PastMasters Publishing Presents:-
An Early Wooden Weir
at MILIKAPITI
Melville Island, Northern Territory
©Michael Hermes, Mike Owen, Ian McIntosh and Tim Stone - 25/04/2020
Abstract
This report records a little known, wood-lined, freshwater weir or impoundment situated at the high-water mark near the community of Milikapiti, Melville Island, Northern Territory (NT). Local Aboriginal informant, Gibson Farmer, stated that the wooden weir had been used in the past, by Macassans and others, for washing trepang [sea cucumber, a Chinese delicacy] and obtaining freshwater.
In the early Dry Season, Melville Island was the site of the last Australian landfall before the Macassans’ returned home to Indonesia. Many Macassan sites have been recorded in the NT, primarily the remains of trepang processing and occupation areas comprising stone lines that supported boiling pots, tamarind trees, and ashy archaeological deposits featuring pottery and glass fragments.
This wooden weir is believed to be the best preserved early well in the NT. Other early NT wooden weir sites have invariably decayed and disappeared over time, been renovated and modified by Mission staff or Defence Force personnel in the 1939-45 conflict, obliterating the earlier structures. The site was previously recorded in an unpublished 1995 National Trust/Tiwi Land Council report on cultural contact sites on the Tiwi Islands, but due to the very limited circulation of that document, this current updated report is deemed necessary.
In the early Dry Season, Melville Island was the site of the last Australian landfall before the Macassans’ returned home to Indonesia. Many Macassan sites have been recorded in the NT, primarily the remains of trepang processing and occupation areas comprising stone lines that supported boiling pots, tamarind trees, and ashy archaeological deposits featuring pottery and glass fragments.
This wooden weir is believed to be the best preserved early well in the NT. Other early NT wooden weir sites have invariably decayed and disappeared over time, been renovated and modified by Mission staff or Defence Force personnel in the 1939-45 conflict, obliterating the earlier structures. The site was previously recorded in an unpublished 1995 National Trust/Tiwi Land Council report on cultural contact sites on the Tiwi Islands, but due to the very limited circulation of that document, this current updated report is deemed necessary.
Introduction
In July 2016, Mr Gibson Farmer, Chairman of the Tiwi Land Council, identified a wooden structure on a rocky beach near the Tiwi community of Milikapiti on Melville Island, and explained its history and function [see Map 1]. He stated that ‘the old people’ [i.e. people of his parents’ generation] had said that the wood-lined weir was made by the Macassans and had been used by them on their way back to present day Indonesia in the early Dry Season. Farmer said that the Tiwi and the Macassans had also constructed a nearby tidal fish trap which, due to a high tide, was not visible at the time of the field inspection. Farmer, in 1995, reported that the ‘old people’ had said the site was used only under cover of darkness, since they feared attack from the Tiwi in daylight [Bathgate and Lewis 1995 :173].
Map 1. : Locality Map - Milikapiti, Melville Island
Site Description
The site is located at the high-water mark, immediately adjacent to an approximately 10 metre cliff, close to the Milikapiti community sewage ponds. At the base of the cliff, freshwater was observed seeping onto the beach in July, in the middle of the Dry Season. Farmer said that at the time of year when the Macassans were passing by this site, in the late Wet Season, the water flow out of the cliff base was (and remains) substantial. The inter-tidal zone in the immediate area is relatively steep and is dominated by rocky regolithic cobbles and boulders.
Figure 1 : The wood lined freshwater weir on the rocky beach at Milikapiti. Fallen tree removed to show fabric.
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Figure 2 - Gibson Farmer & Ian McIntosh at the Milikapiti Macassan Weir with fallen trees overlaying the structure.
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The timber posts comprising the structure [see Figures 1 & 2] are approximately 20cm in diameter and have been dug into the rocky beach in a vertical pattern, forming a wooden weir type structure [3 metres by 1 metre] and standing approximately 120 centimetres high, which ‘boxed in’ the freshwater. Some form of woven matting may have originally lined the boxed area. The long axis is roughly parallel to the shoreline. It is tentatively speculated that the timber posts are from Ironwood trees [Erythrophleum chlorostachys] though this identification is subject to further analysis. At least one of the timber posts had an axe or adze cut mark on its surface [see Figures 3 & 4] .
