Wurrumiyanga (), formerly Nguiu (, ), is a community on the southern coast of Bathurst Island,

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 ...

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 ...

. With about 1,600 residents, it is the largest community on the island. There are regular ferries and flights between Wurrumiyanga and Darwin, as well as a ferry that connects Wurrumiyanga with nearby Melville Island. The

Tiwi Islands Football League The Tiwi Islands Football League (founded as the Nguilla Football League in 1968 and renamed in 1990) is an Australian rules football competition in the Tiwi Islands, Northern Territory, Australia. Australian Rules football is the most popular ...

, an

Australian rules football Australian football, also called Australian rules football or Aussie rules, or more simply football or footy, is a contact sport played between two teams of 18 players on an Australian rules football playing field, oval field, often a modified ...

competition, hosts most of its games in Wurrumiyanga.

History

Nguiu was founded in 1911 as a

Catholic mission Missionary work of the Catholic Church has often been undertaken outside the geographically defined parishes and dioceses by religious orders who have people and material resources to spare, and some of which specialized in missions. Eventually, p ...

Francis Xavier Gsell Francis Xavier Gsell, Order of the British Empire, OBE (30 June 1872 – 12 July 1960) was a German-born Australian Roman Catholic bishop and missionary, known as the "Bishop with 150 wives". He was born at Benfeld, Alsace in 1872. He was ordain ...

. The community's only post office was opened on 3 June 1974. In 2010, Nguiu was renamed Wurrumiyanga, meaning "the place where the cycads grow", upon the request of the

Tiwi Land Council The Tiwi Land Council is a land council in the Northern Territory of Australia established in 1978 to represent Aboriginal Australians living on the Tiwi Islands. It is one of four land councils in the Northern Territory. It was established fo ...

Demographics

The 2016 census recorded a population of 1,563 residents in Wurrumiyanga.

Culture

Wurrumiyanga is the home of Tiwi Designs, an art corporation involving some 100 indigenous artists and which produces fabric, carvings, ceramics, prints, and paintings. Its goal is to promote, preserve, and enrich Tiwi culture.

Education

There are two schools in the town, both founded by Gsell's Catholic mission: Murrupurtiyanuwu Catholic Primary School in 1912, and Xavier Catholic College in 1932. Xavier Catholic College began as a

boys' school Single-sex education, also known as single-gender education, same-sex education, same-gender education, and gender-isolated education, is the practice of conducting education with male and female students attending separate classes, perhaps in se ...

but has since become a coeducational school for students in years 7 to 13.

Sports

The

, an

competition, hosts most of its matches, including the finals, in Wurrumiyanga.

Transportation

Wurrumiyanga can be reached from Darwin on the Australian mainland by ferry or plane. There are daily flights between the two, and the ferry operates four days a week, on Sunday, Monday, Thursday, and Friday. An inter-island ferry also connects the community with the adjacent Melville Island.

References

{{Authority control Towns in the Northern Territory Tiwi Islands Aboriginal communities in the Northern Territory Catholic Church in the Northern Territory Australian Aboriginal missions