In 1944, Australian soldier Morry Isenberg found nine coins buried in the sand one day while fishing when he was stationed on Marchinbar Island. In 1979 he sent these coins to be authenticated. Four of the coins were found to have come from the Dutch East India Company, while the other five were determined to be from the Kilwa Sultanate in Tanzania. Their re-examination has given rise to much speculation about how these medieval African coins came to Australia.[2] Another coin, believed to be from Kilwa, turned up on Elcho Island where it was found by Past Masters amateur archaeologist Mike Hermes in 2018.[3]
European discovery and naming
The islands were mapped and named by a Dutch expedition that sailed from Banda Neira to explore the coasts of New Guinea and the South Land following up on discoveries made in 1623 by Jan Carstensz and Willem van Colster (who named Arnhem Land after his ship Arnhem).[4][5] The expedition used two small yachts that had been prefabricated in the Netherlands and were assembled on the Banda Islands, the Cleen Amsterdam and the Wesel.[6]
The ships sailed on 17 April 1636 under the command of Gerrit Thomas Pool, who was killed on New Guinea just 11days later. The merchant Pieter Pieterszoon took over command and continued the voyage, returning to Banda. Besides the Wesel Eilanden, named after the ship, Pietersen described the Cobourg Peninsula, Melville Island (Roode hoek), and Dundas Strait (which he misidentified as a bay).[7] 170 years later Matthew Flinders decided to retain the name of the islands, though he slightly modified it to Wessel.[8] The cities of Arnhem and Wesel, ultimate sources of the names of Arnhem Land and Wessel Islands, are themselves only 60km (37miles) separated.
During World War II, a string of observational outposts were set up along the Wessel Islands. A minesweeper, the Patricia Cam, was sunk by a Japanese float plane on 22 January 1943. A Yolngu account of the incident, and attempts to save the survivors was taken down from one of the latter, Narritjin Maymuru.[11]
Most of its bays are unnamed, with only three bearing names, including Picture Bay.[10]
Easterly trade winds and swells hit the east coast through much of the year, but in the summer, westerly winds are prevalent, and the eastern side is calm, but subject to heavy rainfall, creating many waterfalls.[10]
Transport
Locals visit the islands by boat. Tourists can get to Gove Airport from Cairns using Airnorth, and take tours from there.[10]
Population
There are no permanent settlements on the islands.[14][10]
Ecology
Protection
Wessel is the name of the IBRA subregion based on the Islands area, as well as the Commonwealth marine reserve.[15]
Researchers from the Charles Darwin University reported in early 2022 that the problem of plastic waste landing up on the islands was a worsening problem. Many types of plastics, including fishing gear, ghost nets, plastic bottles, cartons, and styrofoam has increasingly littered the shores since the first survey in 2011, and is probably the worst in Northern Australia. The Gumurr Marthakal Rangers have managed the area since 2016, and are concerned at the waste, but need assistance and ongoing funding to get it cleaned up as the problem is so extensive.[14]
The maritime European exploration of Australia consisted of several waves of European seafarers who sailed the edges of the Australian continent. Dutch navigators were the first Europeans known to have explored and mapped the Australian coastline. The first documented encounter was that of Dutch navigator Willem Janszoon, in 1606. Dutch seafarers also visited the west and north coasts of the continent, as did French explorers.
Arnhem Land is a historical region of the Northern Territory of Australia, with the term still in use. It is located in the north-eastern corner of the territory and is around 500 km (310 mi) from the territory capital, Darwin. In 1623, Dutch East India Company captain Willem Joosten van Colster sailed into the Gulf of Carpentaria and Cape Arnhem is named after his ship, the Arnhem, which itself was named after the city of Arnhem in the Netherlands.
Djalu Gurruwiwi, also written Djalu, was a Yolngu man from Arnhem Land in northern Australia, known worldwide for his skill as a player, maker and spiritual keeper of the yiḏaki (didgeridoo). He was also a respected artist, with works in several galleries.
The Yolngu or Yolŋu are an aggregation of Aboriginal Australian people inhabiting north-eastern Arnhem Land in the Northern Territory of Australia. Yolngu means "person" in the Yolŋu languages. The terms Murngin, Wulamba, Yalnumata, Murrgin and Yulangor were formerly used by some anthropologists for the Yolngu.
The Gove Peninsula is at the northeastern corner of Arnhem Land in the Northern Territory of Australia. The peninsula became strategically important during World War II when a Royal Australian Air Force base was constructed at what is now Gove Airport. The peninsula was involved in a famous court case known as the Gove land rights case, when local Yolngu people tried to claim native title over their traditional lands in 1971, after the Australian Government had granted a mineral lease to a bauxite mining company without consulting the local peoples. Today the land is owned by the Yolngu people.