Fig. 3. M. Hermes at Milikapiti Macassan Weir
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Fig. 4. Detail - Axe/Adze Mark at Milikapiti Macassan Weir
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The position of the wooden weir site, on a steep rocky beach, makes it relatively safe from crocodile attack, a real factor in these waters. Alternative freshwater sources at the headwaters of tidal creeks would have been considerably more dangerous, both from crocodile attack and due to the Tiwi Islanders’ purported hostility towards intruders. Verbal testimony by Gibson Farmer confirms historical evidence that the Tiwi received dugout canoes from the Macassans, by way of payment for services & facilities enjoyed by the Macassan fleet. Therefore, as the weir was constructed and used with Tiwi agreement, it may be that this site stands at odds with the conventional view that the Tiwi were always hostile to outsiders.
Antiquity of the Site
Metric dating of the timber structure and associated fish trap is difficult to conduct, independent of the oral history, since no associated artefacts or deposits were located. Carbon dating may provide an answer and the authors will look into the feasibility of undertaking this process. Although negative information is not usually significant, no chainsaw marks were observed at the site, a technology which became prevalent in the NT after World War Two, supporting an early twentieth century date as a terminus ante quem.
A close inspection of the cliff top immediately adjacent to the wooden weir site was made and no archaeological materials were located. This area has been heavily disturbed through the construction of the sewage ponds, and a large amount of post-World War Two camp debris was also found in this area. An artist’s impression of the site in use is provided in Figure 5.
A close inspection of the cliff top immediately adjacent to the wooden weir site was made and no archaeological materials were located. This area has been heavily disturbed through the construction of the sewage ponds, and a large amount of post-World War Two camp debris was also found in this area. An artist’s impression of the site in use is provided in Figure 5.
Figure 5 : Artist’s impression of the site in use. It is speculated that a close woven matting may have originally lined the weir. [Artwork: Debbie Morgan]
Associated Tidal Fish Trap
Map 2. Relationship between the Milikapiti Community - Macassan Weir - Fish Trap and feeder creek. Enhanced Google Earth image.
The fish trap on Google Earth appears to consist of parallel lines of stones running NE diagonally across the beach face descending towards the absolute low tide mark. The construction is therefore noticeably different to other fish traps that have been recorded near Macassan watering points such as Millingimbi [they are generally curvilinear in shape]. It is located approximately 1050 metres south of the wooden weir site and Farmer suggested that the fish trap was later modified by the settlement staff. Farmer also said that the fish trap site and the wooden weir were contemporaneous. A field inspection at the absolute low tide will be required before this site can be properly recorded and described.
Figure 6. Macassan Ebb Tide Fish Trap at Milikapiti - Google Earth image
Discussion
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Freshwater sources easily accessible along the coast in the NT have long been significant to both foreigners and local Aboriginal communities. Aboriginal groups around Australia have been recorded carefully managing and protecting sources of freshwater [see for instance Berndt and Berndt 1982:110], and the Macassans often developed these sources to suit their needs.
Early Arnhem Land Missionary Wilbur Chaseling, for example, observed a beachside freshwater source in Arnhem Bay which had been modified by the Macassans by ‘wedg[ing] a hollow tree trunk into the neck of the spring’ [1957:136]. More recently, Mission and defence personnel have dug out and modified pre-existing wells and wooden weirs around the Top End, which has generally obliterated earlier infrastructure. For instance, Bathgate and Lewis report on another freshwater source adjacent to the coast at Caution Point, Bathurst Island where steel drums have been incorporated into the well walls [Bathgate and Lewis 1995:165], which may have replaced earlier timber or stone lining. At the site under discussion here, no further additions or renovations have displaced the early timber infrastructure. A small concrete weir, made as the first water source for Milikapiti settlement, dating to circa 1942 [Pye 1993:110] was also identified nearby by Farmer. [Figure 7.] |
Figure 7. Gibson Farmer at WW2 water source Milikapiti
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Macassan or Japanese origin?
