Tiwi Islands

{{See also |Tiwi people}}

The Tiwi Islands were created by sea level rise at the end of the last ice age, which finished about 11,700 years ago, with the flooding occurring an estimated 8,200 to 9,650 years ago. The story of the flooding is told in Tiwi traditional stories and creation myths passed down orally from generation to generation ever since.{{cite web | title=Ancient Sea Rise Tale Told Accurately for 10,000 Years|first =John |last=Upton | website=Scientific American | date=26 January 2015 | url=https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/ancient-sea-rise-tale-told-accurately-for-10-000-years/ | access-date=5 August 2020}}{{cite web | title=History | website=Tiwi Land Council | url=https://www.tiwilandcouncil.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=page&p=229&l=2&id=56&smid=164 | access-date=5 August 2020}}{{cite web | title=Creation stories | website=Tiwi Land Council | url=https://www.tiwilandcouncil.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=page&p=248&l=2&id=60&smid=120 | access-date=5 August 2020}}

The islands are located in the Northern Territory about {{convert|80|km}} to the north of the Australian mainland and are bounded by the Timor Sea in the north and the west, in the south by the Beagle Gulf, the Clarence Strait and Van Diemen Gulf and in the east by the Dundas Strait.{{Cite web|url=http://www.about-australia.com/northern-territory/darwin/destinations/bathurst-island/|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20091220011318/http://www.about-australia.com/northern-territory/darwin/destinations/bathurst-island/|url-status=dead|title=Bathurst Island | About Australia|archivedate=20 December 2009}}

The island group consists of two large inhabited islands (Melville and Bathurst), and nine smaller uninhabited islands (Buchanan, Harris, Seagull, Karslake, Irritutu, Clift, Turiturina, Matingalia and Nodlaw).{{cite thesis|last1=Morris |first1=John |year=2003 |title=Continuing "assimilation"? A shifting identity for the Tiwi – 1919 to the present |hdl=1959.17/2281 |publisher=University of Ballarat |url=http://archimedes.ballarat.edu.au:8080/vital/access/HandleResolver/1959.17/2281 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20121127180333/http://archimedes.ballarat.edu.au:8080/vital/access/HandleResolver/1959.17/2281 |url-status=dead |archive-date=27 November 2012 |access-date=4 September 2012 }} Bathurst Island is the fifth-largest island of Australia and accessible by sea and air.{{cite web|url=http://nt.gov.au/nreta/environment/conservation/pdf/09_tiwi.pdf |title=Sites of Conservation Significance: Tiwi Islands |publisher=Northern Territory Department of Natural Resources, Environment, the Arts and Sport |access-date=27 May 2009 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090922200131/http://nt.gov.au/nreta/environment/conservation/pdf/09_tiwi.pdf |archive-date=22 September 2009 }} Melville Island is Australia's second largest island (after Tasmania).{{cite web|url=http://www.ga.gov.au/education/geoscience-basics/landforms/islands.jsp |title=Education:geoscience basics: islands |year=2009 |publisher=Geoscience Australia |access-date=27 May 2009 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090531205006/http://www.ga.gov.au/education/geoscience-basics/landforms/islands.jsp |archive-date=31 May 2009 }}

The main islands are separated by Apsley Strait, which connects Saint Asaph Bay in the north and Shoal Bay in the south, and is between {{cvt|550|m}} and {{cvt|5|km}} wide, {{cvt|62|km}} long. At the mouth of Shoal Bay is Buchanan Island, with an area of about {{cvt|3|km2}}. A car ferry at the narrowest point provides a quick connection between Melville and Bathurst Islands.

File:Tiwi island 2631.jpg

They are inhabited by the Tiwi people, as they have been for thousands of years before European settlement in Australia. The Tiwi are an Aboriginal Australian people, culturally and linguistically distinct from those of Arnhem Land on the mainland just across the water.{{cite web|url=http://www.bushtel.nt.gov.au/northern_territory/region1/shire_id1|title=Bushtel: Northern Territory: Northern Region: Tiwi Shire|year=2007|publisher=Government of the Northern Territory|access-date=21 May 2009|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090523021751/http://www.bushtel.nt.gov.au/northern_territory/region1/shire_id1|archive-date=23 May 2009}} In 2021, the total population of the islands was 2,348, of whom 87% were Aboriginal people.

Most residents speak Tiwi as their first language and English as a second language.{{cite web|url=http://www.abc.net.au/stateline/nt/content/2003/s954762.htm|title=Tiwi Islands School Wins English Literacy Award|last=Barker|first=Anne|date=26 September 2003|work=ABC Stateline|access-date=27 May 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160110151633/http://www.abc.net.au/stateline/nt/content/2003/s954762.htm|archive-date=10 January 2016|url-status=dead}}

Most of the population live in Wurrumiyanga (known as Nguiu until 2010) on Bathurst Island, and Pirlangimpi (also known as Garden Point) and Milikapiti (also known as Snake Bay) on Melville Island. Wurrumiyanga has a population of nearly 1500, the other two centres around 450 each.{{cite web|url=http://www.localgovernment.nt.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0003/31962/TIS_Business_Plan_-_Main_Report2.pdf|title=Tiwi Islands Shire Council Business Plan 2008–2009|date=July 2008|publisher=Tiwi Islands Shire Council|access-date=27 May 2009}} There are other smaller settlements, including Wurankuwu (Ranku) Community on western Bathurst Island.{{cite web |url=http://www.rankustore.com/ |title=Welcome to the Wurankuwu Community Online Information Directory |publisher=Ranku Store |access-date=27 May 2009 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090503124233/http://rankustore.com/ |archive-date=3 May 2009 }}

{{See also|Bathurst Island (Northern Territory)#History|l1=Bathurst Island history|Melville Island (Australia)#History|l2= Melville Island history}}

Aboriginal people have occupied the area that became the Tiwi Islands for at least 40,000 years,{{Cite web|url=https://www.tiwilandcouncil.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=page&p=294&l=3&id=56&smid=164&ssmid=66|title=Tiwi Land Council|website=www.tiwilandcouncil.com}} with creation stories relating their presence on the islands at least 7,000 years before present.

