Summary

Weipa is the largest community on Cape York Peninsula in Far North Queensland, Australia. Locally mined bauxite is exported from the Port of Weipa. In 1898, Weipa was established as an Aboriginal mission outpost by the Presbyterian Church. Originally most of the people were Awngthim but people from other tribes and clans were forcibly removed from Old Mapoon and other communities and sent to Weipa. In 1955, it was discovered that the red cliffs on the Aboriginal reserve were enormous deposits of bauxite. Mining by Comalco commenced in 1960 after the 'Comalco Act of 1957' had revoked the status of the Aboriginal reserve. The mission became a government settlement in 1966 and Comalco made continued attempts to get the Community settled elsewhere. Eventually Comalco built a new town for its workers on the other side of the bay.

Related entries

Archival resources

National Centre for Indigenous Genomics

• Correspondence, 1969, 02D-37; National Centre for Indigenous Genomics. Details
• Field Notebook, 1960 - 1961, FIELD-005; National Centre for Indigenous Genomics. Details
• Field Notes and Survey Notes, 1959, 02D-32; National Centre for Indigenous Genomics. Details
• Laboratory workbook, 1968, Lab-01-017; National Centre for Indigenous Genomics. Details
• Serology Results and Analysis, 1959 - 1962, 02D-14; National Centre for Indigenous Genomics. Details