Named by the explorer Captain Cook in 1770, Palm Island was established in 1918 to replace the HullRiver Mission near Tully which had been extensively damaged by a cyclone. Over two decades, 1630Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people from many different groups throughout Australia were sent there. Ninety (90) survivors of the cyclone that destroyed the Hull River Mission at Mission Beach were relocated to Palm Island as it became a Government Reserve under the Aboriginals Protection and Restriction of the Sale of Opium Act 1897, effectively making these people wards of the State. One of the Palm Island group, Fantome Island became a leper colony administered under the Aboriginal Protection Legislation. People from Palm Island cared for those suffering on Fantome Island. Fantome Island holds many memories that will never be forgotten.
In 1957 there was a strike by residents over Department of Aboriginal and Islander Affairs' (DAIA) cuts to wages and treatment of women. The reaction of the DAIA was to expel 25 who were considered ringleaders, along with their families. Amongst this group of people was Neville Bonner, the first Aboriginal Senator. As a result of forcefully relocating peoples from all over the state to Palm Island, bring over forty different tribes speaking different languages the people became known as the ‘Bwgcolman People’ (many tribes – one people) developing their own island language.