Tiwi islanders are believed to have had contact with Macassan traders,{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/programmes/from_our_own_correspondent/4686945.stm|title=Aborigines' island life|last=Squires|first=Nick|date=16 July 2005|work=BBC News|access-date=27 May 2009}} and the first historical record of contact between Indigenous islanders and European explorers was with the Dutch "under the command of Commander Maarten van Delft who took three ships, the Nieuw Holland, the Waijer, and the Vosschenbosch, into Shark Bay on Melville Island and landed on 30 April 1705". There were other visits by explorers and navigators in the seventeenth, eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, including by Dutchman Pieter Pieterszoon, Frenchman Nicholas Baudin and Briton Philip Parker King.{{Cite book|last=Forrest|first=Peter|title=The Tiwi Meet the Dutch: The First European Contacts|publisher=Tiwi Land Council|year=1995|url=http://www.tiwilandcouncil.net.au/Publications/Dutchtiwistory.pdf|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050617033419/http://www.tiwilandcouncil.net.au/Publications/Dutchtiwistory.pdf|url-status=dead|archive-date=17 June 2005}}

File:Tiwi church 2642.jpg

In February 1824 Captain Gordon Bremer was appointed by the Admiralty, upon instruction from the British Colonial Office, to take possession of Bathurst and Melville Islands, along with the Cobourg Peninsula (now part of Arnhem Land) on the mainland to the east, subject to the land being unoccupied by any people except "...the Natives of those or any of the other Eastern Islands".{{cite journal|url=http://press-files.anu.edu.au/downloads/press/p72971/pdf/ch1612.pdf|title=The Tiwi and the British: an ill-fated outpost|first=John|last=Morris|journal=Aboriginal History|date=2001|volume=25|page=245|access-date=3 January 2020}} Bremer established the first European settlement on the Islands, which was also the first British settlement in northern Australia, at Fort Dundas on Melville Island, near present-day Pirlangimpi in September 1824. However, owing in part to the hostility of the Indigenous population, it lasted only five years, being abandoned in 1829. As "the first attempted European and military settlement anywhere in northern Australia", the site is on Australia's Register of the National Estate.{{cite AHD|18163|Fort Dundas, Pularumpi, NT, Australia |date=22 June 1993|access-date=30 June 2009}}

Despite the failure of the settlement, Bremer had claimed the northern area of the continent and adjacent islands as part of New South Wales{{cite book|title= Vocational Education and Training: The Northern Territory's history of public philanthropy|first=Don|last=Zoellner|date=2017|publisher=ANU Press|url=http://press-files.anu.edu.au/downloads/press/n2425/pdf/ch03.pdf |chapter=3|pages=35–36, 43|access-date=3 January 2020}} (then under Governor Thomas Brisbane). Jurisdiction of the Northern Territory, including the Tiwi Islands was taken over by the Government of the Colony of South Australia by instruction from the Colonial Office in 1863, but this was finally relinquished to the federal government, after years of negotiations, in 1911.

Soon before the South Australian government handed over the Territory, it gave notice that up to 5,000 acres were available north of the 18th parallel south, which included land on Bathurst Island. In September 1910 the German Catholic missionary Francis Xavier Gsell applied for a license to establish a Christian mission in similar way that land grants had been made in British New Guinea. In the same month the South Australian government declared the whole of Bathurst Island an Aboriginal reserve, and granted {{convert|10,000 |acres|ha}} for the mission.{{cite web|publisher=Griffith University|website=German missionaries in Australia|url=http://missionaries.griffith.edu.au/mission/bathurst-island-mission-1911-1938-1978|title=Bathurst Island Mission 1911-1938-1978)|access-date=3 January 2020}} The mission was established by Gsell on Bathurst Island in 1911.{{citation needed|date=March 2020}} A timber church built in the 1930s is a prominent landmark in Wurrumiyanga. The Catholic mission had positive impacts, through access to education and welfare services, but also negative effects through the suppression of Aboriginal language and culture.{{cite web|url=http://www.tiwiart.com/tiwi-traditions/modern-tiwi-history/foreign-settlement/ |title=Foreign settlement |year=2013 |publisher=Tiwi Art |access-date=20 November 2013 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131213004102/http://www.tiwiart.com/tiwi-traditions/modern-tiwi-history/foreign-settlement/ |archive-date=13 December 2013 }} Nova Peris' mother, Joan, was raised in this mission after being taken from her mother; she was one of the Stolen Generations.{{cite web | title=Across generations |first=Philip |last=Hersh| website=Chicago Tribune| date=22 September 2000 | url=https://www.chicagotribune.com/ | access-date=21 April 2021}}

The Tiwi artwork in the Catholic church, and the translation of Biblical stories into Tiwi, are both notable.

Control of the islands was transferred to the Indigenous traditional owners through the Tiwi Aboriginal Land Trust, and the Tiwi Land Council that was founded in 1978.{{cite web|title=Tiwi Land Council: History |publisher=Tiwi Land Council |year=2008 |url=http://www.tiwilandcouncil.net.au/AboutUs/About_us.htm |access-date=27 August 2008 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071021174351/http://www.tiwilandcouncil.net.au/AboutUs/About_us.htm |archive-date=21 October 2007 }}{{cite web|url=http://www.tiwilandcouncil.com/documents/publications/land/Regional_profile.pdf|title=Regional Profile|last=Tiwi Land Council|work=Tiwi Islands Regional Natural Resource Management Strategy|publisher=Tiwi Land Council|access-date=20 November 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130208153329/http://tiwilandcouncil.com/documents/publications/land/Regional_profile.pdf|archive-date=8 February 2013|url-status=dead}} The Tiwi Islands local government area was established in 2001, when the previous community government councils in the three main communities of Wurrumiyanga (Bathurst Island), Pirlangimpi and Milikapiti (Melville Island) were amalgamated with the Wurankuwu Aboriginal Corporation to form a single local government.{{cite web|url=http://www.aph.gov.au/house/committee/efpa/localgovt/submissions/sub50.pdf |title=Tiwi Islands Local Government, Submission to Inquiry into Local Government and Cost Shifting |last=Tiwi Islands Local Government |date=July 2002 |publisher=House of Representatives Standing Committee on Economics, Finance and Public Administration |access-date=27 May 2009 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080809054100/http://www.aph.gov.au/house/committee/efpa/localgovt/submissions/sub50.pdf |archive-date=9 August 2008 }} The Tiwi Islands Local Government was replaced in 2008 by the Tiwi Islands Shire Council as part of a Northern Territory-wide restructuring of local government.{{cite web|url=http://newsroom.nt.gov.au/index.cfm?fuseaction=printRelease&ID=2879 |title=Local Government Changes Introduced |last=Elliot McAdam (Minister for Local Government) |date=22 August 2007 |access-date=27 May 2009 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080729004438/http://newsroom.nt.gov.au/index.cfm?fuseaction=printRelease&ID=2879 |archive-date=29 July 2008 }}