Fig 8. Detail Macassans Pt. Essington, 1845, by HS Melville,
It is noted that in the Northern Territory the term ‘Macassan’ is often used to refer to fishermen from Makassar as well as other Asian groups, which may in some instances include Chinese, Filipino and Japanese pearlers, trepangers and turtle/trochus shell gatherers. The waters around Melville and Bathurst Island appear to have been utilised by aforementioned non-Macassan groups since the 1870s, the last pearlers leaving the area in the 1930s [Bathgate and Lewis 1995:14, Lamb 2015].
Pearling industry historian John Lamb stated that the pearling beds off the north and western coasts of the Tiwi Islands [see Lamb 2015:158] were exploited primarily by Japanese pearling luggers in the 1930s and were provisioned with oil, water and other goods from a compound at Pirlangimpi [formerly known as Garden Point] [Lamb pers comm].
Pirlangimpi is much closer to the pearling beds than Milikapiti and so it seems unlikely these pearlers built the weir structure. The Macassans, who were known to have used bamboo lengths [King 1827:65] and ceramic jars [McKnight pers.comm] to store freshwater on their praus, were visiting the Tiwi Islands up until around 1890 [Bathgate and Lewis 1995:16]. In the first decade of the twentieth century, the newly established Commonwealth Government closed this fishery to the Macassans [McKnight 1976: 100 ff].
Pearling industry historian John Lamb stated that the pearling beds off the north and western coasts of the Tiwi Islands [see Lamb 2015:158] were exploited primarily by Japanese pearling luggers in the 1930s and were provisioned with oil, water and other goods from a compound at Pirlangimpi [formerly known as Garden Point] [Lamb pers comm].
Pirlangimpi is much closer to the pearling beds than Milikapiti and so it seems unlikely these pearlers built the weir structure. The Macassans, who were known to have used bamboo lengths [King 1827:65] and ceramic jars [McKnight pers.comm] to store freshwater on their praus, were visiting the Tiwi Islands up until around 1890 [Bathgate and Lewis 1995:16]. In the first decade of the twentieth century, the newly established Commonwealth Government closed this fishery to the Macassans [McKnight 1976: 100 ff].
Figure 9. P.P. King image of watering at beach spring on South Goulburn Is. - Narrative of a Survey Vol. 1.
Australian born navigator and explorer, Admiral Phillip Parker King, published a plate [see Figure 9 above] that illustrates some of his crew collecting water from a very similar freshwater spring in the same topographic position in the landscape, at the base of a sea cliff, this one on South Goulburn Island in Arnhem Land some 290 kilometres to the east of Milikapiti [1827: un-numbered plate opposite p 66]. King recorded that his crew found Macassan [‘Malay’] items, namely lengths of bamboo, a length of cord and a coconut, near this water source [ibid: 65].
It is the assessment of the authors that the wooden weir most probably dates from the late nineteenth century and is of Macassan origin.
It is the assessment of the authors that the wooden weir most probably dates from the late nineteenth century and is of Macassan origin.
Site Management
On the whole, timber structures in the Top End have a short lifespan due to the hostile environment. Given the highly unusual location of this site, however, the timbers have been protected by the sand from termites, by the spring water from Teredo worm and away from the very frequent Dry Season fires. Furthermore, the anaerobic postholes have largely protected the timber from organic decay.
However, it is a concern that a dead tree has recently collapsed onto the site from the adjacent cliff which greatly increases the possibility that the timber structure will now be susceptible to termites and/or fire damage [see Figure 2]. It has been suggested to the Tiwi Islands Regional Council staff at Milikapiti that the overlying timber be removed to allow for the site to be viewed without impediment, and to ensure its continuing survival.
