The Aboriginal Shire of Doomadgee is a special

local government area A local government area (LGA) is an administrative division of a country that a local government is responsible for. The size of an LGA varies by country but it is generally a subdivision of a State (administrative division), state, province, divi ...

in North West Queensland,

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 , establishe ...

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands. With an area of , Australia is the largest country by ...

. It is managed 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 '' ...

under the ''Local Government (Community Government Areas) Act 2004''.

Geography

The shire is located within the

Gulf Country The Gulf Country is the region of woodland and savanna grassland surrounding the Gulf of Carpentaria in north western Queensland and eastern Northern Territory on the north coast of Australia. The region is also called the Gulf Savannah. It ...

to the south of the

Gulf of Carpentaria The Gulf of Carpentaria (, ) is a large, shallow sea enclosed on three sides by northern Australia and bounded on the north by the eastern Arafura Sea (the body of water that lies between Australia and New Guinea). The northern boundary i ...

. It consists of two disconnected areas of land: the locality of Doomadgee which is inland and the locality of

Gangalidda The Yukulta people, also spelt Jokula, Jukula, and other variants, and also known as Ganggalidda or Gangalidda, are an Aboriginal Australian people of the state of Queensland. They may be the same as the Yanga group. Country Norman Tindale ...

on the coast of the gulf. The shire was excised from the

Shire of Burke The Shire of Burke is a local government area in North West Queensland, Australia. The shire lies on the south coast of the Gulf of Carpentaria and abuts the border with the Northern Territory. It covers an area of , and has existed as a local ...

and is surrounded by the Shire of Burke.

History

The name Doomadgee derives from Dumaji, a coastal

sand dune A dune is a landform composed of wind- or water-driven sand. It typically takes the form of a mound, ridge, or hill. An area with dunes is called a dune system or a dune complex. A large dune complex is called a dune field, while broad, f ...

in the traditional land of the Yukulta / Ganggalidda people.

Waanyi The Waanyi people, also spelt Wanyi, Wanji, or Waanji, are an Aboriginal Australian people from south of the Gulf of Carpentaria in Queensland and the Northern Territory. Language The Waanyi language, although earlier thought to be extinct, wa ...

(also known as ''Wanyi'', ''Wanyee'', ''Wanee'', ''Waangyee'', ''Wonyee'', ''Garawa'', and ''Wanji)'' 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 ...

of the Gulf Country. The language region includes the western parts of Lawn Hill Creek and Nicholson River, from about the boundary between the

Northern Territory The Northern Territory (commonly abbreviated as NT; formally the Northern Territory of Australia) is an Australian territory in the central and central northern regions of Australia. The Northern Territory shares its borders with Western Aust ...

and Queensland, westwards towards Alexandria station, Doomadgee, and Nicholson River. It includes the local government area of the Aboriginal Shire of Doomadgee. The Yukulta (also known as Ganggalida) language region is also of the Gulf Country, including the local government areas of the Aboriginal Shire of Doomadgee and Shire of Mornington. "Old Doomadgee Mission" was established in 1933 by the Akehursts, a Christian Brethren family, supported by the church and Queensland's

Chief Protector of Aboriginals The role of Protector of Aborigines was first established in South Australia in 1836. The role became established in other parts of Australia pursuant to a recommendation contained in the ''Report of the Parliamentary Select Committee on Abori ...

, to house primarily Gangalidda people who had ended up living on the fringes of the

Burketown Burketown is an isolated outback town and coastal locality in the Shire of Burke, Queensland, Australia. In the , the locality of Burketown had a population of 238 people. It is located west of Cairns and west of Normanton on the Albert R ...

township. It was located at Dumaji at Bayley Point Aboriginal reserve, on Gangalidda land. After a cyclone in 1936 destroyed the settlement, and the decision was made to move the settlement to Nicholson River, where the later

Doomadgee Mission Doomadgee is a town and a locality in the Aboriginal Shire of Doomadgee, Queensland, Australia. It is a mostly Indigenous community, situated about from the Northern Territory border, and west of Burketown. The settlement began with the e ...

was established at "new Doomadgee". Doomadgee's population increased greatly during the 1950s-1960s, and facilities including a store, bank, post office,

rodeo Rodeo () is a competitive equestrian sport that arose out of the working practices of cattle herding in Spain and Mexico, expanding throughout the Americas and to other nations. It was originally based on the skills required of the working vaq ...

ground and a bakery were established. From a population of 138 in 1938, it had grown to 1257 by 2011. On 30 March 1985, the Doomadgee community elected five councillors to constitute an autonomous Doomadgee Aboriginal Council, and on 21 May 1987, under the ''Community Services (Aborigines) Act 1984'' the

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 ...

was transferred from the

Queensland Government The Queensland Government is the democratic administrative authority of the Australian state of Queensland. The Government of Queensland, a parliamentary constitutional monarchy was formed in 1859 as prescribed in its Constitution, as amended f ...

to the trusteeship of the Doomadgee Aboriginal Council, under a

(DOGIT). The area included the sites of both the former and current mission. On 1 January 2005, the Doomadgee Aboriginal Council became the Doomadgee Aboriginal Shire Council. In 2010 the Doomadgee Aboriginal Shire Council was established under the ''Local Government Act 2009''.

People

The majority of residents are Gangalidda or Waanyi people, but smaller populations of Gadawa, Lardil, Mingginda and Garawa are also resident within Doomadgee.

Mayors

* 2008-2016: Frederick O'Keefe * 2016-2020: Edric Walden *2020–present: Jason Grant Ned

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Doomadgee Shire Local government areas of Queensland Aboriginal communities in Queensland North West Queensland 1987 establishments in Australia

Geography

History

People

Mayors

See also

References