Yirrkala (N.T.)

Yirrkala is a small community in East Arnhem Region, Northern Territory, Australia, 18 kilometres (11 mi) southeast of the large mining town of Nhulunbuy, on the Gove Peninsula in Arnhem Land. It is known for the former mission, established as an Aboriginal reserve after being founded by Methodist missionaries in 1935, and for what became known as the Yirrkala bark petitions. These were a set of petitions submitted by the Aboriginal residents of the mission to the Australian Parliament in 1963 asking for consultation about their land taken for mining. This marked an important moment in the history of Indigenous land rights in Australia and native title in Australia. Yirrkala's population comprises predominantly Aboriginal Australians of the Yolngu peoples. At the 2021 census, Yirrkala had a population of 657, of whom 79.8% identified as Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander people.