However, it is a concern that a dead tree has recently collapsed onto the site from the adjacent cliff which greatly increases the possibility that the timber structure will now be susceptible to termites and/or fire damage [see Figure 2]. It has been suggested to the Tiwi Islands Regional Council staff at Milikapiti that the overlying timber be removed to allow for the site to be viewed without impediment, and to ensure its continuing survival.
Concluding Remarks
Melville Island has many sites of intercultural and historical importance, notably the early British settlement of Fort Dundas [1824-1829] and the early twentieth century Mission site at Garden Point. Little archaeological work has been conducted on the Tiwi Islands, despite usually being the first and last footfall for the various seafarers from current day Indonesia and further afield, including Dutch explorers in the 1600s. By far, most archaeological and historical attention in the Tiwi Islands has been focussed on the early British attempt at permanent settlement at Fort Dundas in the Apsley Strait [Crosby 1978, Pugh 2017 - https://pastmasters.net/fort-dundas--garden-point.html]. These islands, especially their northern coasts, remain tantalising blank slates in terms of archaeological reconnaissance.
Linguist Nicholas Evans suggests that linguistic evidence from northern Australian languages indicates that there were two phases of Macassan/Austronesian loan word acquisition in north Australia. There was a Macassan phase from the 1700s to 1907, which is well documented [Evans 1992 : 45-91]. Evans suggests there is also an earlier phase which may relate to the ‘Baiini’ or ‘Bayini’, a seafaring group distinct from the Macassans [Evans 1992: 63, Berndt and Berndt 1954:32ff] though detailed research on this group by McIntosh (2015) suggests close links to Macassans. McIntosh suggests that a further group, the Sama Bajau or sea gypsies, may be responsible for the introduction of other loan words in the Tiwi, Yolngu and other Aboriginal languages. Further linguistic research may help disclose the extent of foreign contacts and connections.
Some early commentators have also referred to the possibility that Timor-based Portuguese-Timorese (Topasses) slavers operated in the Tiwi Islands prior to 1800 [see for instance Morris 2001: 29], and others have suggested this resulted in the purported Tiwi hostility toward foreigners in the early historic period. However, the number of Macassan and other sites already identified to date would seem to indicate that the Tiwi were much more in contact with outsiders, or at least open to visitation, than previously considered.
The wood-lined weir appears to be a legacy of the most recent in a long line of foreign seafaring visitors which, we argue, are yet to be fully identified and documented. This weir and fish trap complex should be considered for inclusion in any Tiwi Islands Heritage List and cultural tourism venture the Tiwi Islanders may develop in the future. Although currently difficult to visit, due to limited local accommodation and tourist infrastructure, the site has a unique history and is sufficiently robust to withstand tourist visitation whilst providing a tangible context for relating the Tiwi’s early connection to Asian and European seafaring peoples.
The wood-lined weir appears to be a legacy of the most recent in a long line of foreign seafaring visitors which, we argue, are yet to be fully identified and documented. This weir and fish trap complex should be considered for inclusion in any Tiwi Islands Heritage List and cultural tourism venture the Tiwi Islanders may develop in the future. Although currently difficult to visit, due to limited local accommodation and tourist infrastructure, the site has a unique history and is sufficiently robust to withstand tourist visitation whilst providing a tangible context for relating the Tiwi’s early connection to Asian and European seafaring peoples.
