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Heirisson Island
Heirisson Island is an island in the Swan River in Western Australia at the eastern end of Perth Water, between the suburbs of East Perth and Victoria Park. It occupies an area of 285600 m2, and is connected to the two foreshores by The Causeway. The next upstream island is Kuljak Island, then Ron Courtney Island, with no islands in the Swan River downstream between Heirisson Island and the Indian Ocean other than the artificial islet in Elizabeth Quay.
Before development, there were several small islands, surrounded by mudflats. The Noongar name for the area is Matagarup (meaning "leg deep"), which has been retained for the single island after reclamation.
Over the years, dredging and reclamation has created a single island, which is now a landscaped nature reserve, with a 2 km walking path.
In 1998, five female western grey kangaroos were introduced onto the island, followed by a female with a male joey in 2000.
In 2008 a new master plan for Heirisson Island was adopted by the City of Perth. This plan integrates a proposed international quality sculpture park on the island and the construction of a footbridge over the northern channel of the Swan River. The footbridge will link Point Fraser to the island and provide a gateway to the proposed sculpture park. The sculpture park concept is being driven by a not for profit organisation Heirisson Island Sculpture Park Inc. with the support of the City of Perth.
History
The area around Heirisson Island is traditionally associated with the Beeloo Noongar people who knew the small islands and mud flats as Matagarup, referring to the river as being 'one leg deep'. The island located on either side of the current causeway bridge was known as Kakaroomup.
The Matagarup mud flats were the first major crossing point upriver from the river's mouth (at Fremantle) and were an important seasonal access way over which the Beeloo Nyungah gave other groups right of passage across the river.
The first European to visit the Heirisson Island area was the Flemish explorer Willem de Vlamingh in January 1697. He was exploring the Swan River in long-boats but only got as far as the Heirisson Island(s) because the mud flats impeded any further progress.
Heirisson Island was named after French midshipman François-Antoine Boniface Heirisson, who was on the French ship Le Naturaliste, which was a scientific expedition led by Nicolas Baudin between 1801 and 1804. The expedition made several journeys up the river from Fremantle in long-boats and made the first maps of the Swan River. The island was named in June 1801.
Captain James Stirling also investigated the area in 1827 just before the Swan River Colony was settled in 1829.
In September 1984 the Government of Western Australia erected a statue of Aboriginal warrior Yagan. In 1997 the statue's head was twice removed by vandals.
Register of Aboriginal Sites
Heirisson Island is listed on the Western Australia Department of Aboriginal Affairs Register of Aboriginal Sites, as ID 3589.
Aboriginal protests
Tent embassy
In 2012, the island was the site of a tent embassy, set up in February by Noongar people to raise community awareness about problems with a government plan to extinguish most of the native title land in the southwest of Western Australia that was recognized in 2006 by Justice Wilcox of the Federal Court of Australia. The Noongar Tent Embassy was intended to be a peaceful affirmation of native title to Nyoongar country and legitimate use of a state-registered Aboriginal Heritage Site, and was inspired by the Aboriginal Tent Embassy in Canberra. However, there were many claims made of rocks being thrown at passing boats. The tent embassy was removed by police in March 2012.
Refugee camp
In early March 2015, a group of Aboriginal activists set up what they referred to as a refugee camp after the state government announced plans to close some remote Western Australian Aboriginal communities. The camp was removed ten days later by City of Perth rangers, with police support, but gradually reassembled and was occupied by about 100 people when it was dismantled again by police and City of Perth rangers in late April 2015.
In January 2016 a group of about 60 people – including some non-indigenous homeless people – were camping on the island again. By April 2016, the camp had grown to over 100 and it was again removed by police and rangers.
References and Links
Most of the above is from the Wikipedia article (edited).
This page incorporates material from Garry Gillard's Freotopia website, that he started in 2014 and the contents of which he donated to Wikimedia Australia in 2024. The content was originally created on 1 May, 2020 and hosted at freotopia.org/islands/heirissonisland.html (it was last updated on 21 April, 2024), and has been edited since it was imported here (see page history). The donated data is also preserved in the Internet Archive's collection.