It is the site of the former Mitchell River Mission, founded in 1916, after the nearby Trubanamen Mission (established not far away on Topsy Creek in 1905) was abandoned.
In the 2021 census, the locality of Kowanyama had a population of 1,079 people.[1]
The community is situated on the banks of the Magnificent Creek, a tributary of the Mitchell River, 20 kilometres (12mi) inland from the coastline of the Gulf of Carpentaria.[citation needed]
Kowanyama is accessed by an all-weather airstrip, as well as unsealed roads in the dry season from Pormpuraaw to the north, Normanton to the south and Cairns to the east.[citation needed]
History
Kunjen (also known as Koko Wanggara, Ngundjan and Olkola) is a language of Western Cape York. The Kunjen language region includes the landscape within the local government boundaries of Kowanyama Community Council and Cook Shire Council.[9]
Photo of Kowanyama near its beginnings, taken June 1919
Kowanyama State School opened in January 1904.[10] Since the beginning of 2014, the school has also started to enrol students in a year 11 and 12 pathways program.[11]
In 1905, Trubanamen Mission was established inland on Topsy Creek, and Aboriginal peoples of the region were gradually drawn from their ancestral lands into the mission settlement. Later, in 1916, Mitchell River Mission was founded on the present site of Kowanyama and the Trubanamen site abandoned. Some people continued to live on their traditional lands, only moving into Kowanyama in the 1940s.[12]
In 1964, a cyclone destroyed the mission. The Queensland government funded the rebuilding.[citation needed]
In 1967 the Anglican church were no longer able to sustain their activities in the area as a Church Mission. The Department of Aboriginal and Islander Affairs, a government department, under the Act continued running the affairs of the community.[citation needed]
In July 1987, the State Government of Queensland implemented legislation for a DOGIT (Deed of Grant in Trust) over the lands in the Mitchell River delta, an area of 250 square kilometres (97sqmi). The deed covered the traditional lands of the people of Kowanyama. Like other DOGIT communities of the time, Kowanyama had a town Council elected by Aboriginal people living in the community. The newly formed Kowanyama Council assumed responsibility for implementing certain conditions of the DOGIT. Seven elected aboriginal residents hold three-year terms in office.[citation needed]
Since the 1990s, many Kowanyama people have been returning to their ancestral lands through the Homelands Movement.
Other homelands, including the Oriners Pastoral Lease and the Sefton Pastoral Lease, were independently purchased by the Kowanyama Council and are located outside the DOGIT boundary.[citation needed]
Demographics
In the 2006 census, the town of Kowanyama had a population of 1,017 people.[14]
In the 2016 census, the locality of Kowanyama had a population of 944 people.[15]
In the 2021 census, the locality of Kowanyama had a population of 1,079 people.[1]
Culture
Kowanyama is one of the largest communities on the Cape York Peninsula. Kowanyama's Aboriginal people continue to identify strongly with their ancestral countries and with the languages, stories, songs, dances, and histories associated with those countries. Language groups associated with countries in the Kowanyama region are Yir Yoront, Yirrk Thangalkl, Koko Bera, Uw Oykangand, and Olkola.[citation needed]
Secondary education to Year 12 is not available in Kowanyama nor nearby.[4]Distance education and boarding schools are the options.
Alcohol restrictions
Kowanyama community is subject to strict alcohol restrictions enforced by police prohibiting individuals holding any alcohol, and prohibiting any vehicles carrying alcohol anywhere within the community.[19]
Kowanyama Aboriginal Shire Council originally held a liquor licence allowing light beer to be consumed on the premises of the Kowanyama Canteen at specified times, but this was suspended by Queensland's Liquor Licensing Commission and Queensland Treasurer, Andrew Fraser, in February 2008.[20]
The decision to suspend Kowanyama Aboriginal Shire Council's liquor licence is claimed to have resulted in the Council losing a business valued at $1.6 million, plus up to $120,000 in stock.[21] As a consequence, on 30 October 2008, the Council went to Queensland's Supreme Court to challenge the liquor licensing decisions as racially discriminatory.[22]
Kowanyama has a tropical savannah climate (Köppen: Aw), with a short, intense wet season between December and March and a lengthy dry season from April to November with lower humidity and cooler nights. Although the average maxima exceeds 30.0°C (86.0°F) in all months, average minima significantly vary: from 15.7°C (60.3°F) in July to 24.5°C (76.1°F) in December. While rainfall averages 1,274.2mm (50.17in) annually, it is strongly concentrated in summer, exemplified by February 2014, when 1,470.6mm (57.90in) of rain fell. Extreme temperatures have ranged from 41.9°C (107.4°F) on 3 December 2019 to 4.5°C (40.1°F) on 3 August 1990.[24]
Climate data for Kowanyama (15º28'48"S, 141º45'00"E, 10 m AMSL) (1965-2024 normals and extremes, rainfall 1912-2024)
Kowanyama is serviced weekly in the dry season by road trains from Cairns. The service becomes more frequent as the wet season approaches.[citation needed]
Early storms in October can make the 400-kilometre (250mi) dirt road to Chillagoe east of the community subject to flooding. By late December the storms of the monsoons have usually arrived, isolating the community by road.[citation needed]
The monsoons are regarded as the arrival of nhawrr yirrpa, the Rainbow Snake who brings the life giving water to the land. During the wet season, which may last until May, the community is serviced only by aircraft, as all other access is restricted. During the wet season, fresh foods and perishables are flown into the community each week on charter planes by stores in town. Airline passenger services to Cairns, 600 kilometres (370mi) away is maintained throughout the year through Kowanyama Airport (15°29′07″S141°45′09″E / 15.4854°S 141.7526°E / -15.4854; 141.7526 (Kowanyama Airport)).[26]
Cape York Peninsula is a peninsula located in Far North Queensland, Australia. It is the largest wilderness in northern Australia. The land is mostly flat and about half of the area is used for grazing cattle. The relatively undisturbed eucalyptus-wooded savannahs, tropical rainforests and other types of habitat are now recognised and preserved for their global environmental significance. Although much of the peninsula remains pristine, with a diverse repertoire of endemic flora and fauna, some of its wildlife may be threatened by industry and overgrazing as well as introduced species and weeds.
