Mornington Island

Mornington
Mornington Island from space, September 1991
Mornington
Geography
Location Gulf of Carpentaria
Coordinates Coordinates: 16°30′S 139°30′E / 16.500°S 139.500°E / -16.500; 139.500
Archipelago Wellesley Islands
Total islands 22
Area 1,002 km2 (387 sq mi)
Highest elevation 150 m (490 ft)
Highest point unnamed
Administration
Australia
State Queensland
Local Government Area Shire of Mornington
Largest settlement Gununa
Demographics
Population 1007 (2001)
Pop. density 1 /km2 (3 /sq mi)
Ethnic groups Aboriginal

Mornington Island is the northernmost of 22 islands that form the Wellesley Islands group. The island is in the Gulf of Carpentaria and is part of the Gulf Country region in the Australian state of Queensland. The Manowar and Rocky Islands Important Bird Area lies about 40 kilometres (25 mi) to the north-west.[1] Mornington Island is the largest of the islands, the largest settlement of which is Gunana on the south-west of the island.[2]

Description

The general topography of the island is flat with the maximum elevation of 500 feet (150 metres). The island is fringed by mangrove forests and contains 10 estuaries, all in near pristine condition.[3]

The population was estimated to be 1,007 in 2001 and the majority of the citizens live in the township of Gununa. Mornington Island is included in the Shire of Mornington local government area. The majority of the islanders are Aboriginal.

Lardil (or Kunhanaamendaa)[4] are the predominant clan group on Mornington Island and are the traditional owners of the land and surrounding seas. The Kaiadilt clan arrived more recently (1947) from nearby Bentinck Island, when that island's water supply was contaminated by salt after a cyclone. Recent re-building work on aboriginal housing has been undertaken by the James Fraser Foundation, a non-profit organisation in Queensland.

History

A vignette for affixing to mail for the 1943 Christmas parachute drop to Mornington Island Mission

Macassan trepangers once travelled thousands of kilometres from Sulawesi to Mornington Island and other Australian mainland destinations in search of sea cucumbers. The eastern cape of the island was named Cape Van Diemen after Anthony van Diemen. Commander Matthew Flinders named the island after Richard Wellesley, 1st Marquess Wellesley who was known when younger as the Earl of Mornington.[5]

Gununa Post Office opened by 1982.[6]

The Mornington Island Airport was a temporary airfield used by the RAAF and allied air forces during World War II.

Penile subincision was traditionally performed on the island for those wanting to learn a complex ceremonial language called Damin.

The Mornington Island State School opened on 28 January 1975.[7]

In 1978, the Queensland government decided to take over control of both the Aurukun and Mornington Island Aboriginal reserves.

Cyclones routinely hit the island. In 2000 Cyclone Steve passed directly over the island. Tropical Cyclone May passed in February 1988 and Tropical Cyclone Bernie passed to the west in early 2002. Tropical Cyclone Fritz passed directly over the island on 12 February 2003. Severe Tropical Cyclone Harvey caused damage on the island in February, 2005.

Education

Mornington Island State School offers kindergarten, primary, and limited secondary schooling (K-10) for boys and girls operated by the Queensland Government at 500 Lardil Street. In 2016, the school had an enrolment of 248 students (of which 236 identify as Indigenous) with 29 teachers and 16 non-teaching staff (11 full-time equivalent).[8]

Climate

Climate data for Mornington Island (1914-present)
Month Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Year
Record high °C (°F) 38.3
(100.9)		 37.6
(99.7)		 37.7
(99.9)		 37.3
(99.1)		 34.9
(94.8)		 33.6
(92.5)		 32.2
(90)		 34.5
(94.1)		 38.0
(100.4)		 38.7
(101.7)		 39.0
(102.2)		 39.8
(103.6)		 39.8
(103.6)
Average high °C (°F) 32.2
(90)		 31.9
(89.4)		 31.9
(89.4)		 31.4
(88.5)		 28.8
(83.8)		 25.8
(78.4)		 25.7
(78.3)		 27.7
(81.9)		 30.3
(86.5)		 32.3
(90.1)		 33.3
(91.9)		 33.2
(91.8)		 30.4
(86.7)
Average low °C (°F) 25.5
(77.9)		 25.4
(77.7)		 24.6
(76.3)		 23.2
(73.8)		 20.2
(68.4)		 17.1
(62.8)		 16.2
(61.2)		 17.2
(63)		 20.6
(69.1)		 23.7
(74.7)		 25.7
(78.3)		 26.2
(79.2)		 22.1
(71.8)
Record low °C (°F) 19.5
(67.1)		 20.0
(68)		 19.0
(66.2)		 12.8
(55)		 5.5
(41.9)		 7.0
(44.6)		 5.1
(41.2)		 7.2
(45)		 11.7
(53.1)		 12.6
(54.7)		 18.5
(65.3)		 20.0
(68)		 5.1
(41.2)
Average precipitation mm (inches) 326.8
(12.866)		 307.0
(12.087)		 260.2
(10.244)		 54.0
(2.126)		 9.0
(0.354)		 6.5
(0.256)		 2.3
(0.091)		 0.8
(0.031)		 1.3
(0.051)		 12.7
(0.5)		 55.8
(2.197)		 157.7
(6.209)		 1,198.7
(47.193)
Average precipitation days (≥ 0.2 mm) 15.2 14.2 12.2 4.3 1.4 0.9 0.5 0.7 0.8 1.5 4.6 9.6 65.9
Source: Bureau of Meteorology [9]

