Wreck Bay Village

{{Infobox Australian place

| name = Wreck Bay Village

| type = town

| state = jbt

| image = Wreck Bay.jpg

| caption = Panorama of Wreck Bay, with the village on the far right

| image_alt = Sign surrounded by rocks, reading "Wreck Bay Aboriginal Community Council - you are now entering private land owned and managed by the Wreck Bay Aboriginal Community Council"

| coordinates = {{Coord|35|10|00|S|150|41|23|E|display=inline,title}}

| pop =

| pop_year =

| pop_footnotes =

| density =

| density_footnotes =

| est =

| gazetted =

| postcode = 2540

| elevation = 30

| elevation_footnotes = Topographic map 9027 Jervis Bay

| area =

| area_footnotes =

| timezone = AEST

| utc = +10

| timezone-dst = AEDT

| utc-dst = +11

| dist1 = 204

| dir1 = ENE

| location1 = Canberra

| dist2 = 6.6

| dir2 = S

| location2 = Jervis Bay Village

| fedgov = Fenner{{Cite web|url=https://www.aec.gov.au/profiles/act/fenner.htm|title=Profile of the electoral division of Fenner (ACT)|publisher=Australian Electoral Commission|date=19 November 2019|accessdate=8 May 2013 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240302020641/https://www.aec.gov.au/profiles/act/fenner.htm |archive-date=2 March 2024 |quote=The Division of Fenner also includes the Jervis Bay Territory.}}

| maxtemp = 20.6

| maxtemp_footnotes = {{BoM Aust stats|site_ref=cw_068151|site_name=Jervis Bay (Point Perpendicular AWS)|accessdate=8 May 2013}}

| mintemp = 14.2

| mintemp_footnotes =

| rainfall = 1165.6

| rainfall_footnotes =

}}

Wreck Bay Village, formerly Wreck Bay Aboriginal Reserve, is an Aboriginal village in the Jervis Bay Territory, Australia. At the 2021 census the population was 152.{{Census 2021 AUS |id=ILOC90200102 |name=Wreck Bay |access-date=2 March 2024 |quick=on}} It is mainly an Australian Aboriginal community, run by the Wreck Bay Aboriginal Community Council.

Geography

Wreck Bay Village is at the northeast corner of Wreck Bay between the small coves called Mary Bay and Summercloud Bay. It is in the south of the territory. It is about {{convert|2|km|mi|1|abbr=on}} south of Jervis Bay Airfield and {{convert|6.6|km|mi|1|abbr=on}} by road from Jervis Bay Village.

History

The first European settlement around Jervis Bay started in the early 1880s. Wreck Bay forms part of the Jervis Bay Territory, which became Commonwealth territory in 1915 so that the national government based in Canberra could have access to the sea.{{cite web | url=http://www.environment.gov.au/topics/national-parks/booderee-national-park/culture-and-history/european-history |title=European History |publisher=Australian Government Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water | accessdate=2017-03-17 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240302021439/https://www.dcceew.gov.au/parks-heritage/national-parks/booderee-national-park/culture-and-history/european-history |date=18 October 2021 |archive-date=2 March 2024 |url-status=live}}

Wreck Bay is so called because the waves are generally quite high and it is easy for a ship to be destroyed.

Aboriginal people started a small settlement at Summercloud Bay around the early 1900s. They favoured the area because of strong cultural ties, its closeness to both the bush and the sea for collection of food and other sources and because of its distance from European settlements. This area later became an Aboriginal reserve known as the Wreck Bay Aboriginal Reserve that was put under control of a mission manager. The decision to create this permanent settlement has enabled cultural practices to survive.{{cite web|url=http://www.environment.gov.au/topics/national-parks/booderee-national-park/culture-and-history/aboriginal-culture-and-history |title=Aboriginal Culture and History |publisher=Australian Government Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water | accessdate=2017-03-17 |url-status=live |archive-date=2 March 2024 |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/JPKJm}}

The {{convert|402|ha}} of land was officially handed to the Aboriginal community in 1995 by the Australian Government, including Booderee National Park and Botanic Gardens.

In 2021 Nikita Ridgeway created indigenous artwork used to decorate two fire trucks used by Wreck Bay (Australia) Rural Fire Brigade.{{Cite web|date=2021-11-16|title=Australian Apparatus Art: See Wreck Bay's Unique Truck Design|url=https://www.fireapparatusmagazine.com/fire-apparatus/australian-apparatus-art-see-wreck-bays-unique-truck-design/|access-date=2021-11-25|website=Fire Apparatus|language=en-US}} The brigade is owned and managed by the Wreck Bay Aboriginal Community Council.{{Cite news|date=2021-11-16|title=Ocean, earth and fire trucks: Wreck Bay brigade cheers striking cultural makeover|language=en-AU|work=ABC News|url=https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-11-16/wreck-bay-celebrates-identity-branding-on-fire-trucks/100616684|access-date=2021-11-25}}

Booderee

The Wreck Bay Aboriginal Community owns and co-manages (with Parks Australia), the Booderee National Park and Botanic Gardens. It includes Australia's only Aboriginal-owned and managed botanical garden.{{cite web|title=Welcome to Booderee National Park |url=http://www.environment.gov.au/topics/national-parks/booderee-national-park |publisher=Australian Government: Department of Agriculture, Water and the Environment|access-date= 13 June 2022}}{{cite web | title=Aboriginal culture and history | url=http://www.environment.gov.au/ | publisher= Australian Government: Department of Agriculture, Water and the Environment|access-date=5 February 2020}}{{cite web | title=Our history | website=Parks Australia | url=https://parksaustralia.gov.au/booderee/discover/history/ | access-date=5 February 2020}}

Current status

The Wreck Bay Village is now private land and no public access is available.{{cite web|url=https://parksaustralia.gov.au/booderee/pub/map.pdf |archive-date=2 March 2024 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240302015843/https://parksaustralia.gov.au/booderee/pub/map.pdf | title=Booderee Map | publisher=Parks Australia | accessdate=2017-03-17 }}

References

Category:Indigenous Australian communities

Category:Towns and villages in the Jervis Bay Territory