Indigenous peoples The
Waanyi and
Ganggalidda (Yukulta) people are the recognised
Aboriginal Australian peoples who are the
traditional owners for the region surrounding Doomadgee. Historically,
Gadawa,
Lardil,
Mingginda and
Garawa groups inhabited or traversed the area. The
Waanyi language (also known as
Wanyi,
Wanyee,
Wanee,
Waangyee,
Wonyee,
Garawa, and
Wanji) is an
Australian Aboriginal language of the Gulf Country. The language region includes the western parts of
Lawn Hill Creek and
Nicholson River, from about the boundary between the
Northern Territory and Queensland, westwards towards
Alexandria station, Doomadgee, and Nicholson River. It includes the local government area of the Shire of Doomadgee.
Yukulta (also known as Ganggalida) is also spoken in the Gulf Country, including the in Doomadgee and
Mornington Shires.
European settlement From the late 19th century, Europeans started settling in the area, making a huge impact on the lives of the Indigenous peoples. Conflict occurred, as it did elsewhere in the
Australian frontier wars.
Native Police, known as
yabayiri to the locals, were established at
Turn Off Lagoon, which was on the Nicholson River about west of present-day Doomadgee site, in 1889. Before this, Native Police had been at a location on Carl Creek, to the south, since 1878. The
Protector of Aboriginals was appointed on 30 Apr 1936, under the
Aboriginals Protection and Restriction of the Sale of Opium Act 1897, whereby Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people became
wards of the state. The Protector controlled the lives of Aboriginal people in Queensland until the
Aborigines and Torres Strait Islanders Affairs Act 1965 came into force on 28 April 1966 and the Department of Aboriginal and Island Affairs was created, and every
Clerk of the Court within the State became a District Officer.
Doomadgee Mission (1933–1983) Doomadgee Mission, originally known as Dumaji (a name deriving from a coastal
sand dune known as Dumaji by the Ganggalidda people), was established on
Bayley Point () on the
Gulf of Carpentaria in 1933, including the Doomadgee Mission School. There had been a mission home for Aboriginal children established at Burketown by Len and Dorothy Akehurst, members of the
Open Brethren, in 1930, and this was moved to the new site of Dumaji (subsequently known as "Old Doomadgee Mission" a couple of years later, at the request of the Aboriginal people. The Akehursts returned to
Sydney in 1935. the community and the dormitories were relocated to Nicholson River, known as "New Doomadgee". There were around 50 children and 20 adults at this time, but the population soon grew through the 1930s and 1940s, when the Queensland Government removed many Aboriginal families from surrounding
pastoral stations, including Westmoreland, Lawn Hills and
Gregory Downs. Official records show more than 80 removals between 1935 and 1957 (and prior to the establishment of Doomadgee Mission, many Aboriginal children in the region were removed to the
Mornington Island Mission and other missions and
Aboriginal reserves further south). The
National Library of Australia has a
sound recording of an interview by Gwenda Davey with Vic Akehurst about his parents, made in 2003 and available online, including a full transcript. Doomadgee Post Office opened on 2 January 1969. The Doomadgee Mission School, established in 1933, became Doomadgee Community School in 1970. In 1975, it came under the control of the
Queensland Government's Education Department, becoming Doomadgee State School.
After the mission On 21 May 1987, the
Aboriginal reserve was transferred from the Queensland Government to the trusteeship of the Doomadgee Aboriginal Council, under a
Deed of Grant in Trust (DOGIT). On 1 January 2005, the Doomadgee Aboriginal Council became the
Doomadgee Aboriginal Shire Council. From January 2007, the
Doomadgee Aboriginal Shire Council in the area was given full shire status. == Demographics ==