The Tiwi Islands are part of the federal electorate of Lingiari,{{cite web|url=http://www.aec.gov.au/pdf/profiles/l/lingiari.pdf|title=Map of Commonwealth Electoral Division of Lingiari|year=2007|publisher=Australian Electoral Commission|access-date=21 May 2009}} for which the current member is Marion Scrymgour.{{cite web|url=http://www.aph.gov.au/Senators_and_Members/Parliamentarian?MPID=IJ4|title=The Hon Warren Snowdon MP|publisher=Parliament of Australia|access-date=20 November 2013}} The islands are within the Northern Territory electorate of Arafura. The current member for Arafura is Manuel Brown, from the Labor Party.{{cite web|url=http://notes.nt.gov.au/nteo/Electorl.nsf/94150a183d04f75f692564e2000ed605/209bd2efe05dc8ba6925693600061c16?OpenDocument|archive-url=http://webarchive.loc.gov/all/20090703231501/http://notes.nt.gov.au/nteo/Electorl.nsf/94150a183d04f75f692564e2000ed605/209bd2efe05dc8ba6925693600061c16?OpenDocument|url-status=dead|archive-date=3 July 2009|title=Electorate of Arafura: Profile|publisher=Northern Territory Electoral Commission|access-date=27 May 2009}}

The administration of the islands is divided between the local Tiwi Islands Regional Council, and the Indigenous landholder representative organisation, the Tiwi Land Council. Representatives on the Shire Council are elected from four wards, and include 12 councillors.{{cite web|url=http://tiwiislands.org.au/the-council/council-members|title=Council Members: Tiwi Shire|year=2019|publisher=Tiwi Islands Regional Council|access-date=31 August 2019}}

1. Milikapiti Ward (northeast Melville Island, largest)
2. Nguiu Ward (south Bathurst Island, Buchanan Island)
3. Pirlangimpi Ward (west and southwest Melville Island)
4. Wurankuwu Ward (north Bathurst Island)

In 2011–12, the operating budget of the then Tiwi Islands Shire Council was A$26.4 million. As of 2019, the elected Mayor of Tiwi Islands Shire Council is Lesley Tungutalum.

{{Further|Tiwi Islands Region#Localities and communities}}

On 4 April 2007, the land occupied by the Tiwi Islands and adjoining waters were gazetted by the Northern Territory Government as a locality with the name, 'Tiwi Islands. The boundary of the locality is similar to that gazetted in 1978 by the Australian government for the Tiwi Land Council.{{cite web |title=Place Names Register Extract – "Tiwi Islands" (locality)|url= https://www.ntlis.nt.gov.au/placenames/view.jsp?id=22399 |website=NT Place Names Register |publisher=Northern Territory Government |access-date=3 May 2019}}{{cite web |title=Survey plan C5090, Localities within Tiwi Sub-region |url= http://www.ntlis.nt.gov.au/hpa-services/surveyplans?planname=CP/5090 |publisher=Northern Territory Government |access-date=3 May 2019}}{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article240629291 |title=COMMONWEALTH OF AUSTRALIA Aboriginal Land Rights (Northern Territory) Act 1976 NOTICE TO ESTABLISH AN ABORIGINAL LAND COUNCIL |newspaper=Commonwealth of Australia Gazette. Special |issue=S162 |location=Australia |date=18 August 1978 |access-date=3 May 2019 |page=1 |via=National Library of Australia|quote = Areas for which the Tiwi Land Council is Established – The areas of Bathurst Island, Buchanan Island, Melville Island and every island wholly within the distance of 5 56 kilometres of the mean low water line of Melville Island.}}

File:Carved Poles 2645.jpg

File:Aboriginal bird carvings.jpg

File:Tiwi Island art gallery ceiling.jpg

The creation of Indigenous Australian art is an important part of Tiwi Island culture and its economy. There are three Indigenous art centres on the islands: Tiwi Design, Munupi Arts & Crafts, and Jilamara Arts and Craft,{{cite web |url=http://www.ankaaa.org.au/ANKAAA_ArtGuideBrochure.pdf |title=A Guide to Aboriginal Art and the Aboriginal Owned Art Centres of the Kimberley and Top End |year=2008 |publisher=Association of Northern, Kimberley and Arnhem Aboriginal Artists |access-date=27 May 2009 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090530005151/http://www.ankaaa.org.au/ANKAAA_ArtGuideBrochure.pdf |archive-date=30 May 2009 }} and these collaborate through a cooperative venture, Tiwi Art.{{cite web|url=http://www.tiwiart.com/|title=Tiwi Art|access-date=27 May 2009}} Apart from Tiwi Art network there are two independent operations: fabric design, printing and clothing business Bima Wear,{{cite web|url=http://www.bimawear.com/|title=Bima Wear|access-date=13 July 2009}} operated by Indigenous women since 1969, and Ngaruwanajirri, also known as 'The Keeping Place'.

Tiwi artists who have held international exhibitions or whose works are held in major Australian collections include Kitty Kantilla, Donna Burak,{{cite web|url=http://www.ankaaa.org.au/Committee_profile/Donna_burak.html|title=ANKAAA biography: Donna Burak – Tiwi Region|publisher=Association of Northern, Kimberley and Arnhem Aboriginal Artists|access-date=27 May 2009|archive-date=31 May 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090531132434/http://www.ankaaa.org.au/Committee_profile/Donna_burak.html|url-status=dead}} Jean Baptiste Apuatimi,{{cite web|url=http://www.tiwiart.com/exhibitions.asp?iToDisplay=2 |title=Tiwi Art – upcoming exhibitions |publisher=Tiwi Art |access-date=27 May 2009 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080720061406/http://www.tiwiart.com/exhibitions.asp?iToDisplay=2 |archive-date=20 July 2008 }} and Fiona Puruntatameri.{{cite web|url=http://artsearch.nga.gov.au/Detail.cfm?IRN=2952&PICTAUS=TRUE|title=Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander Art Collection: Snapper|publisher=National Gallery of Australia|access-date=27 May 2009}}

A lot of wood carvings of birds are made by Tiwi people. Some of these are displayed in the Mission Heritage Gallery on Bathurst Island. The carvings represent various birds from Tiwi mythology, which have various meanings. Certain birds tell the Tiwi people about approaching monsoonal rains whilst others warn of impending cyclones. Others, depending on the totem of the people, alert the Tiwi people that someone has died in a particular clan. There are others that represent ancestral beings who were, according to mythology, changed into birds. Carved birds are sometimes at the top of pukumani poles, which are placed at burial sites.

The carving of human sculptures on the Tiwi islands was introduced by Cardo Kerinauia into Paru village in the 1960s after he had seen sculptures in Darwin.{{Cite book |title=Tiwi : art, history, culture |last=Isaacs |first=Jennifer|date=2012|publisher=Melbourne University Publishing|isbn=9780522858556|location=Carlton, Vic.|oclc=801411575}} Paru villagers soon started a cottage industry of wood carving and had several pioneering Tiwi artists including Declan Apuatimi, Enraeld Munkara and Mick Aruni.{{Cite web|url=https://www.aboriginal-bark-paintings.com/tiwi-carving/|title=Tiwi carving {{!}} Sell Tiwi carving {{!}} Tiwi sculpture {{!}} Tiwi artefact|date=6 December 2017|website=Aboriginal Bark Paintings|language=en-US|access-date=13 February 2019}}

The Tiwi people also create many of their designs on fabric. The main method uses wax to resist dyeing similarly to Indonesian batik prints. Various fabrics are used ranging from sturdy, woven cotton to delicate silks, from which they create silk scarves.