Weipa is a coastal mining town in the local government area of Weipa Town in Queensland. It is one of the largest towns on the Cape York Peninsula. It exists because of the enormous bauxite deposits along the coast. The Port of Weipa is mainly involved in exports of bauxite. There are also shipments of live cattle from the port.
The Mitchell River is a river in Far North Queensland, Australia. The river rises on the Atherton Tableland about 50 kilometres (31 mi) northwest of Cairns and flows about 750 kilometres (470 mi) northwest across Cape York Peninsula from Mareeba to the Gulf of Carpentaria.
Hope Vale is a town within the Aboriginal Shire of Hope Vale and a coastal locality split between the Aboriginal Shire of Hope Vale and the Shire of Cook, both in Queensland, Australia. It is an Aboriginal community. In the 2021 census, the locality of Hope Vale had a population of 1,004 people.
Far North Queensland (FNQ) is the northernmost part of the Australian state of Queensland. Its largest city is Cairns and it is dominated geographically by Cape York Peninsula, which stretches north to the Torres Strait, and west to the Gulf Country. The waters of Torres Strait include the only international border in the area contiguous with the Australian mainland, between Australia and Papua New Guinea.
Lockhart River is a town in the Aboriginal Shire of Lockhart River and a coastal locality split between the Aboriginal Shire of Lockhart River and the Shire of Cook, on the Cape York Peninsula in Queensland, Australia. The town is an Aboriginal community. From 1924 to 1967, the Lockhart River Mission was run by the Anglican Church. In the 2021 census, the locality of Lockhart River had a population of 640 people.
Woorabinda is a rural town and locality in the Aboriginal Shire of Woorabinda, Queensland, Australia. It is an Aboriginal community. In the 2021 census, the locality of Woorabinda had a population of 1,019 people with 91.6% identifying as Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander.
Pormpuraaw is a coastal town and a locality in the Aboriginal Shire of Pormpuraaw, Queensland, Australia. Pormpuraaw is an Aboriginal community situated on the west coast of Cape York Peninsula approximately halfway between Karumba and Weipa on the Edward River. It is 650 kilometres (400 mi) by road from Cairns. Pormpuraaw currently has a 4-man police station.
Mapoon is a coastal town in the Aboriginal Shire of Mapoon and a locality split between the Aboriginal Shire of Mapoon and the Shire of Cook in Queensland, Australia. In the 2021 census, the locality of Mapoon had a population of 469 people.
New Mapoon is a town in the Northern Peninsula Area Region and coastal locality split between the Northern Peninsula Region and Shire of Torres, Queensland, Australia. In the 2021 census, the locality of New Mapoon had a population of 412 people.
The Shire of Carpentaria is a local government area in Far North Queensland, Australia on the Gulf of Carpentaria, for which it is named.
The Shire of Cook is a local government area in Far North Queensland, Australia. The Shire covers most of the eastern and central parts of Cape York Peninsula, the most northerly section of the Australian mainland.
The Aboriginal Shire of Doomadgee is a special local government area in North West Queensland, Queensland, Australia. It is managed under a Deed of Grant in Trust under the Local Government Act 2004.
The Aboriginal Shire of Kowanyama is a special local government area which is located on western Cape York Peninsula in Queensland, Australia. It is managed under a Deed of Grant in Trust under the Local Government Act 2004.
The Aboriginal Shire of Pormpuraaw is a special local government area which is located on western Cape York Peninsula in Queensland, Australia. It is managed under a Deed of Grant in Trust under the Local Government Act 2004.
The Yir-Yoront, also known as the Yir Yiront, are an Indigenous Australian people of the Cape York Peninsula now living mostly in Kowanyama but also in Lirrqar/Pormpuraaw, both towns outside their traditional lands.
The Uw Oykangand, otherwise known as the Kwantari, are an Aboriginal Australian people living on the southwestern part of the Cape York Peninsula, in the state of Queensland in Australia. Their neighbours to the northwest are the Yir-Yoront people. Their traditional lands are around the Alice River and the Crosbie River, and further west around the Mitchell River and into Gulf Country.
The Aboriginal Shire of Hope Vale is a local government area in Far North Queensland, Queensland, Australia, north of the town of Cooktown. The majority of the Shire consists of Deed of Grant land that is held for the benefit of Aboriginal people particularly concerned with the land and their ancestors and descendants.
The Coleman River is a river on the Cape York Peninsula in Far North Queensland, Australia.
The Ajabakan were an indigenous Australian people of the Cape York Peninsula of Queensland.
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