Acknowledgements
The authors would like to thank Mr Gibson Farmer, Chairman of Tiwi Land Council, for his willingness to share his knowledge of the site. We are also very grateful to Mr Bruce Moller and Mr Geoff Harris for assistance with logistics on the islands. Thanks are also due to Dr Campbell Macknight who offered some helpful advice about similar sites in Arnhem Land. All errors, of course, remain the responsibility of the authors, who may be contacted by email:-
Michael Hermes - [email protected] - Michael Owen [email protected]
Ian McIntosh - [email protected] - Tim Stone [email protected]
Ian McIntosh - [email protected] - Tim Stone [email protected]
References
Bathgate, J., and Lewis, D. [1995] Nginaki ngirramini ngini Tiwi amintiya mamurruntawi: This is a story about Tiwi and non-Tiwi: culture contact sites on the Tiwi Islands Report to the National Trust [Northern Territory] and the Tiwi Land Council
Berndt, R.M., and Berndt,C.H. [1954] Arnhem Land : Its History and its People Cheshire Melbourne
Berndt, R.M., and Berndt, C.H. [1982] The World of the First Australians Rigby Publishers Sydney
Chaseling, W. [1957] Yulengor : Nomads of Arnhem Land The Epworth Press London
Crosby, E. [1978] Survey and Excavation at Fort Dundas, Melville Island, Northern Territory 1975 Australian Society for Historical Archaeology Occasional Paper No.1 Sydney
Evans, N. [1992] ‘Macassan Loan Words in top end languages’ in Australian Journal of Linguistics 12:1 pp 45-91
King, P. [1827] Narrative of a Survey of the Intertropical and Western Coasts of Australia performed between 1818 and 1822 John Murray: London
Lamb, J. [2015] Silent Pearls: old Japanese graves in Darwin and the history of pearling Bytes ‘n Colours Canberra
McIntosh, I.S. [2015]. Between Two Worlds. Essays in Honour of the Visionary Aboriginal Elder, David Burrumarra. Dog Ear Publishing: Indianapolis.
McKnight, C.C., [1976] The Voyage to Marege Melbourne University Press Melbourne
Morris, J. [2001] The Tiwi : From Isolation to Cultural Change NTU Press Darwin
Pugh, D. [2017] Fort Dundas : The British in North Australia 1824-1829 Derek Pugh
Pye, J. [1993] The Tiwi Islands Colemans Printing Pty Ltd Darwin
Berndt, R.M., and Berndt,C.H. [1954] Arnhem Land : Its History and its People Cheshire Melbourne
Berndt, R.M., and Berndt, C.H. [1982] The World of the First Australians Rigby Publishers Sydney
Chaseling, W. [1957] Yulengor : Nomads of Arnhem Land The Epworth Press London
Crosby, E. [1978] Survey and Excavation at Fort Dundas, Melville Island, Northern Territory 1975 Australian Society for Historical Archaeology Occasional Paper No.1 Sydney
Evans, N. [1992] ‘Macassan Loan Words in top end languages’ in Australian Journal of Linguistics 12:1 pp 45-91
King, P. [1827] Narrative of a Survey of the Intertropical and Western Coasts of Australia performed between 1818 and 1822 John Murray: London
Lamb, J. [2015] Silent Pearls: old Japanese graves in Darwin and the history of pearling Bytes ‘n Colours Canberra
McIntosh, I.S. [2015]. Between Two Worlds. Essays in Honour of the Visionary Aboriginal Elder, David Burrumarra. Dog Ear Publishing: Indianapolis.
McKnight, C.C., [1976] The Voyage to Marege Melbourne University Press Melbourne
Morris, J. [2001] The Tiwi : From Isolation to Cultural Change NTU Press Darwin
Pugh, D. [2017] Fort Dundas : The British in North Australia 1824-1829 Derek Pugh
Pye, J. [1993] The Tiwi Islands Colemans Printing Pty Ltd Darwin
Biographical Notes
Michael Hermes is an ANU trained archaeologist and a teacher. He lectured at the Batchelor College in the NT in the Natural and Cultural Resource Management [Indigenous Ranger Training] course for three years [1992-1995] and was the Training officer in the Aboriginal Heritage Unit in the Tasmanian Parks and Wildlife Service [1995-1997]. More recently he has worked as an Archaeological Consultant in Queensland, Western Australia and New South Wales. He has a Master of Letters Degree in Cultural Studies [CQU], having written his thesis on nationalism and cultural policy in Suharto’s Indonesia. He has taught in remote Aboriginal schools for several years, including at Nguiu School, Bathurst Island.
Mike Owen is a Darwin based heritage consultant with 40 years’ experience of remote communities throughout the Northern Territory and across northern Australia. He has worked in the Rural & Remote Health, Aboriginal Affairs and Local Government sectors - he is a co-founder of PastMasters.
