The Dampier Archipelago

Archipelago

An archipelago , sometimes called an island group, is a chain or cluster of islands. The word archipelago is derived from the Greek ἄρχι- – arkhi- and πέλαγος – pélagos through the Italian arcipelago...

(20.581°S 116.6°E) is a group of islands near Dampier, Western Australia

Dampier, Western Australia

Dampier is a major industrial port in the north-west of Western Australia. The Dampier Port is part of the Dampier Archipelago. The port services petrochemical, salt, iron ore and natural gas export industries. Rio Tinto exports large volumes of iron ore through the port, and in September 2010...

. It is named after William Dampier

William Dampier

William Dampier was an English buccaneer, sea captain, author and scientific observer...

, an English buccaneer

Buccaneer

The buccaneers were privateers who attacked Spanish shipping in the Caribbean Sea during the late 17th century.The term buccaneer is now used generally as a synonym for pirate...

 and explorer who visited in 1699. Dampier named one of the islands, Rosemary Island.

History

The largest island (or peninsula) in the group was known as Murujuga by the earliest inhabitants, the Yaburara (or Jaburara) people. The first British

United Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

 settlers renamed it Dampier Island and it was later officially renamed Burrup Peninsula

Murujuga

Murujuga , is a peninsula often known as Burrup Peninsula in the Pilbara region of Western Australia, adjoining the Dampier Archipelago and near the town of Dampier...

.

Marine Resources

Despite being a region through which considerable shipping and industrial activity occurs the archipelago has considerable marine resources

Indigenous heritage

In 1868, the area was the site of the Flying Foam massacre

Flying Foam massacre

The Flying Foam Massacres were a series of confrontations between white settlers and Aboriginal people around Flying Foam Passage on Murujuga , between February and May 1868...

, in which between 20 and 150 members of the Yaburara are reported to have been killed.