Our Community

 

Warruwi is a small and mostly Indigenous community located on Mardbalk Island (South Goulburn Island) in West Arnhem Land.  It is located between the coastal communities of Minjilang (Croker Island) and Maningrida, and is around 280km north-east of Darwin.  Our island is Aboriginal freehold land under the Northern Territory Aboriginal Land Rights Act.  The community officially has a population of around 400 people, but this number grows during the wet season when everyone stays at home, and drops during the dry season when people travel to visit family and country.  The traditional language of the island is Maung, and we continue to speak this language day-to-day.  There are five main traditional owner groups on the island, but we share our home with and people from many other parts of the Northern Territory and beyond.  The other major languages which are spoken at Warruwi now include Walang, Gunwinggu, Djambarrpuyngu and Galpu.  English is typically people's second or third language.  A few residents also speak Aboriginal Creole.  There are strong cultural and family ties between Warruwi and other communities, especially Minjilang, Maningrida and Gunbalanya, as well as to parts of East Arnhem Land. 

 

We own our land through our fathers.  This is called our nguya.  The five nguya for Warruwi are Yallama, Namarrawanyja, Murran, Mangalara and Mayirrgurlj.  Together, we call ourselves 'Majakudu' ('people of the islands').  Our mother's country is also important to us, and we are the managers or jungkayin of our mother lands.  We also get our skin names from our mother.  We are people of the sea, and continue to hunt and fish in our traditional waters. 

 

On 26th June 1916, Reverend James Watson built the Goulburn Island Mission on Maung country.  This became the first and longest standing Methodist mission in the Northern Territory.  Our community is proud of its mission history.

 

Since the 1970s, we have had different forms of local government.  In 2008, the local council was amalgamated into the West Arnhem Shire.  We have strong leaders in our community who continue to work hard to ensure that our voice is heard and who fight for a strong future for our children.

 

For Balanda (non-Aboriginal people) to understand Arrakpi (Aboriginal people) it is really important to listen to what we are sharing with you about ourselves, our community and our sea country.  Listening is very important as this demonstrates that you are respecting the speaker on their country.  It is always good to learn some of the fundamental words or basic sentences from any particular country, to help you to communicate and understand that place.  It is also good to look for visual communication techniques. The non-verbal communication is just as important as verbal communication. The Warruwi Fisheries & Aquaculture knowledge project focuses on Arrakpi's knowledge of their sea country.