Aurukun Shire
Located in Wik country on the western side of Cape York Peninsula, the Shire of Aurukun covers an area of 7,424 square kilometres and has existed as a local government area since 1978, when he Queensland Government took over the Presbyterian mission established in 1904. The Shire's territory was previously a reserve administered under the Queensland Aboriginals Protection and Restriction of the Sale of Opium Act 1897 by the Presbyterian Church with Aboriginal people from all over Cape York relocated there.
The Local Government (Aboriginal Lands) Act 1978 proclaimed the Shire of Aurukun, granted it Aboriginal Land Lease No. 1, and instituted an elected council that lasted one month before an administrator was appointed. Bauxite revenues were widely believed to be a key factor in the Queensland government's intervention.
In addition to its status as Queensland's last Aboriginal community with a traditional language (Wik Mungkan, with more than 1200 fluent speakers) as a thriving first language and cultural-based programs incorporating the five Wik Language Groups, Aurukun has historical significance as the site of the first known European landing on the Australian mainland at Cape Keerweer. The arrival of Willem Jansz in the Duyfken, as described in local tradition, differs from the standard European narrative: Jansz wanted to build a settlement there, but his crew's actions resulted in a fight between the Wik people and the sailors in which several crew members died and the ship was forced to leave.
In 2022, the Biocultural Project developed 'Kaap Thonam, a Wik Seasons Calendar', a software application that teaches the details of Aurukun's seven seasons.
Sources:
Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shire_of_Aurukun