The creation of their artwork is usually a social activity and consists of groups of people sitting together and talking whilst they work in a relaxed fashion. Often these groupings are segregated by gender.

File:Tiwi_pukamani_poles2.jpg

The pukamani, or pukumani, is a burial ceremony based on a Dreamtime story,{{cite web | title=Pukamani pole: sacred object or commodity? | website=Creativity and Innovation in a World of Movement CIM:Resource | date=28 February 2013 | url=http://www.open.ac.uk/blogs/cim/pukamani-pole-sacred-object-or-commodity/ | access-date=10 February 2020 | archive-date=21 April 2021 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210421214912/http://www.open.ac.uk/blogs/cim/pukamani-pole-sacred-object-or-commodity/ | url-status=dead }} which is performed around carved and painted grave posts, known as tutini (sometimes referred to as pukumani poles). The ceremony takes place two to six months after the burial, and may last for a few days. Specially commissioned carvers carve and paint up to 12 tutini, which are erected around the grave mound. They are made from ironwood and decorated with white clay, black charcoal, and ground yellow or red ochre.

Dancers thread their way amongst the tutini and at the end of the ceremony, Tunga, or painted bark baskets, are placed on top of the posts. The burial poles, which are intended as gifts to please the spirits of the dead, are left to decay.{{cite web | title=Burial - Pukumani, Tiwi Islands | website=The Australian Museum | url=https://australianmuseum.net.au/about/history/exhibitions/death-the-last-taboo/burial-pukumani-tiwi-islands/| access-date=10 February 2020|date =6 December 2018}}{{cite web | title=Being Tiwi: the work of 9 artists from the Tiwi Islands - Stories & ideas | website=MCA Australia | url=https://www.mca.com.au/stories-and-ideas/being-tiwi-curatorial-essay/ | access-date=10 February 2020}}

There is some discussion about whether the poles are sacred ritualistic objects, or a commodified work of fine art (in one case, an exhibition displaying objects which resembled the poles created by Melbourne designers was withdrawn{{cite web | last=Francis | first=Hannah | title=Sculptures resembling Tiwi burial poles deemed 'cultural appropriation' and destroyed | website=The Sydney Morning Herald | date=1 April 2017 | url=https://www.smh.com.au/entertainment/art-and-design/sculptures-resembling-tiwi-burial-poles-removed-from-winning-exhibit-at-melbourne-flower-and-garden-show-20170328-gv8fdf.html | access-date=10 February 2020}}) but specially commissioned poles are freely borrowed or sold for displays in art galleries around Australia and the world.{{cite web | title=Being Tiwi: the work of 9 artists from the Tiwi Islands - Stories & ideas | website=MCA Australia | date=22 January 2018 | url=https://www.mca.com.au/stories-and-ideas/being-tiwi-curatorial-essay/ | access-date=10 February 2020}}{{cite journal|journal=Art Journal | title=Narrative and decoration in Tiwi painting: Tiwi representations of the Purukuparli story | publisher=National Gallery of Victoria|first=James|last= Bennett | date=16 Jun 2014|issue=33 | url=https://www.ngv.vic.gov.au/essay/narrative-and-decoration-in-tiwi-painting-tiwi-representations-of-the-purukuparli-story/ | access-date=10 February 2020}}

The band B2M ("Bathurst to Melville"), fronted by Jeffrey "Yello" Simon, was formed in the Tiwi Islands in December 2004 in Nguiu (now Wurrumiyanga) Simon, who started a career in the police force and had to attend attempted suicides, was determined to try to make a difference through music.{{cite interview | interviewer-first=Deborah | interviewer-last=Brown | title=Interview: Jeffrey 'Yello' Simon from B2M in the Tiwi Islands | first=Jeffrey | last=Simon | website=Riverside Parramatta | date=13 August 2020 | url=https://riversideparramatta.com.au/2018/08/interview-jeffrey-yello-simon-from-b2m-in-the-tiwi-islands/ | access-date=28 March 2021 | others=Originally published on Audrey Journal. | archive-date=22 December 2022 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221222135156/https://riversideparramatta.com.au/2018/08/interview-jeffrey-yello-simon-from-b2m-in-the-tiwi-islands/ | url-status=dead }} As of 2015 other band members included Greg Orsto, James "Fab" Kantilla, Daniel Cunningham, Darren Narul and dancer Shelton Murray, all of whom sing.

They made their first recording from a live acoustic set in Darwin in 2008, which was titled B2M – Live at The Monsoon Sessions. Later in the same year, they won Emerging Artist of the Year at the NT Indigenous Music Awards (now called the National Indigenous Music Awards). In 2011 the band released their first official track, "Japparik'a", which is the Tiwi Bombers Football Club's anthem. Their debut album (2213) Home was released in 2015 on Skinnyfish Music, containing work shaped over 10 years. It included their first single, "Parlingarri", which contains an old Tiwi chant never before heard outside the Tiwi Islands; special permission had to obtained from Tiwi elders to use it.{{cite web | last=True | first=Everett | title=B2M: (2213) Home review – boyband balladry meets Tiwi Island culture | website=The Guardian | date=27 February 2015 | url=http://www.theguardian.com/music/2015/feb/27/b2m-2213-home-review-boyband-balladry-meets-tiwi-island-culture | access-date=28 March 2021}}

They have a large Indigenous following in Australia, where they often sing songs with positive messages about alcohol and drugs. They have toured East Timor, Bali and Shanghai. The band toured Taiwan, headlining the Pulima Indigenous arts festival in 2016, and played the Northern Territory's Barunga Festival in 2018.{{cite web | last=Hennessy | first=Kate | title='It's a blackout': Barunga festival packed with music and meaning | website=The Guardian | date=15 June 2018 | url=http://www.theguardian.com/culture/2018/jun/15/its-a-blackout-barunga-festival-packed-with-music-and-meaning | access-date=25 November 2020}} They sang more traditional songs in Taiwan, and were inspired by their experience there to instigate "Project Songlines", in which they mix very old traditional Tiwi chants with chants from other indigenous cultures.{{cite web | last=Davidson | first=Helen | title='They are so into it': B2M is the Tiwi Islands boyband conquering Asia | website=The Guardian | date=29 November 2016 | url=http://www.theguardian.com/music/2016/nov/29/tiwi-islands-rb-band-b2m-take-ancient-traditions-to-the-worlds-dancefloors | access-date=28 March 2021}} Also in 2018, they did a nationwide tour named Mamanta, performing at the Riverside Theatres in Parramatta in September. They had been working with Australian-Irish musician Steve Cooney, including experimenting with mixing up traditional Irish Gaelic music with Tiwi sounds. Their main motivation for touring is to share their culture. The 2018 tour included 23 shows and 15 workshops.{{cite web | title=B2M member passes away aged 59 | website=The Music Network | date=8 January 2021 | url=https://themusicnetwork.com/b2m-band-member-dies/ | access-date=28 March 2021}}

