Wadeye, Northern Territory


Wadeye is a town in Australia's Northern Territory. Pronounced wod-air-yer or "wad-ayer", it was formerly known as Port Keats. At the, Wadeye had a population of 2,280. Wadeye is the 6th most populous town, and the largest indigenous community in the Northern Territory.

Location and access

The town is remote, situated on the western edge of the Daly River Reserve about by air south-west of Darwin. The Fitzmaurice River more or less forms its southern boundary.
It lies close to the Hyland Bay and Moyle Floodplain Important Bird Area, identified as such by BirdLife International because of its importance for large numbers of waterbirds.
Roads to the community are cut by flooding during the wet season, when access is only possible by light aircraft or coastal barge.

History

A mission station was founded by Roman Catholic Father Richard Docherty in 1935 at Werntek Nganayi, and subsequently moved to a new location with superior water, gardening and building sites and landing place.

Description

Wadeye is mainly inhabited by Indigenous Australians. The inhabitants include seven language groups, the main language that is spoken being Murrinhpatha. The indigenous population has five traditional bands or kinship groups of Nangiomeri, Marimanindji, Marithiel, Maringar and Mulluk Mulluk. Port Keats is also the site of a temporary ADF Radar site that is used during exercises conducted in the Top End.

Art and culture

Nym Bunduk was the first painter in Wadeye who had international interest. He was asked by Bill Stanner, an anthropologist who had come with Richard Docherty in 1935, to produce pieces explaining traditional law, which he made after he saw a map produced by Stanner. He produced many bark paintings of the dreaming which informed Stanner's research. Today in Wadeye Mark Crocomb follows in the footsteps of Stanner collecting history and languages before they are lost. Following in the tradition of Nym Bundak is Richard 'Skunky' Parmbuk. He is one of many artists filling the space left by Nym in Wadeye.

Transport

Wadeye has a sealed airstrip, Port Keats Airfield, with regular passenger flights to Darwin. Road access is mostly unsealed via the Port Keats/ Daly River Road. Wadeye is only accessible by road during the dry season as the wet season renders many river crossings impassable.