The Dampier Archipelago is a group of 42 islands near the town of Dampier in Pilbara, Western Australia.
The archipelago is also made up of reefs, shoals, channels and straits and is the traditional home of five Aboriginal language groups. It was formed 7000 years ago when rising sea levels flooded what were once coastal plains. The underlying rocks are among the oldest on Earth, formed in the Archaean period more than 2400 million years ago.
It is named after William Dampier, an English buccaneer and explorer who visited in 1699. Dampier named one of the islands Rosemary Island.
Despite being a region through which considerable shipping and industrial activity occurs, the archipelago has considerable marine resources. [1]
Dampier Archipelago is the site of some of Australia's oldest domestic structures, estimated to be between 8000 and 9000 years old. [2]
The largest island (or peninsula) in the group was known as Murujuga by the Yaburara people. [3] The first British settlers renamed it Dampier Island and it was later officially renamed Burrup Peninsula.
The Yinidbarndi, Yaburara, Mardudhunera, and Woon-goo-tt-oo peoples have lived in the area for approximately 50,000 years. [4] In 1868, the area was the site of the Flying Foam massacre, in which between 20 and 150 members of the Yaburara are reported to have been killed.
New Britain is the largest island in the Bismarck Archipelago, part of the Islands Region of Papua New Guinea. It is separated from New Guinea by a northwest corner of the Solomon Sea and from New Ireland by St. George's Channel. The main towns of New Britain are Rabaul/Kokopo and Kimbe. The island is roughly the size of Taiwan. When the island was part of German New Guinea, its name was Neupommern . In common with most of the Bismarcks it was largely formed by volcanic processes, and has active volcanoes including Ulawun, Langila, the Garbuna Group, the Sulu Range, and the volcanoes Tavurvur and Vulcan of the Rabaul caldera. A major eruption of Tavurvur in 1994 destroyed the East New Britain provincial capital of Rabaul. Most of the town still lies under metres of ash, and the capital has been moved to nearby Kokopo.
Dampier is a major industrial port in the Pilbara region in the northwest of Western Australia. It is located near the city of Karratha and Port Walcott.
Shark Bay is a World Heritage Site in the Gascoyne region of Western Australia. The 23,000-square-kilometre (8,900 sq mi) area is located approximately 800 kilometres (500 mi) north of Perth, on the westernmost point of the Australian continent. UNESCO's official listing of Shark Bay as a World Heritage Site reads:
The Pilbara is a large, dry, thinly populated region in the north of Western Australia. It is known for its Aboriginal peoples; its ancient landscapes; the red earth; and its vast mineral deposits, in particular iron ore. It is also a global biodiversity hotspot for subterranean fauna.
Yampi Sound is a part of the Indian Ocean off the coast of north-western Australia, in the Kimberley region of Western Australia. It is located between King Sound and Collier Bay. It lies between the Yampi Peninsula and the islands of the Buccaneer Archipelago, which contain important iron ore deposits.
The Buccaneer Archipelago is a group of islands off the coast of Western Australia near the town of Derby in the Kimberley region. The closest inhabited place is Bardi located about 54 kilometres (34 mi) from the western end of the island group.
Cape Leveque is at the northernmost tip of the Dampier Peninsula in the Kimberley region of Western Australia. Cape Leveque is 240 kilometres (150 mi) north of Broome, and is remote with few facilities. Nevertheless, the Cape's sandy beaches are attracting an increasing number of visitors.
Murujuga, formerly known as Dampier Island and today usually known as the Burrup Peninsula, is an area in the Dampier Archipelago, in the Pilbara region of Western Australia, containing the town of Dampier. The Dampier Rock Art Precinct, which covers the entire archipelago, is the subject of ongoing political debate due to historical and proposed industrial development. Over 40% of Murujuga lies within Murujuga National Park, which contains within it the world's largest collection of ancient 40,000 year old rock art (petroglyphs).
King Sound is a large gulf in northern Western Australia. It expands from the mouth of the Fitzroy River, one of Australia's largest watercourses, and opens to the Indian Ocean. It is about 120 kilometres (75 mi) long, and averages about 50 kilometres (31 mi) in width. The port town of Derby lies near the mouth of the Fitzroy River on the eastern shore of King Sound. King Sound has the highest tides in Australia, and amongst the highest in the world, reaching a maximum tidal range of 11.8 metres (39 ft) at Derby. The tidal range and water dynamic were researched in 1997–1998.
The Flying Foam Massacre was a massacre of Aboriginal people around Flying Foam Passage on Murujuga in Western Australia by colonial settlers. Comprising a series of atrocities between February and May 1868, the massacre was in retaliation to the killing of a police officer, a police assistant, and a local workman. Collectively the atrocities resulted in the deaths of an unknown number of Jaburara people, but with estimates ranging from 15 to 150 dead men, women and children.
The Archer River is a river located on the Cape York Peninsula, Far North Queensland, Australia.
The Fortescue River is an ephemeral river in the Pilbara region of Western Australia. It is the third longest river in the state.
New Guinea is the world's second-largest island, with an area of 785,753 km2 (303,381 sq mi). Located in Melanesia in the southwestern Pacific Ocean, the island is separated from Australia by the 150-kilometre wide Torres Strait, though both landmasses lie on the same continental shelf, and were united during episodes of low sea level in the Pleistocene glaciations as the combined landmass of Sahul. Numerous smaller islands are located to the west and east. The island's name was given by Spanish explorer Yñigo Ortiz de Retez during his maritime expedition of 1545 due to the resemblance of the indigenous peoples of the island to those in the African region of Guinea.
The Maitland River is a river in the Pilbara region of Western Australia.
Dolphin Island is an island situated in the Dampier Archipelago in the Pilbara region of Western Australia. Visitors are able to camp within 100 metres (328 ft) of the high water mark on all of the beaches on the island except for the south eastern side.
Kaurareg is the name for one of the Indigenous Australian groups collectively known as Torres Strait Islander peoples, although many or most identify as Aboriginal Australians. They are the traditional owners of Thursday Island (Waiben) as well as a number of Torres Strait Islands.
The Pilbara Coast is the coastline of Western Australia's Pilbara region. It is often referred to as the North West Coast of Western Australia.
The Bardi people, also spelt Baada or Baardi and other variations, are an Aboriginal Australian people, living north of Broome and inhabiting parts of the Dampier Peninsula in the Kimberley region of Western Australia. They are ethnically close to the Jawi people, and several organisations refer to the Bardi Jawi grouping, such as the Bardi Jawi Niimidiman Aboriginal Corporation Registered Native Title Body (RNTBC) and the Bardi Jawi Rangers.
The Yawijibaya, also written Jaudjibaia, are an Aboriginal Australian people of the Kimberley region of northern Western Australia. Along with the Unggarranggu people, they are the traditional owners of the Buccaneer Archipelago, off Derby, together known as the Mayala group for native title purposes. Yawijibaya country includes Yawajaba Island and the surrounding Montgomery Reef.