Sadly, singer Greg Orsto died on 5 January 2021 of a heart attack, aged 59. He was described as ""the heart of B2M, a quiet but powerful influence on the band".{{cite web | title=Singer in Tiwi Islands R&B band B2M dies aged 59 | website=NME |first=Caleb|last= Triscari | date=6 January 2021 | url=https://www.nme.com/en_au/news/music/singer-in-tiwi-islands-rb-band-b2m-dies-aged-59-2850028 | access-date=28 March 2021}}

Australian rules football is the most popular sport on the Tiwi Islands, and was introduced in 1941 by missionaries John Pye{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article126942338 |title='Cowboy' Neale to meet his fans |newspaper=The Canberra Times |volume=67 |issue=20,972 |location=Australian Capital Territory, Australia |date=13 September 1992 |access-date=6 January 2024 |page=16 |via=National Library of Australia}} and Andy Howley.{{Cite news | title =Tiwi Islands Grand Final | work =Stateline | publisher =Australian Broadcasting Corporation | date =24 March 2006 | url =http://www.abc.net.au/stateline/nt/content/2006/s1600507.htm | access-date =15 August 2008 | archive-url =https://web.archive.org/web/20160303182757/http://www.abc.net.au/stateline/nt/content/2006/s1600507.htm | archive-date =3 March 2016 | url-status =dead | df =dmy-all }} There has been a Tiwi Islands Football League competition since 1969.{{cite web|url=http://sportingpulse.com/assoc_page.cgi?c=1-5545-0-0-0&sID=75919|title=Tiwi Islands Football League: 1969–2008|year=2008|access-date=27 May 2009}}

File:Aboriginal football.jpg

The Tiwi Australian Football League has 900 participants out of a community of about 2600, the highest football participation rate in Australia (35%).{{Cite news|url=http://www.theage.com.au/news/northern-territory/even-a-cyclone-cant-stop-the-footy/2005/03/19/1111086063413.html|title=Even a cyclone can't stop the footy|date=20 March 2005|access-date=14 May 2006|work=The Sun-Herald}} The Tiwi Islands Football League Grand Final is held in March each year and attracts up to 3,000 spectators.

Tiwi footballers are renowned for exquisite "one-touch" skills. Many of the players have a preference for playing barefoot. Many of the male players also play for the St Mary's Football Club in Darwin, which was formed specifically to allow Tiwi soldiers in the 1950s to play in the Northern Territory Football League.

The Tiwi Bombers Football Club fielded a team in the Northern Territory Football League from the 2006/07 season.

Notable footballers from the Tiwi Islands to have played in the national VFL / AFL competition. Particularly notable is the Rioli dynasty of AFL players related to Cyril Rioli Snr. Members of the family include Maurice Rioli, Cyril Rioli, Daniel Rioli,{{cite web|url=http://www.news.com.au/heraldsun/sport/afl/story/0,26576,24269334-19767,00.html|title=Maurice: Cyril may be best Rioli yet|last=McFarlane|first=Glenn|date=31 August 2008|work=Herald Sun|access-date=27 May 2009}} Dean Rioli, Willie Rioli, Daniel Rioli and Maurice Rioli Jr. Other notable players include Ronnie Burns,{{cite web|url=http://www.afl.com.au/tabid/208/default.aspx?newsid=77217 |title=The Tiwi effect |last=Roffey |first=Chelsea |author-link=Chelsea Roffey |date=21 May 2009 |work=AFL BigPond |access-date=29 June 2009 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120930211031/http://www.afl.com.au/tabid/208/default.aspx?newsid=77217 |archive-date=30 September 2012 }} Michael Long, Austin Wonaeamirri,{{cite web|url=http://www.melbournefc.com.au/tabid/7415/Default.aspx?newsid=60016 |title=Q&A with Austin Wonaeamirri |last=Burgan |first=Matt |date=22 May 2008 |work=Melbourne Football Club |access-date=27 May 2009 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091003095854/http://www.melbournefc.com.au/tabid/7415/Default.aspx?newsid=60016 |archive-date=3 October 2009 }} David Kantilla{{cite web|url=http://stmarysfc0.tripod.com/id59.html|title=St Mary's F.C. – David Kantilla|access-date=27 May 2009}} Anthony McDonald-Tipungwuti and Ben Long.

Maurice Rioli (1982) and Michael Long (1993) are both uncles of Cyril Rioli (2015), and all three have won the Norm Smith Medal for being adjudged the best player of an AFL Grand Final.

The Tiwi Islands Football Club was the subject of a series on ABC's Message Stick in 2009, called "In A League of Their Own".{{cite web|url=http://inaleagueoftheirown.com.au/|title=In A League of Their Own|year=2009|access-date=21 May 2009|archive-date=5 April 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230405102756/https://www.inaleagueoftheirown.com.au/|url-status=dead}}

As reported in The Weekend Australian in 2010, Australian cricketers led by Mathew Hayden raised $200,000 for cricket development in the Tiwi Islands. With former internationals Allan Border, Michael Kasprowicz and Andy Bichel, the match between Hayden XI and Border XI had a turnout of 1,000 people, nearly half the islands' population.{{Cite web|url=https://www.espncricinfo.com/ci/content/test/error/index.html|title=Oops… Looks like something went wrong! This page does not exist or has been moved.|website=www.espncricinfo.com}}

File:Tiwi Islands car ferry.jpg

A commercial flight operator, Fly Tiwi, connects both islands to each other and to Darwin. Formed as an association between Hardy Aviation and the Tiwi Land Council, Fly Tiwi has daily flights to all three communities on the islands.{{cite web|url=http://www.flytiwi.com.au/main/page_about_us.html |title=About Fly Tiwi |publisher=Fly Tiwi |access-date=20 November 2013 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140114031508/http://flytiwi.com.au/main/page_about_us.html |archive-date=14 January 2014 }}

SeaLink NT operates ferry services connecting Wurrumiyanga and Darwin, making the 2.5-hour trip each way three days a week."SeaLink NT ferry timetable" [https://www.sealinknt.com.au/ferry/]". Retrieved 23 February 2017

In 2008, local government maintained {{cvt|925|km}} of roads on the islands.{{cite web|url=http://www.localgovernment.nt.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0016/41506/NORTHERN_REGION_RMP_Aug_08.pdf |title=Local Government Regional Management Plan – Northern Region |last=Northern Territory Department of Local Government and Housing |date=August 2008 |access-date=7 September 2009 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090515044028/http://www.localgovernment.nt.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0016/41506/NORTHERN_REGION_RMP_Aug_08.pdf |archive-date=15 May 2009 }}

The islands' climatic and geographical extremity means that they have distinctive vegetation and special conservation values:

because of their isolation and because they have extremely high rainfall, the Tiwi Islands support many species not recorded elsewhere in the Northern Territory (or in the world), and some range-restricted species. The Tiwi Islands contain the Territory's best-developed (tallest and with greatest basal area) eucalypt forests and an unusually high density and extent of rainforests.

