman Alison Woolla, first female mayor of

Aurukun Aurukun is a town and coastal locality in the Shire of Aurukun and the Shire of Cook in Far North Queensland, Australia. It is an Indigenous community. In the , the locality of Aurukun had a population of 1,269 people. Geography Aurukun is ...

Medical

The Far Northern regional Health Authority operates the Pormpuraaw Primary Health Clinic which is open during business hours on Monday to Saturday and after hours for emergencies. There is no doctor or dentist within town. The

Royal Flying Doctor Service The Royal Flying Doctor Service (RFDS), commonly known as the Flying Doctor, is an air medical service in Australia. It is a non-profit organisation that provides emergency and primary health care services for those living in rural, remote an ...

attends once a week and the dentist once every two to three months. The Royal Flying Doctor will also attend for emergencies. The hospital operates with four registered nurses and four locally recruited health workers.

Shopping

There are two shops within the town. One is operated six days a week and owned by Community Enterprise Queensland (CEQ) . The other shop is smaller and operates 5 days a week and is owned by the Anglican Church. Fresh fruit, vegetables and milk come in weekly via truck during the dry and plane during the wet season. Prices are high compared to the cities. There are no clothing stores or hairdressers. Petrol can be purchased from the council workshop during business hours. Prices are very high.

References

Attribution

This Wikipedia article contains material fro
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander community histories: Pormpuraaw
Published by

The State of Queensland The Queensland Government is the democratic administrative authority of the States and territories of Australia, Australian state of Queensland. The Government of Queensland, a parliamentary system, parliamentary constitutional monarchy was form ...

under CC-BY-4.0, accessed on 3 July 2017.

External links

University of Queensland: Queensland Places:Pormpuraaw Aboriginal Shire Council
{{authority control Towns in Queensland Populated places in Far North Queensland Aboriginal communities in Queensland Articles incorporating text from the Queensland Government Aboriginal Shire of Pormpuraaw Localities in Queensland