Anthropologist Ian McIntosh is the Director of International Partnerships at Indiana University’s Indianapolis campus. He is an adjunct professor in the School of Liberal Arts (Anthropology and Religious Studies) and also the Lilly Family School of Philanthropy. Ian is a co-founder of the PastMasters, a heritage and history collective dedicated to investigating Australia’s links to the outside world in the days prior to European expansion in the East Indies and New Holland.
Tim Stone is an independent Consultant Archaeologist, Geomorphologist and Geochronologist with over 30 years experience in cultural heritage management and academic research. He holds both Bachelors and Masters degrees from the Australian National University and a PhD from the University of Melbourne. His Masters research, on the Weipa shell mounds, developed methods for distinguishing Aboriginal shell middens from natural shoreline deposits. The landscape history of the Murray River was the subject of his PhD. Here, he specialized in optically stimulated luminescence & other radiometric dating techniques. His research has been published in international academic journals & popular magazines including Australian Geographic & Australasian Science.
Mike Owen is a Darwin based heritage consultant with 40 years’ experience of remote communities throughout the Northern Territory and across northern Australia. He has worked in the Rural & Remote Health, Aboriginal Affairs and Local Government sectors - he is a co-founder of PastMasters.
Anthropologist Ian McIntosh is the Director of International Partnerships at Indiana University’s Indianapolis campus. He is an adjunct professor in the School of Liberal Arts (Anthropology and Religious Studies) and also the Lilly Family School of Philanthropy. Ian is a co-founder of the PastMasters, a heritage and history collective dedicated to investigating Australia’s links to the outside world in the days prior to European expansion in the East Indies and New Holland.
Tim Stone is an independent Consultant Archaeologist, Geomorphologist and Geochronologist with over 30 years experience in cultural heritage management and academic research. He holds both Bachelors and Masters degrees from the Australian National University and a PhD from the University of Melbourne. His Masters research, on the Weipa shell mounds, developed methods for distinguishing Aboriginal shell middens from natural shoreline deposits. The landscape history of the Murray River was the subject of his PhD. Here, he specialized in optically stimulated luminescence & other radiometric dating techniques. His research has been published in international academic journals & popular magazines including Australian Geographic & Australasian Science.
Download Paper - An Early Wooden Weir
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Citation
Hermes, M. et al 2020. An Early Wooden Weir at Milikapiti, PastMasters Publishing, Darwin. https://pastmasters.net/wooden-weir---milikapiti.html
Key Words - Macassan well - impoundment - weir, Melville Island Archaeology, Tiwi Islands Archaeology, Milikapiti History, Snake Bay History
Sources & Resources
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Additional Material
Impression of Beach & Spring prior to erosion exposure of the hard pan layer
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Beach today showing boulders of ironstone (hard pan) & loss of sand
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It is reasonable to conjecture that there was once a nice, sandy beach onto which the springwater debouched but in recent times it has simply eroded away exposing the older, underlying ironstone 'hard pan'.
Groundwater seeps out of cliff above impermeable bed.
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A detailed survey will confirm whether the rock is broken up ironstone or beach rock, probably the former, in which case it would extend inland and underground as the impermeable layer. It may have once been mantled with beach sand that has in recent times eroded away, but the broken ironstone would be of a much earlier geological period. If there was any undercutting, it would be to the permeable layer above the High Water Mark. The entire cliff face probably has retreated over time but not at the expense of the relationships shown in the coloured block diagram (above left).
Milikapiti Macassan Weir
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The Milikapiti Macassan Weir stripped of overburden
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Gibson Farmer & Ian McIntosh either side of the weir blocking the gap between to large supported stones.
Detail of above image of weir
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Uncluttered detail of above image of weir
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Milikapiti Macassan Weir box structure
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Milikapiti Macassan Weir box structure de-cluttered
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Past the iron rich sea cliffs looking SE down Snake Bay into Curtis Haven towards the Tjipripu River that runs into the heart of Melville Island