Makassar people from the region of Sulawesi in Indonesia began visiting the coast of northern Australia sometime around the middle of the 18th century, first in the Kimberley region, and some decades later in Arnhem Land. They were men who collected and processed trepang, a marine invertebrate prized for its culinary value generally and for its supposed medicinal properties in Chinese markets. The term Makassan is generally used to apply to all the trepangers who came to Australia.
HMAS Patricia Cam was an auxiliary vessel operated by the Royal Australian Navy during World War II. She was sunk by a Japanese aircraft in 1943.
Elcho Island, known to its traditional owners as Galiwin'ku (Galiwinku) is an island off the coast of Arnhem Land, in the Northern Territory of Australia. It is located at the southern end of the Wessel Islands group located in the East Arnhem Region. Galiwin'ku is also the name of the settlement where the island's largest community lives. Elcho Island formed part of the traditional lands of the Yan-nhaŋu, according to Norman Tindale. According to J. C. Jennison, the Aboriginal inhabitants were the Dhuwal, who called themselves the Kokalango Mala (mala=clan.)
Milingimbi Island, also Yurruwi, is the largest island of the Crocodile Islands group off the coast of Arnhem Land, Northern Territory, Australia.
Marchinbar Island is the largest island in the Wessel Islands in the Northern Territory of Australia in the Arafura Sea.
The golden bandicoot is a short-nosed bandicoot found in northern Australia. It is the smallest of its genus.
Barnumbirr, also known as Banumbirr or Morning Star, is a creator-spirit in the Yolngu culture of Arnhem Land in the Northern Territory of Australia, who is identified as the planet Venus. In Yolngu Dreaming mythology, she is believed to have guided the first humans, the Djanggawul sisters, to Australia. After the Djanggawul sisters arrived safely near Yirrkala in North East Arnhem Land, Barnumbirr flew across the land from east to west, creating a songline which named and created the animals, plants, and geographical features.
Baijini are a mythical people mentioned in the Djanggawul song cycle of the Yolngu people, an Aboriginal Australian people of Arnhem Land in the Northern Territory. Many speculations have arisen that try to link these mythical culture-bearers with historical immigrants from either China directly or Southern Asia.
The Burarra people, also referred to as the Gidjingali, are an Aboriginal Australian people in and around Maningrida, in the heart of Arnhem Land in the Northern Territory. Opinions have differed as to whether the two names represent different tribal realities, with the Gidjingali treated as the same as, or as a subgroup of the Burarra, or as an independent tribal grouping. For the purposes of this encyclopedia, the two are registered differently, though the ethnographic materials on both may overlap with each other.
Cyclone Lam was the strongest storm to strike Australia's Northern Territory since Cyclone Monica in 2006. It formed from the monsoon trough on February 12 in the Coral Sea. For much of its duration, the system moved westward due to a ridge to the south. The system crossed over the Cape York Peninsula and moved into the Gulf of Carpentaria, whereupon it gradually organized due to warm waters and favorable outflow. On February 16, the Bureau of Meteorology (BoM) classified it as a Category 1 on the Australian tropical cyclone intensity scale and gave it the name Lam. The storm intensified further while drifting toward the Wessel Islands, developing an eye and strengthening to the equivalence of a minimal hurricane on February 18. It strengthened to reach maximum sustained winds of 185 km/h (115 mph) early on February 19 before turning to the southwest, making it a Category 4 cyclone. That day, it made landfall on Northern Territory between Milingimbi and Elcho Island at peak intensity, and it rapidly weakened over land. About six hours after Lam moved ashore, Cyclone Marcia struck Queensland as a Category 5 cyclone, marking the first time on record that two storms of Category 4 intensity struck Australia on the same day.
The Walmbaria are an indigenous Australian people of Cape York Peninsula in northern Queensland.
The Yan-nhaŋu, also known as the Nango, are an indigenous Australian people of the Northern Territory. They have strong sociocultural connections with their neighbours, the Burarra, on the Australian mainland.
The Djaŋu, otherwise written as Djangu and Django, are an Aboriginal Australian people of the area of Arnhem Land in Australia's Northern Territory. Their society is divided into two clans, the Waramiri and Man:atja.
The Dhuwal are an indigenous Australian people of Arnhem Land in the Northern Territory
Gali Yalkarriwuy Gurruwiwi (1942–2020) was an internationally acclaimed Aboriginal Australian artist from Elcho Island (Galiwin'ku), an island off the coast of Northeast Arnhem Land. Gali was a Yolngu Mala leader and Gälpu clan representative, a clan group of the Dhuwa moiety, as well as a prominent member of the Galiwin'ku Uniting Church. He was best known for his Morning Star poles which have been featured in international exhibitions in London and the United States and for his unique melding of traditional Yolngu beliefs and Christian theology.
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