Gapuwiyak, Northern Territory

{{Use dmy dates|date=February 2022}}

{{Use Australian English|date=August 2012}}

{{Infobox Australian place

| type = town

| name = Gapuwiyak

| state = nt

| image =

| caption =

| coordinates = {{coord|-12.5032|135.8057|type:city(200)_region:AU|display=inline}}

| pop = 871

| established =

| postcode = 0880

| elevation =

| dist1 =

| dir1 =

| location1 =

| lga = East Arnhem Region

| stategov = Arnhem

| fedgov = Lingiari

| maxtemp =

| mintemp =

| rainfall =

}}

Gapuwiyak, also known as Lake Evella, is an Aboriginal Australian community located in north-eastern Arnhem Land, Northern Territory, {{convert|25|km }} south of the head of Buckingham Bay and about the same distance south-west of Arnhem Bay. The settlement had a population of 871 people recorded at the 2016 census.{{Cite web|date=23 October 2017|title=2016 Census QuickStats|url=https://quickstats.censusdata.abs.gov.au/census_services/getproduct/census/2016/quickstat/ILOC70600201|access-date=24 August 2021|website=Australian Bureau of Statistics}}

Gapuwiyak is adjacent to Lake Evella. The lake was seen by Harold Shepherdson from his Miles Hawk aeroplane in 1935 and he named it Lake Evella after his wife Ella, and Eva, the wife of a fellow missionary Rev. T.T. Webb.{{cite book |last1=Baker |first1=Gwenda |title=A legendary partnership : Yolŋu, Bäpa Sheppy and Nändi Ella |date=2018 |publisher=Historical Society of the Northern Territory |location=Casuarina, NT |isbn=978-1-925167-93-1 |page=170 }} Gapuwiyak means "brackish water" (Gapu – water; Wiyak – salty).{{citation needed|date=January 2020}}

In the 1960s David Burrumarra advocated for the creation of the community as a part of the outstation movement.{{cite web |last=McIntosh |first=Ian |last2=Burrumarra |first2=David |year=1994 |title=The whale and the cross : conversation with David Burrumarra MBE |url=https://hdl.handle.net/10070/928005 |access-date=28 November 2024 |website=Territory Stories |publisher=Historical Society of the Northern Territory |page=14-16 |publication-place=Darwin}}

The community is serviced by a barge from Darwin once a week that comes up the Buckingham River.{{citation needed|date=January 2020}}

The community comprises Aboriginal people from many different families or clans. It produces a newsletter called Gapuwiyak Dhäwu.{{citation needed|date=January 2020}}

In April 2017, a four-day festival to mark the Rom ceremony was attended by about 500 people at Gapuwiyak School. The Yolngu Rom comprises the laws, values, beliefs, songs, language and culture of the people, and the young people learn from participation in the event, which is attended by people of all ages. It was planned to hold the event each term.{{cite web | title=Gapuwiyak School celebrates Yolngu Rom | website=Department of Education | date=28 April 2017 | url=https://education.nt.gov.au/news/2017/gapuwiyak-school-celebrates-yolngu-rom | access-date=29 January 2020 | archive-date=1 April 2020 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200401013320/https://education.nt.gov.au/news/2017/gapuwiyak-school-celebrates-yolngu-rom | url-status=dead }}

The health clinic transitioned to a community-managed model in 2018, and is managed by Miwatj Health Aboriginal Corporation.{{cite web | last=James | first=Felicity | title=NT's largest Aboriginal community, Maningrida, takes control of local health service – ABC News | publisher=Australian Broadcasting Corporation | date=6 March 2021 | url=https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-03-06/nt-maningrida-health-clinic-handed-to-aboriginal-control/13216290 | access-date=14 March 2021}}