Gapuwiyak

Gapuwiyak (Lake Evella in English) is an Australian Aboriginal community located in north-eastern Arnhem Land, 25 km south of the head of Buckingham Bay and about the same distance south-west of Arnhem Bay. It is adjacent to Lake Evella. The lake was seen by Harold Shepherdson from his aeroplane the Miles Hawk in 1935 and he named it Lake Evella after his wife Ella and Eva the wife of a fellow missionary Rev. T.T. Webb.

With a population is about 1000, the community comprises a vibrant mix of Aboriginal people from many different families or clans. Gapuwiyak is serviced by a barge from Darwin once a week that comes up the Buckingham river.

Aboriginal people have inhabited this region for 40,000 years. The Gapuwiyak community was established by Methodist missionaries in the late 1960s to supply timber for missions in the region. Timber workers came from the surrounding areas of Burrum, Raymangirr, Bunhanura and Balma, and from Galiwin’ku.

Location: Gapuwiyak is on the shore of Lake Evella in north-east Arnhem Land, about 500 km east of Darwin and 120 km west of Nhulunbuy. It is one of the Northern Territory’s easternmost settlements.


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Those from Galiwin’ku returned to their own country when they were not working but those from the surrounding areas stayed near the timber mill and established the Gapuwiyak community. In the 1970s the mission ended and Gapuwiyak became Aboriginal land under the Aboriginal Land Rights (Northern Territory) Act 1976. In 2008, Gapuwiyak become part of the East Arnhem Shire and the Shire took responsibility for local government for the community.

Gapuwiyak means "brackish water". (Gapu water - Wiyak salty).

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