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The Goulburn Islands are a group of small islands and islets in the Arafura Sea off the coast of Arnhem Land in Northern Territory of Australia. The largest islands are Weyirra (North Goulburn Island) and Warruwi (South Goulburn Island),^[1] where the climate is slightly cooler than in Darwin.^[2] The Warruwi or Maung people are the traditional owners of the Goulburn Islands.^[3]

The majority of the population reside on South Goulburn Island, in the community of Warruwi and surrounding outstations, where the population was 389 in the 2016 census.^[4] The islands are notable for the large number of Indigenous Australian languages spoken there. In particular, the Warruwi community on South Goulburn Island - where at least nine different languages are spoken within a population of only 450 people^[5]^[6] - has been noted as an example of receptive multilingualism.^[7]

Mondalmi is one of the most well-known women from the area, as she worked with anthropologist Catherine Berndt to enable study of Aboriginal cultures there.^[8]

The islands and their Indigenous inhabitants were featured in the 2015 David Grubin directed PBS documentary Language Matters with Bob Holman, written and narrated by Bob Holman, which focused on the loss, due to globalisation, of many of the planets' languages, such as those spoken on the Goulburn Islands.^[9]

References

^ "Mawng Ngaralk Language". Mawng Ngaralk. Retrieved 9 September 2021.
^ Goulburn Islands. About Australia. Retrieved on 2 May 2015
^ "Appendix A: Committee visits to remote Aboriginal and Torres Strait communities". Parliament of Australia. House of Representatives Committees. 6 November 2009. Archived from the original on 9 September 2021. Retrieved 9 September 2021.
^ Australian Bureau of Statistics (27 June 2017). "Warruwi (State Suburb)". 2016 Census QuickStats. Retrieved 5 October 2020.
^ Bøyum, Malene. "Multilingualism at Warruwi Community". UiO: Center for Multilingualism in Society across the Lifespan. Retrieved 19 June 2019.
^ "Warruwi". West Arnhem Regional Council. Retrieved 5 October 2020.
^ Erard, Michael. "The Small Island Where 500 People Speak Nine Different Languages". The Atlantic. Retrieved 19 June 2019.
^ Berndt, Catherine, "Mondalmi (1910–1969)", Australian Dictionary of Biography, National Centre of Biography, Australian National University, retrieved 29 February 2020
^ "Language Matters with Bob Holman: A film by David Grubin". Language Matters. Retrieved 5 October 2020.