Barunga, Northern Territory
Barunga is a small aboriginal community located approximately 80 kilometres (50 mi) southeast of Katherine, in the Northern Territory of Australia. Formerly known as Beswick, it was later called Bamyili before it was finally renamed Barunga. It is now part of the Roper Gulf Region Local Government area.
At the 2011 census, Barunga had a population of 313. The community has a health clinic, camping grounds, sports oval, basketball courts, softball pitch, school, council office and a community store. Each year, the community holds the Barunga Festival which occurs in mid June.
Aboriginal people have lived in Barunga and the surrounding region for thousands of years.
In September 1913, a goldfield named Maranboy was declared for a period of two years. Maranboy was located eight kilometres from where Barunga is today. Tin was discovered at Maranboy in 1918 by prospectors Scharber and Richardson. Tin mines and a battery were operational in the same year. Prospectors of European, Chinese and Aboriginal descent worked at Maranboy. The most notable of them was Harold Snell, who later went on to build many significant buildings in Darwin. The battery closed in 1949 for repairs but never reopened. Many of the Aboriginal people who serviced the mine returned to Beswick Creek.
A Dutch Air Force Dakota (DC3) crashed landed near Beswick in 1947. All passengers survived, with four crew travelling about 100 miles down the Katherine River to get help. After running out of food they killed one of two dogs they had with them. The wings were eventually removed and the remains of the plane were towed to Katherine.
In 1948, the community moved from Beswick to Tandangal, because of risk of flooding from recent heavy rains. An influenza epidemic spread through the community in May 1951. By November it had killed seven people. The community returned to Beswick a few years later, when Tandangal's creeks dried up limiting water supplies. There are also some reports that Tandangal was a sacred site, and the people were reluctant to settle there.
In early 1951, the Northern Territory Government started to develop the community, then known as the Beswick community, building basic housing infrastructure and creating some minor employment opportunities. Local farmers also employed the aboriginal people, even running a peanut farm at Beswick Creek. The farm only lasted a few years. As Beswick grew, new tribes formed a camp on the other side of the river known as 'The Compound' where the people made humpies. The elders changed the name of The Compound to Bamyili in 1965. In 1984, it changed its name to Barunga.
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