The Tiwi Islands have a tropical monsoon climate, (Köppen Am), with {{cvt|2000|mm}} of rainfall on northern Bathurst Island and {{cvt|1200 to 1400|mm}} on eastern Melville Island.{{cite web|url=http://tiwilandcouncil.com/documents/publications/land/Tiwi_physical_profile.pdf/Tiwi_physical_profile.pdf |title=Tiwi Islands Regional Natural Resource Management Strategy – Tiwi Physical Profile |publisher=Tiwi Land Council |access-date=20 November 2013 }} {{dead link|date=November 2016 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }} The wet season from November to April brings the islands the highest rainfall in the Northern Territory. The Tiwi people describe three distinct seasons: the dry (season of smoke), the buildup (high humidity and cicadas songs) and the wet (storms) The seasons frame the lifestyle of the Tiwi people, dictating the food sources available and their ceremonial activities.{{cite web |title=The Tiwi Islands: Location |website=Tiwi Art Network |url=http://www.tiwiart.com/tiwi_islands/item/9 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110617082611/http://www.tiwiart.com/tiwi_islands/item/9 |archive-date=2011-06-17 }}

Tiwi is subject to a recurring meteorological phenomenon, dubbed Hector, wherein a thunderstorm forms nearly every day from November to December and February through March. The storm is very powerful, going over 20 kilometres into the atmosphere, and is visible from as far away as Darwin.{{cite web |title=The cloud called Hector |url=https://cloudappreciationsociety.org/the-cloud-called-hector/ |website=Cloud Appreciation Society |access-date=23 August 2022 |date=7 September 2006}} It is caused by the collision of sea breezes across the islands.{{cite journal |last=Beringer |first=Jason |author2=Tapper, Nigel J. |author3=Keenan, Tom D. |title=Evolution of maritime continent thunderstorms under varying meteorological conditions over the Tiwi Islands |journal=International Journal of Climatology |date=30 June 2001 |volume=21 |issue=8 |pages=1021–1036 |doi=10.1002/joc.622 |bibcode = 2001IJCli..21.1021B |s2cid=129777034 }}

{{Weather box|location = Pirlangimpi Airport

|metric first = Y

|single line = Y

|Jan record high C = 36.4

|Feb record high C = 36.5

|Mar record high C = 36.7

|Apr record high C = 37.1

|May record high C = 35.8

|Jun record high C = 35.0

|Jul record high C = 35.1

|Aug record high C = 36.1

|Sep record high C = 38.3

|Oct record high C = 38.1

|Nov record high C = 38.6

|Dec record high C = 37.2

|year record high C =

|Jan high C = 32.1

|Feb high C = 32.0

|Mar high C = 32.4

|Apr high C = 33.0

|May high C = 32.8

|Jun high C = 31.6

|Jul high C = 31.6

|Aug high C = 32.5

|Sep high C = 33.7

|Oct high C = 34.1

|Nov high C = 34.0

|Dec high C = 33.2

|year high C =

|Jan mean C = 28.4

|Feb mean C = 28.3

|Mar mean C = 28.2

|Apr mean C = 28.1

|May mean C = 27.1

|Jun mean C = 25.3

|Jul mean C = 25.0

|Aug mean C = 25.8

|Sep mean C = 27.5

|Oct mean C = 28.6

|Nov mean C = 29.1

|Dec mean C = 29.0

|Jan low C = 24.8

|Feb low C = 24.6

|Mar low C = 24.1

|Apr low C = 23.2

|May low C = 21.5

|Jun low C = 19.0

|Jul low C = 18.5

|Aug low C = 19.1

|Sep low C = 21.4

|Oct low C = 23.1

|Nov low C = 24.2

|Dec low C = 24.9

|year low C =

|Jan record low C = 15.4

|Feb record low C = 20.0

|Mar record low C = 18.0

|Apr record low C = 15.7

|May record low C = 14.0

|Jun record low C = 10.5

|Jul record low C = 11.6

|Aug record low C = 12.8

|Sep record low C = 15.9

|Oct record low C = 18.9

|Nov record low C = 17.6

|Dec record low C = 21.0

|year record low C =

|rain colour = green

|Jan rain mm = 414.2

|Feb rain mm = 374.8

|Mar rain mm = 331.9

|Apr rain mm = 192.0

|May rain mm = 22.7

|Jun rain mm = 0.9

|Jul rain mm = 1.8

|Aug rain mm = 3.2

|Sep rain mm = 22.2

|Oct rain mm = 79.0

|Nov rain mm = 182.2

|Dec rain mm = 361.2

|Jan rain days = 20.9

|Feb rain days = 20.0

|Mar rain days = 21.3

|Apr rain days = 13.4

|May rain days = 3.9

|Jun rain days = 0.6

|Jul rain days = 0.8

|Aug rain days = 1.0

|Sep rain days = 3.1

|Oct rain days = 8.1

|Nov rain days = 14.8

|Dec rain days = 19.0

|source 1 = {{Cite web | url=http://www.bom.gov.au/jsp/ncc/cdio/cvg/av?p_stn_num=014142&p_prim_element_index=0&p_comp_element_index=0&redraw=null&p_display_type=full_statistics_table&normals_years=1991-2020&tablesizebutt=normal | title=Climate statistics for Australian locations | access-date=2024-08-09 | website=www.bom.gov.au}}

}}

The islands have been isolated from the Australian mainland since the last Ice Age. They are covered mainly with eucalypt forest on a gently sloping lateritic plateau. The extensive open forest, open woodlands and riparian vegetation are dominated by Darwin Stringybarks, Woollybutts, and Cajuputs. There are small patches of rainforest occurring in association with perennial freshwater springs, and mangroves occupying the numerous inlets.

