Tiwi Islands

Bathurst and Melville Islands lie about eighty kilometres north of Darwin, and the Tiwi people who live there have a culture distinct from mainland Aboriginal groups, developed over a long period of relative separation. Tiwi art is internationally collected: ochre painting with combs, carved ironwood birds, and the pukumani burial poles, tall carved posts set around graves for mortuary ceremonies. Art centres at Wurrumiyanga, Milikapiti and Pirlangimpi sell directly. The islands are also devoted to Australian rules football, and the Tiwi Islands Grand Final in March draws thousands of visitors for a single day. Independent visits need permits; most people come on organised day tours.

History

The Tiwi have lived on the islands for at least 40,000 years and are believed to have had contact with Macassan traders, and the first recorded European landing was by Dutch ships under Maarten van Delft, the Nieuw Holland, the Waijer and the Vosschenbosch, which entered Shark Bay on Melville Island on 30 April 1705 and stayed a few months until skirmishes with the islanders drove them off. In September 1824 Captain Gordon Bremer set up Fort Dundas on Melville Island, near present-day Pirlangimpi, the first British settlement in northern Australia, garrisoned by fifty Royal Marines; the Tiwi resisted it, several marines died of malaria, and it was abandoned in 1828 (Wikipedia, Tiwi Islands).

What you'll find

• The art centres - ochre painting, carving and printed textiles sold directly.
• The pukumani poles - carved burial posts in ceremonial grounds.
• The football grand final - the March event that fills the islands.
• The island country - beaches, rainforest patches and wetlands.

When to go

May to October for the dry season; the March grand final is the biggest single event and requires booked transport. The wet season brings heavy rain and reduced services. Ferries and flights are limited and should be booked.

Practical notes

Permits are required for independent travel and are not always granted; most visitors come on day tours, which are structured and short. Alcohol restrictions apply. Photography of people and ceremonial sites requires permission.

Nearby

Darwin is the departure point by ferry or air.

Key facts