Arnhem Land Trip 2018, Day 16: Tiwi By Design Tour

We did a day tour of the beautiful Tiwi Islands back in 2006, and decided it was time to visit there again. I was particularly keen because while we were travelling I was reading Marie Munkara’s memoir, Of ashes and rivers that run to the sea. She was born in Arnhem Land, but was living with her mother on Tiwi when she was stolen at the age of three, taken to a mission, and from there fostered by a white couple. It’s a fascinating memoir but my reading was enhanced by our Arnhem Land and Tiwi Island experiences. 

The tour

The tour we chose was run by the Tiwi Designs people, and went from 8am to 5.45pm. This includes a 2.5 hour ferry trip each way. The ferry was packed both ways, but it was restful.

On arrival, we were met at the beach on Bathurst Island – there’s no ferry terminal there yet, but it’s coming – by Kevin, our local guide. He sent us up to a grassy area to wait for him. While there, we saw a car pull up. One of our tour members exclaimed, “Look, it’s got no windows!” And no, it hadn’t. Well, it had a broken front windscreen, and no side or back windows. If you’re an Aussie, particularly if you’ve seen the TV series Bush Mechanics, you’ll know a bit about indigenous people and their relationship with cars – demonstrating both their resourcefulness and their lack of concern about material things. We’d seen and heard much evidence of it during our trip.

For an entertaining description of a dilapidated vehicle, click here for an excerpt from Munkara’s book on my litblog about being picked up to go buffalo shooting:

Anyhow, Kevin soon joined us, and started the tour with a potted history of the Tiwi.

• No one knows how long they’ve been there; for thousands of years “they thought they were the only people”.
• They don’t have didgeridoo (yidaki) or boomerangs, but they are Aboriginal people not islanders.
• Around 1600 the Macassans came. As in Arnhem Land, trading and skills-sharing occurred (including being taught how to make dug-out canoes).
• 1705, Dutch landed, but the Tiwi didn’t allow trespassers. They fought the Dutch for 4.5 years, until the Dutch left
• 1824, British arrived, and they fought the British too – spears versus guns. The British however did do some trading, but they didn’t stay long.
• 1911, the Mission was established with Father Gsell. It’s a story known by all Tiwis. The mission, Kevin said, brought the “good, bad, ugly”, the “good” including Aussie Rules! They are as passionate about Aussie Rules here as Melbournites are, so any Melburnians in the group had a natural conversation starter (which we saw happen more than once).
• 1969/70, Tiwi Designs, the now famous Aboriginal arts centre, was established.
• 1978, management of the Islands – Bathurst and Melville – was taken over by the Tiwi Land Council.
• Wurrumiyanga is Tiwi’s main town (renamed from Nguiu in 2010).

Kevin was an entertaining guide, a natural storyteller, so all this was told in a far more lively way than I’ve reported.

Smoking ceremony

Kevin then took us around to Tiwi Designs where we were welcomed by the staff, and given a smoking ceremony to imbue us with Tiwi spirits (getting rid of those we’d brought with us from the mainland). The leaves they used came from the Ironwood (which knew from our Arnhem Land tour). This was a really meaningful experience – as the video should show.

They then performed a selection of dances – the men first, then the women. Kevin explained each one, including which people’s totems they were: crocodile, shark, buffalo. The final dance was inspired by trains, proving once again that these indigenous cultures are not static. 

We then had morning tea – tea or coffee, and freshly made damper with butter and jam. I had a taste, but what I shame that’s all I could have!

Patakijiyali Museum

Next stop was the museum. Kevin shared more about the make-up of the Tiwi Island community, showing us the 9 language groups on a large map. There are 5 schools across the two islands. Around 20 students have graduated from year 12 here for each of the last few years, with others graduating from boarding schools around Australia. They’re very proud of this.

It’s an old-fashioned museum style-wise, but covers Tiwi’s history clearly, including:

• its culture: kinship structures, spiritual beliefs (such as the Murtankala creation story), the importance of animals and birds as message carriers (something else Munkara describes);
• mission life; and
• its role in World War 2.

Church

Then it was the church. Kevin told us about Father Gsell’s arrival and how he and the Tiwis came to an agreement about blending their two belief systems. This blending is visible in the church’s altar which contains religious art from both cultures. It’s beautiful. Around 50% of Tiwis are Catholic today. The church is still used for special occasions, but mostly services are given at the “open air church up the road.”

Funerals are an example of combined practice. The service starts with a mass, and then moves into Tiwi traditions. Burial sites include both white crosses and Pukumani funerary poles. Kevin said that each pole is unique, telling the individual person’s story. The more important you are, the more poles you have. He hopes to have ten, he said – with a laugh! (Interestingly, Kevin told us that belongings of deceased people are destroyed, rather than donated or given away, because of the spirits attached to those belongings.)

The wooden church building itself is lovely – plain in design, but large and airy.

Radio shack

The Tiwi Islands played a fascinating role in WW2. It was from the radio shack here that Catholic missionary John McGrath sent warning of the Japanese planes, which went on to bomb Darwin. The warning was ignored due, apparently, to a confusion. The first bullet fired on Australian soil in the War was fired here. It was also here that the first POW on Australian soil was taken on 19 Feb 1942, after a Japanese zero, which had been shot over Darwin, crashed. The pilot, Hijime Toyoshima, survived and was sent to the internment camp at Cowra. He apparently died there during the famous breakout.

Back to Tiwi Designs

The tour ended back at Twi Designs with a light lunch – sandwiches and fruit – followed by our screenprinting experience. Tiwi Designs is famous for its screenprinting. I bought some gorgeous fabric last visit.

The idea was for each of us to choose a Tiwi Design screen and, with help from a skilled worker, print the image. I chose a jabiru-like bird, which Alan “helped” me print, though he did the lion’s share! I’ve never screen-printed before so I nervously enjoyed the experience. Alan has been screenprinting he said for 34 years, since he was 19. Len didn’t do one, thinking there wasn’t enough time for us all to do it, but it was part of the tour. Such a shame!

All this took a couple of hours so there was time to watch others, admire the screenprints, and talk. At one point Kevin and I chatted about Canberra. (Any mention of Canberra makes northerners shudder – so cold!) Kevin said he’d been to Canberra last year as part of a group promoting the “No more” (domestic violence) campaign.

Another special experience which further increased our understanding of indigenous people and their culture.

Dinner at Yots

Upon our return, after an uneventful ferry-ride back, we went to Yots Greek restaurant on the Cullen Bay boardwalk. We both had barramundi, blissfully enjoying another outdoor eating experience in winter!

I couldn’t resist the dessert using Kangaroo Island Honey Liqueur. A bit of a change from Green Ant Gin!

Today’s images

Stills …

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And the rather long movie …