There is a range of threatened and endemic species on the Tiwi Islands. Thirty-eight threatened species have been recorded, and a number of plants and invertebrates are found nowhere else, including eight plant species and some land snails and dragonflies. The islands are exceptionally mammal diverse, hosting 36 species of native mammals. Threatened mammals include Brush-tailed rabbit rats, northern brush-tailed phascogales, false water rats and Carpentarian dunnarts. The islands host the world's largest breeding colony of crested terns and a large population of the vulnerable olive ridley turtle; a sea turtle conservation program commenced on the islands in 2007.{{cite web|title=Sea Turtle Conservation and Education on the Tiwi Islands |publisher=Department of the Environment and Water Resources, Commonwealth of Australia |year=2007 |url=http://www.environment.gov.au/coasts/publications/pubs/tiwi-turtle-conservation.pdf |access-date=15 August 2008 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080817085122/http://www.environment.gov.au/coasts/publications/pubs/tiwi-turtle-conservation.pdf |archive-date=17 August 2008 }} The seas and estuaries around the islands are home to several species of shark and saltwater crocodiles.

Invasive mammals on the islands include black rats, cats, pigs, water buffalo, horses, and cattle. Water buffalo are common on Melville Island but not Bathurst Island, while feral pigs are common on Bathurst Island but not Melville Island.{{Cite web |title=Tiwi Animals |url=https://tiwilandcouncil.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=page&p=227&l=2&id=56&smid=162 |access-date=May 21, 2022 |website=Tiwi Land Council}} The Tiwi Land Council is currently working to eradicate feral pigs from Melville Island before they can establish a large population. The Tiwi Land Council and the Tiwi Aboriginal community more broadly are both in favor of feral cat eradication, although no plans for it are currently underway.{{Cite web |title=Feral Animals |url=https://tiwilandcouncil.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=page&p=289&l=2&id=64&smid=203 |access-date=May 21, 2022 |website=Tiwi Land Council}}

The islands have been identified as an Important Bird Area (IBA) by BirdLife International because they support relatively high densities of red goshawks, partridge pigeons and bush stone-curlews, as well as up to 12,000 (over 1% of the world population) great knots. Other birds for which the Tiwi Island populations are globally significant include chestnut rails, beach stone-curlews, northern rosellas, varied lorikeets, rainbow pittas, silver-crowned friarbirds, white-gaped, yellow-tinted and bar-breasted honeyeaters, canary white-eyes and masked finches.{{cite web|url=http://www.birdata.com.au/iba.vm |title=IBA: Tiwi Islands |access-date=6 November 2011 |work=Birdata |publisher=Birds Australia |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110706102341/http://www.birdata.com.au/iba.vm |archive-date=6 July 2011 }} The birds have a high level of endemism at the subspecific level; the Tiwi masked owl (Tyto novaehollandiae melvillensis) is considered endangered and the Tiwi hooded robin (Melanodryas cucullata melvillensis) is at least endangered and may be extinct.BirdLife International. (2011). Important Bird Areas factsheet: Tiwi Islands. Downloaded from {{cite web |url=http://www.birdlife.org |title=BirdLife International - conserving the world's birds |access-date=10 December 2012 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070630122358/http://www.birdlife.org/ |archive-date=30 June 2007 }} on 6 November 2011.

{{outdated section|date=July 2019}}

Forest products are an important part of the Tiwi Islands economy, but the sector has had a chequered history. Forestry dates back to 1898, with plantations being trialled from the 1950s and 1960s.{{cite web|url=https://senate.aph.gov.au/submissions/comittees/viewdocument.aspx?id=6409d1ea-3d42-4a44-912f-f26fd6034b24|title=Tiwi Land Council Submission to the Inquiry into Mining and Forestry on the Tiwi Islands|last=Tiwi Land Council|date=March 2009|publisher=Senate Environment, Communications and the Arts References Committee|access-date=27 May 2009|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091004185959/https://senate.aph.gov.au/submissions/comittees/viewdocument.aspx?id=6409d1ea-3d42-4a44-912f-f26fd6034b24|archive-date=4 October 2009}}{{cite web|url=https://senate.aph.gov.au/submissions/comittees/viewdocument.aspx?id=80167139-c85f-49a9-b6e0-534ba2cedb19 |title=CSIRO Submission to the Inquiry into Mining and Forestry on the Tiwi Islands |last=CSIRO |date=March 2009 |publisher=Senate Environment, Communications and the Arts References Committee |access-date=27 May 2009 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091004191416/https://senate.aph.gov.au/submissions/comittees/viewdocument.aspx?id=80167139-c85f-49a9-b6e0-534ba2cedb19 |archive-date=4 October 2009 }} A native softwood enterprise was established in the mid-1980s, as a partnership between the private sector and the Land Council, but by the mid-1990s, the Land Council was winding the venture down, noting that its investor partner had "various tax driven ambitions which are growingly incompatible with our own employment and sustainable production goals".{{Cite book|last=Tiwi Land Council|title=Tiwi Islands Region Economic Development Strategy|publisher=Tiwi Land Council|location=Winnellie, NT|date=November 1996}} Despite the setback, it was still considered that forestry was likely to be crucial to the Tiwi economy, and in 2001 the Land Council and Australian Plantations Group commenced a major expansion of Acacia mangium plantations to supply woodchips.{{Cite book|last=Australian Plantation Group Pty Ltd|author2=Tiwi Land Council |title=Australian Plantation Group Pty Ltd/Forestry/Melville Island/NT/Hardwood Plantation: Invitation for public comment|publisher=Department of Environment, Water, Heritage and the Arts|location=Canberra|date=30 March 2001|url=http://www.environment.gov.au/cgi-bin/epbc/epbc_ap.pl?name=current_referral_detail&proposal_id=229}} The operations of Australian Plantations Group (later named Sylvatech) were purchased by Great Southern Group in 2005.{{Cite book|last=Great Southern Limited |title=Annual Report 2005 |year=2005 |url=http://www.great-southern.com.au/Annual_Reports.aspx |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090601163135/http://www.great-southern.com.au/Annual_Reports.aspx |archive-date=1 June 2009 }} In 2006, the operations were reported to be "the largest native-forest clearing project in northern Australia". In September 2007 the Northern Territory Government investigated claims that the company had breached environmental laws,{{Cite news|title =Woodchip plantation breached environmental conditions: report | work =ABC News | publisher =Australian Broadcasting Corporation | date =16 September 2007 | url =http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2007/09/16/2034000.htm | archive-url =https://archive.today/20120716181820/http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2007/09/16/2034000.htm | url-status =dead | archive-date =16 July 2012 | access-date =15 August 2008 }} with financial penalties being imposed by the Federal environment department in 2008.{{Cite news|url=http://www.smh.com.au/news/environment/forest-firm-told-to-pay-2m-for-damaging-islands/2008/10/15/1223750129823.html|title=Forest firm told to pay $2m for damaging islands|last=Wilkinson|first=Marian|date=16 October 2008|work=Sydney Morning Herald|access-date=29 June 2009}} Much of the cleared land is used for cattle or monoculture plantations, which the timber company has maintained are an important source of local jobs.{{Cite news|title =Land clearing threatens Tiwi Islands | work =The Sydney Morning Herald | publisher =Fairfax Ltd | date =17 September 2007 | url =http://www.smh.com.au/news/National/Land-clearing-threatens-Tiwi-islands/2007/09/19/1189881579181.html | access-date =15 August 2008 }} Great Southern Plantations collapsed in early 2009, and the Tiwi Land Council has been examining options for future management of the plantations.{{Cite news|title =$80 million needed for Tiwi plantations: council | work =ABC News | publisher =Australian Broadcasting Corporation | date =16 July 2009 | url =http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2009/07/16/2627980.htm | archive-url =https://web.archive.org/web/20090719093126/http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2009/07/16/2627980.htm | url-status =dead | archive-date =19 July 2009 | access-date =18 July 2009 }}

