Case file · Folklore / legend
Makassan trepangers and the Yolngu
In February 1803 Matthew Flinders met a fleet of Makassan trepang boats under Captain Pobassoo off Arnhem Land: proof of a long Indonesian–Aboriginal contact that left Makassarese words and Islamic echoes in Yolngu song and ceremony.
1803 CE · -11.95, 136.50 · status: official
The account
Yolngu ceremonies include references to Walitha'walitha, a name widely linked to the Arabic 'Allah ta'ala', reworked within Yolngu religion. The trepang trade lasted until the South Australian government ended it in 1906.