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the Tiwi Islands are officially made up of 9 small uninhabited islands, and two larger inhabited islands.
what are the names of the two larger islands?the islands were formed by a rise in the ocean level during the last ice age, 8. or 9 thousand years ago
the stories of the flooding are part of the oral tradition of the Tunuvivi (Tiwi) people, who have occupied the area for 40,000 years
The Tiwi are, culturally and linguistically distinct from the Indigenous people of Arnhem Land, on the mainland just across the water
National Geographic has characterised contemporary Tiwi Islands society as reflecting an enduring fusion between the indigenous Tiwi people's traditional beliefs and later European settlers' Catholicism.
in 2021 the population was 2,348 of whom 87% were Indigenous.
Most residents speak Tiwi as their first language and English as a second language
There was early contact between the Tiwi and Macassan
traders, and other visits by early explorers.
The jury is out on the question of whether the Portuguese conducted slaving raids here. Maybe the locals were just hostile to colonisers for some other reason?
There was a catholic mission (from 1911)
and pearling until 1950s
on February 19, 1942, having noticed a sortie overhead, Father John McGrath sent an urgent message from the radio hut located next to Nguiu township Catholic church. The message explained that aircraft had been spotted over the islands, heading south across the Beagle Gulf towards Darwin. Officials ignored McGrath's warning and the Japanese airforce successfully managed to bomb Darwin
a Tiwi Islander named Matthias Ulungura disarmed and captured a Japanese pilot who had crash landed his damaged aircraft on one of the islands, the first Japanese military personnel to be taken captive on Australian soil
Control of the islands was transferred to the Indigenous traditional owners through the Tiwi Aboriginal Land Trust, and the Tiwi Land Council that was founded in 1978