TIWI ISLAND INDIANS IN AUSTRALIA

THESE FOLKS LIVE IN NORTH TERRITORY OF AUSTRALIA WHERE THE SEA JOINS THE TIMOR SEA. IT HAS ABOUT 8300 SQ. KM. THERE ARE ABOUT 2500 TIWI HERE. THE TIWI LAND COUNCIL IS ONE IN FOUR IN THIS TERRITORY. THEY HAVE A FERRY THAT GIVES THEM ACCESS TO ALL ISLANDS SINCE 2011.

THEY ARE INHABITED FERRY THAT GIVES THEM ACCESS TO ALL ACCESS ISLANDS SINCE 2011.THEY ARE INHABITED BY THE TIWI PEOPLE BEFORE EUROPEAN SETTLEMENT. THEY ARE CULTURALLY DISTINCT FROM THOSE OF ARNHEM LAND ON THE MAINLAND JUST ACROSS WATER. THEY NUMBER AROUND 2500. IN 2006 THE TOTAL POPULATION OF 2500. IN 2006 THE TOTAL POPULATION WAS 2100. MOST FOLKS SPEAK TIWI AS THEIR FIRST LANGUAGE AND SOME KNOW ENGLISH. THEY HAVE SEVERAL SMALLER ISLANDS. THEY HAVE OCCUPIED THE TIWI ISLANDS FOR CENTURIES WITH CREATION STORIES SUGGESTING THEY WERE PRESENT AT LEAST 7000 YEARS AGO. THEY WERE BELIEVED TO HAVE CONTACT WITH THE MACASSAN TRADERS, THE DUTCH, FRENCH AND BRITISH VISITED AND EXPLORED THERE AREA. IN 1824 THE FIRST ENGLISH SETTLEMENT CAME HERE, BUT ONLY LASTED 5 YEARS AS THE TIWI WERE HOSTILE TO THEM.

A CATHOLIC MISSION WAS ESTABLISHED WAS ESTABLISHED BY BY FRANCES GSELL AND THE ISLANDS WERE AN ABORIGINAL RESERVE IN 1912. A CATHOLIC MISSION THRIVED UNTIL 1972 AND PROVIDED INVALUABLE EDUCATION TO THE TIWI PEOPLE. THEY ALSO TAUGHT AGRICULTURE AND MANY FOLKS LEARNED TO DEVELOP CROPS TO SELL. THE TIWI COUNCIL WAS FOUNDED IN 1978. THEIR LOCAL GOVERNMENT TRANSFERRED THE ISLANDS TO THE TRADITIONAL OWNERS THROUGH THE TIWI LAND TRUST.

THEY CREATED THREE ART CENTERS THAT COLLABORATE A COOPERATIVE VENTURE. THEY ALSO HAVE A FABRIC DESIGN PRINTING AND CLOTHING BUSINESS OPERATED BY INDIGENOUS WOMEN SINCE 1969. SOME OF THEIR FOLKS HAVE HELD INTERNATIONAL EXHIBITIONS.

THEY MAKE A LOT OF WOOD CARVINGS OF BIRDS BY TIWI PEOPLE. SOME OF THESE ARE IN THERE GALLERIES AND HAVE INTRICATE DESIGNS. SOME OF THEIR BIRDS TELL OF APROACHING MONSDOONS WHILE OTHERS WARN OF CYCLONES. OTHERS ALERT THAT THE PEOPLE HAVE DIED IN A CLAN. THERE ARE OTHERS WHO REPRESENT ANCESTRAL BEINGS ACCORDING TO MYTHOLOGY AND THEY CHANGED INTO BIRDS. THEY CARVE BIRDS AND PLACE THEM AT SACRED BURIAL SITES. THE TIWI PEOPLE CREATE MANY OF THEIR DESIGNS ON FABRIC WITH WAX AND RESIST DYING - LIKE BATIK. THEY PLAY FOOTBALL AND CRICKETT.

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