In literature

Mornington Island was the site of research over several decades by British anthropologist David McKnight, described in a series of books, People, Countries, and the Rainbow Serpent: Systems of classification among the Lardil of Mornington Island (1999), From Hunting to Drinking: The devastating effects of alcohol on an Australian Aboriginal community (2002), Going the Whiteman’s Way: Kinship and marriage among Australian Aborigines (2004) and Of Marriage, Violence and Sorcery: The quest for power in northern Queensland (2005). McKnight lamented the increasing levels of violence since the 1970s.[10]

Indigenous art of Mornington Island is described in The Heart of Everything: The art and artists of Mornington & Bentinck Islands, ed. N. Evans, L. Martin-Chew and P. Memmott (2008).

A tribe of indigenous people on the island have been communicating with wild Indo-Pacific bottlenose dolphins for millennium. It is said that they have"a medicine man who calls the dolphins and “speaks” to them telepathically. By these communications he assures that the tribes’ fortunes and happiness are maintained."[11][12]

Alcohol Management Plan

In 2003 the Government of Queensland implemented an Alcohol Management Plan to 19 indigenous communities in Queensland where alcohol abuse was rampant.[13] The alcohol bans are aimed at alleviating high levels of domestic violence, child abuse and child neglect. The plan restricts tavern opening hours, limits sales to only light and mid-strength beers, bans takeaway alcohol sales and home brewing.[14] The Mornington Island community has been described as the toughest in Queensland when it comes to resisting alcohol bans.[13]

In December 2003 police reinforcements had to be sent to Mornington Island after riots broke out when tough new alcohol laws were introduced.[13] In 2008 more riots were feared after the Lelka Murrin Hotel, one of only two liquor retailers on the island, closed due to the proprietor being ill. Extra police were sent to the island to stop any unauthorised sale of alcohol and to quash any alcohol-fueled violence that may have erupted at a time when violent incidents on the island were common.[15][16]

Location within the Wellesley Islands

See also

References

  1. ↑ BirdLife International. (2011). Important Bird Areas factsheet: Manowar and Rocky Islands. Downloaded from http://www.birdlife.org on 11/08/2011.
  2. ↑ "Gununa - population centre in Shire of Mornington (entry 15097)". Queensland Place Names. Queensland Government. Retrieved 9 November 2017.
  3. ↑ "Estuary Assessment 2000: Basin: Mornington Island". Australian Natural Resources Atlas. Department of the Environment, Water, Heritage and the Arts. Archived from the original on 6 October 2009. Retrieved 29 August 2009.
  4. ↑ https://researchonline.jcu.edu.au/971/2/02whole.pdf
  5. ↑ "Mornington Shire". Queensland Places. Centre for the Government of Queensland, University of Queensland. Retrieved 29 June 2014.
  6. ↑ Premier Postal History. "Post Office List". Premier Postal Auctions. Retrieved 5 April 2018.
  7. ↑ Queensland Family History Society (2010), Queensland schools past and present (Version 1.01 ed.), Queensland Family History Society, ISBN 978-1-921171-26-0
  8. ↑ "2016 Annual Report" (PDF). Mornington Island State School. Archived from the original (PDF) on 9 November 2017. Retrieved 9 November 2017.
  9. ↑ "Climate Statistics for Mornington Island". Climate statistics for Australian locations. Bureau of Meteorology. Retrieved 6 April 2014.
  10. ↑ The cultural roots of aboriginal violence
  11. ↑ Bernd Würsig B.. William Perrin W.. Würsig B.. Thewissen M. G. J.. 2008. Encyclopedia of Marine Mammals 2nd Edition. pp.488. ISBN 9780123735539. Academic Press. Retrieved on March 03, 2017
  12. ↑ Folklore and Legends (marine mammals)
  13. 1 2 3 Ian Townsend (2003-12-01). "Riot on Mornington Island over alcohol bans". PM (ABC Radio). Australian Broadcasting Corporation. Retrieved 2009-08-31.
  14. ↑ Margaret Wenham (2007-12-28). "Eight charged with Christmas rampage". The Courier Mail. Queensland Newspapers. Retrieved 2009-08-31.
  15. ↑ Tanya Chilcott and Steven Wardill (2008-01-25). "Island pub closure sparks riot fear". The Courier Mail. Queensland Newspapers. Retrieved 2009-08-31.
  16. ↑ Gabrielle Dunlevy (2008-01-24). "Brawling forces island pub closure". Brisbane Times. Fairfax Digital. Retrieved 2009-08-31.
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