Kowanyama, Queensland
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Kowanyama Queensland |
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View down Ogimburngk St (from Gilbert St)
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 Kowanyama
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| Coordinates | 15°28′S 141°44′E / 15.467°S 141.733°ECoordinates: 15°28′S 141°44′E / 15.467°S 141.733°E |
| Population | 1,017 (2006 census) |
| Postcode(s) | 4871 |
| LGA(s) | Aboriginal Shire of Kowanyama |
| State electorate(s) | Cook |
| Federal Division(s) | Leichhardt |
Kowanyama is a town on the Gulf of Carpentaria side of Cape York Peninsula in Far North Queensland, Australia.
At the 2006 census, Kowanyama had a population of 1,017.
The aboriginal people who live in this community include Kokominjena, Kokoberra and Kunjen groups, amongst others. In their overarching Yir-Yoront language, Kowanyama means "The place of many waters."
The community is situated on the banks of the Magnificent Creek, a tributary of the Mitchell River, 20 kilometres (12 mi) inland from the coastline of the Gulf of Carpentaria.
Kowanyama is accessed by an all-weather airstrip, as well as unsealed roads in the dry season from Pormpuraaw to the north, Normanton to the south and Cairns to the east.
In 1905, Trubanamen Mission was established inland on Topsy Creek, now known as the old mission. Aboriginal peoples of the region were gradually drawn from their ancestral lands into the mission settlement.
Later, in 1916, Mitchell River Mission was founded on the present site of Kowanyama and the Trubanamen site abandoned. Some peoples continued to occupy their traditional lands, moving into Kowanyama as late as the 1940s.
More than 1000 people now live in Kowanyama, making it one of the largest communities on the Cape York Peninsula. Kowanyama's Aboriginal people continue to identify strongly with their ancestral countries and with the languages, stories, songs, dances, and histories associated with those countries. Language groups associated with countries in the Kowanyama region are Yir Yoront, Yirrk Thangalkl, Koko Bera, Uw Oykangand, and Olkola.
In 1964, a cyclone destroyed the mission. The Queensland government funded the rebuilding.
Kowanyama Post Office opened by 1967.
In 1967 the Anglican church were no longer able to sustain their activities in the area as a Church Mission. The Department of Aboriginal and Islander Affairs, a government department, under the Act continued running the affairs of the community.
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Wikipedia