The islands have mineral sands on both Melville Island's north coast and the western coast of Bathurst Island.{{Cite book|last=Tiwi Land Council|title=Tiwi Islands Regional Natural Resource Management Strategy|publisher=Tiwi Land Council|location=Winnellie, NT|year=2004}} In 2005, Matilda Minerals developed a proposal for mining on the islands, which was assessed and approved in 2006.{{Cite book|url=http://www.nt.gov.au/nreta/environment/assessment/register/matildaminerals/pdf/MatildaAssessmentReport-Final.pdf |last=Northern Territory Government Environmental Protection Agency Program |title=Andranangoo Creek West and Lethbridge Bay West Mineral Sands Mining Project: Environmental Assessment Report and Recommendations |publisher=Department of Natural Resources, Environment and the Arts |location=Darwin, NT |date=May 2006 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081119073113/http://www.nt.gov.au/nreta/environment/assessment/register/matildaminerals/pdf/MatildaAssessmentReport-Final.pdf |archive-date=19 November 2008 }} In 2007 sand mining produced the first shipments of zircon and rutile for export to China.{{cite web|url=http://www.astronchem.com/english/investors/20070803_Media%20Clip%20-%20Astron.pdf|title=Matilda's first shipment waltzes away|date=3 August 2007|publisher=Astron Ltd|access-date=29 June 2009}} A {{convert|7800|t|e6lb|abbr=off}} shipment was made in June 2007,{{Cite news | title =Matilda sends first sands from Tiwi Islands | work =Lloyd's List Daily Commercial News | publisher =Informa Australia Pty Ltd | date =21 June 2007 | url =http://www.lloydslistdcn.com.au/archive/2007/jun/21/matilda-sends-first-sands-from-tiwi-islands | access-date =29 June 2009 | url-status =dead | archive-url =https://web.archive.org/web/20110706110442/http://www.lloydslistdcn.com.au/archive/2007/jun/21/matilda-sends-first-sands-from-tiwi-islands | archive-date =6 July 2011 | df =dmy-all }} with a further {{convert|5000|t|e6lb|abbr=off}} shipped later that year. Matilda Minerals planned to conduct mining for four years, but in August 2008, its Tiwi operations were halted, and in October of that year it was placed in administration.{{cite web|url=http://www.ferrierhodgson.com/Current%20Matters/Corporate%20Recovery%20Matters/Matilda%20Minerals%20Limited.aspx|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110710235316/http://www.ferrierhodgson.com/Current%20Matters/Corporate%20Recovery%20Matters/Matilda%20Minerals%20Limited.aspx|url-status=dead|archive-date=10 July 2011|title=Matilda Minerals Limited|publisher=Ferrier Hodgson|access-date=29 June 2009}}{{Cite news|url=http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/business/story/0,28124,24530966-36418,00.html|archive-url=https://archive.today/20120913203559/http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/business/story/0,28124,24530966-36418,00.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=13 September 2012|title=Matilda Minerals in administration as China sale fails|last=Tasker|first=Sarah-Jane|date=22 October 2008|work=The Australian|access-date=29 June 2009}}

In March 2020, Plantation Management Partners (PMP), which manages around 30,000 hectares of acacia mangium trees on the Tiwis, made the decision to delay the year's harvest while demand for woodchips in China was depressed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[https://www.abc.net.au/news/rural/2020-03-06/tiwi-islands-woodchip-demand-cut-down-by-coronavirus/12029322 Woodchip demand in China cut down by coronavirus, impacting remote Tiwi Island jobs], Matt Brann, ABC News Online, 2020-03-06

• Hector (storm)

{{Reflist|30em}}

• {{cite journal|title=The Tiwi and the British: an ill-fated outpost|first=John|last=Morris|journal=Aboriginal History |date=2001|volume=25|pages=243–260|url=http://press-files.anu.edu.au/downloads/press/p72971/pdf/ch1612.pdf}}
• {{cite book|first=John|last=Morris|title=The Tiwi: From Isolation to Cultural Change: A History of Encounters Between an Island People and Outside Forces |date=2001|isbn=1-876248-60-2|publisher=NTUniprint|url=https://tiwilandcouncil.com/documents/Uploads/The%20Tiwi%20from%20isolation%20to%20cultural%20change_Morris_2001lr.pdf}}
• {{cite web | title=Timeline: Dreamtime to 1978| website=Tiwi Land Council | url=http://www.tiwilandcouncil.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=page&p=294&l=3&id=56&smid=164&ssmid=66}}
• {{cite web|url=http://www.australiaforeveryone.com.au/darwin/tiwi-islands.html|website=Pocket Oz Travel and Information Guide: Darwin|title=Beyond Darwin: Tiwi Islands}}
• [https://profile.id.com.au/rda-northern-territory/about?WebID=220 Tiwi Islands Regional Council LGA] (Regional Development Australia, Northern Territory)

{{Commons category}}

• [http://www.tiwilandcouncil.net.au/ Tiwi Land Council] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061230075207/http://www.tiwilandcouncil.net.au/ |date=30 December 2006 }}
• [http://www.tiwiislands.nt.gov.au/ Tiwi Islands Shire Council] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200110011735/http://www.tiwiislands.nt.gov.au/ |date=10 January 2020 }}
• {{Wikivoyage-inline|Tiwi Islands}}

{{Islands of the Northern Territory|state=collapsed}}

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Category:Islands of the Northern Territory

Category:Tourist attractions in the Northern Territory

Category:Important Bird Areas of the Northern Territory

Category:IBRA subregions

Category:Arnhem Land tropical savanna