Depuch Island
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Depuch Island (or Warmalana) is a volcanic island located off the north-west coast of Western Australia's Pilbara region, near Port Hedland.
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[edit] Aboriginal significance
The island was of cultural importance to the Ngaluma Aboriginal tribe, who called it Warmalana.[1] According to Ngaluma legend, the island was formed during the Dreaming when Matalga, a leading Pilbara spirit man, lifted a large rock and threw it into the sea. The rocks and boulders of the island are covered with Aboriginal engravings and rock art.[2]
[edit] European exploration
The island was charted in July 1801 by François-Michel Ronsard, the cartographer on a French expedition led by explorer Nicolas Baudin on board the ship Le Géographe. The island was named Ile Depuch after Louis Depuch, a mineralogist on Baudin's expedition. After a visit to the island, Ronsard established that it was volcanic, and was the first evidence of volcanic activity on the Australian continent the expedition had discovered.[3]
In 1912, a Norwegian steel sailing ship, the Crown of England, was shipwrecked as it lay anchored on the island loading copper ore, after the area was struck by a cyclone. Many other ships were sunk in the area, such as the passenger liner SS Koombana.[4]
[edit] Recent activity
The discovery of iron ore deposits in the Pilbara region during the early 1960s saw Depuch Island considered for use as a port for the mining facilities being established in the area. In 1962, however, a survey by the Western Australian Museum in 1962 discovered thousands of Aboriginal engravings, and the port was moved to the Dampier Archipelago.[5]
[edit] References
- ^ Tindale, N.B.: Aboriginal Tribes of Australia - Ngaluma (WA), South Australian Museum, 1974.
- ^ Wilson, Colin (1996). The Atlas of Holy Places & Sacred Sites. New York: Dorling Kindersley. ISBN 0789410516.
- ^ Chart of Depuch Island, Freycinet Collection, State Library of Western Australia.
- ^ Wreck Finder - Koombana, Western Australian Museum, 2003.
- ^ Archaeology and rock art in the Dampier Archipelago - Industrial development and archaeological investigation, National Trust of Australia.
