Eclipse Island, or Garoogubbee, once known as Punishment Island, is one of the small

island An island (or isle) is an isolated piece of habitat that is surrounded by a dramatically different habitat, such as water. Very small islands such as emergent land features on atolls can be called islets, skerries, cays or keys. An island ...

s in the Palm Islands group off the coast of

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. The nearest island is

Great Palm Island Great Palm Island, usually known as Palm Island, is the largest island in the Palm Islands group off Northern Queensland, Australia. It is known for its Aboriginal community, the legacy of an Aboriginal reserve, the Palm Island Aboriginal Sett ...

, after which the group is named. Along with nine of the other islands within the Palm Islands group, it falls under the local government area of the

Aboriginal Shire of Palm Island The Aboriginal Shire of Palm Island is a special local government area of Queensland, Australia, managed by the Palm Island Aboriginal Shire Council under a Deed of Grant in Trust granted to the community on 27 October 1986. The local council wa ...

. In March 1921 Eclipse Island 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 ...

, some years after a government-run reserve, the Palm Island Aboriginal Settlement, had been established on Great Palm Island. Some of the other small Palm Islands were later also designated as reserves in 1948 under Chief Protector

John William Bleakley John is a common English name and surname: * John (given name) * John (surname) John may also refer to: New Testament Works * Gospel of John, a title often shortened to John * First Epistle of John, often shortened to 1 John * Second ...

, who targeted them as sites for further institutions for punishing people. There is no record of dwellings or other structures being built on these islands, but Eclipse Island had become known as "Punishment Island" under Superintended Robert Henry Curry (who later murdered four people on the Great Palm Aboriginal Settlement). Curry, as punishment for misdemeanours such as speaking their own language or gambling, would exile men to Eclipse Island, and sometimes

Curacoa Island Curacoa Island (pron. KEWR-ə-sow) is one of the islands in the Palm Islands group off the coast of Queensland, Australia. The nearest island is Great Palm Island, after which the group is named. Curacoa Island is uninhabited. The Aborigina ...

, with only bread and water, sometimes for weeks at a time. The Aboriginal term for this island is Garoogubbee.

References

{{Great Palm Island group Great Palm Island group Uninhabited islands of Australia

See also

References