Oenpelli
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 View from Injalak Hill to Oenpelli |
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Oenpelli , also called Gunbalanya or Kunbarllanjnja , is an Aboriginal settlement in the west of Arnhem Land in the Northern Territory , Australia . The place is about 240 kilometers east of Darwin and 42 kilometers northeast of Jabiru .
history
The area around the place was traditionally the land of the Gagadju. In 1906, the farmer Paddy Cahill settled in the area of Oenpelli, where he leased an area of 2000 km² from the government. 1916 took over the government administration from John Gilruth (1871-1937) the land including the existing buildings and handed them over to the Church Missionary Society . The mission station, which was given up in 1975, consisted of a church, school, pharmacy, shop and garden. The mission also raised livestock. In 1948, the American-Australian Scientific Expedition to Arnhem Land camped at Oenpelli for seven weeks to study and document the culture and way of life of the Aborigines .
Surname
Cahill called his country Oenpelli, an English expression of Un-balange. Oenpelli also has the same name as a rare Australian python strike up to four meters long , the Oenpellipython . In 2001 the name was changed from Oenpelli to Gunbalanya after a survey by the responsible Kunbarllanjnja Community Government Council, founded in 1995 . This name is used more often than the traditional name Kunbarllanjnja.
Festival, language
The Stone Country Festival , formerly called Gunbalanya Cultural Open Day , takes place in August every year . Cultural dances, painting, bush food and didjeridu music are offered. But there are also children's and sports activities, carnival performances and sightseeing flights.
Many residents of the place speak the language of the Aborigines of the Kunwinjku , who settled around the mission before the mission was founded.
Aboriginal art
Western Arnhem Land is the site of significant evidence of Aboriginal art . Around Oenpelli, the art development of the indigenous population in caves and rock overhangs has been documented over thousands of years. Works of art from this area are assigned to two art styles, the Mimi and X-ray art styles . There are more than 300 Gagadju rock carvings around the site.
There is an exhibition center for local artists, the Injalak Arts Center .
reachability
The place can be reached on the Arnhem Highway from Darwin and further via a junction in front of Jabiru, a town in the Kakadu National Park . Oenpelli can only be reached by vehicle via this dirt road in the dry season (from May to November), as the ford Cahill Crossing over the East Alligator River cannot be crossed in the rainy season. A permit issued by the Northern Land Council with a time limit of two weeks is required to enter . When the ford is closed, the place can only be reached by vehicles via the enormously longer route on Central Arnhem Road via Ramingining and Maningrida or via Oenpelli Airport, which is open all year round.
Individual evidence
- ↑ Australian Bureau of Statistics : Gunbalanya (Oenpelli) ( English ) In: 2016 Census QuickStats . June 27, 2017. Retrieved April 5, 2020.
- ↑ a b c ntlis.nt.gov.au : NT Place Names Register, in English, accessed January 19, 2013
- ↑ a b webjournals.ac.edu.au ( Memento of the original from February 23, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. : Keith Cole: Dyer, Alfred John (1884-1968) , in English, accessed January 18, 2013
- ↑ a b samemory.sa.gov : Arnhem Land, 1948 , in English, accessed on January 18, 2013
- ↑ tourismustopend.com.au : Oenpelli Open Day , in English, accessed on January 19, 2013
- ↑ injalak.com : About Injalak Arts Center , in English, accessed January 18, 2013
