“COVID hasn’t been very nice to us,” reflects Jedda Puruntatameri, who says Tiwi Islanders “have had a lot of problems” dealing with the flow-on effects of the coronavirus pandemic.

The remote islands, which sit just a 20-minute plane ride from Darwin in the Timor Sea, were some of the first Australian communities to be shut down from the outside world in 2020.

The Tiwi Islands were ring-fenced when coronavirus reached Australia.(

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Tiwi Islanders faced a choice: isolate on a remote island for months on end or, as a local leader put it, risk digging mass graves if COVID came to shore.

Unrelated to COVID, deaths did occur on Tiwi last year — with a deep sense of mourning filling the community.

[Pic Jedda]

And with travel forbidden to Darwin, the second home for many Tiwi Islanders who love to shoot across the Arafura Sea to the city for supplies, services and to socialise, 2020 took on that emotional complexion felt across the pandemic-shook world.

But one year on, the community is thriving.

A woman is sorting through Aboriginal art canvasses at the Tiwi Islands.
Tiwi artists have been busy in the last few months.(

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Last year’s shutdown of the island came on the eve of the Tiwi football grand final and art sale — an annual event that attracts thousands of tourists.

It’s a day of cultural celebration and immense economic stimulation on the islands.

Tourists flick through artwork.
Tourists often say they are “overwhelmed” by the art they see on the Tiwis.(

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Tourists come by plane or boat and swiftly hit the art galleries. Then prodigious amounts of money — or contactless credit — changes hands with gusto.

For Tiwi artists, losing that critical windfall in 2020 was tough.

But the return of the masses on Sunday signals a turnaround for the communities renowned across the world for their art and culture.

Tourists look on inside a school gym on the Tiwis.
Tourists look on inside a school gym on the Tiwis.(

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“Last year it was really quiet because of COVID-19, and now it’s really good that the visitors [have returned],” Michelle Woody says.

“It’s been really busy for the artists getting prepared for the art sale and also getting to meet lots of visitors.”

Michelle Woody flicks through artwork.
Michelle Woody has been one of Tiwi’s busiest artists during COVID lockdowns.(

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As the art sale draws to a close, Jedda’s mind is on the afternoon’s local footy league grand final.

Two Bulldogs fans give the thumbs up.
Footy is a game for young and old on the Tiwis.(

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“It’s one day in March we get to celebrate.

“It’s a community event. It’s where people come together,” adds Jedda, before a little boast about her own community on the islands.

A group of female Imalu Tigers fans stand together near the field at the Tiwi Islands grand final.
Imalu Tigers fans travelled from Pirliangimpi on Melville Island.(

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Jedda lists the catalogue of AFL stars from her home town: “Willie Rioli, Daniel Rioli, Maurice Rioli Jnr, they come from Pirliangimpi.

“There must be something in the water,” she suggest coyly.

Connell Tipiloura sits on a bench at the fence of Wurrumiyanga Oval.
Connell Tipiloura has long been a student of the game on the Tiwis.(

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At Wurrumiyanga Oval, as the grand final teams prepare to take the field, a contemplative Connell Tipiloura awaits the match he’s triumphed in three times as a coach before.

“It’s been a big game … going back decades,” he says.

This year the grand final is played between the home-town Walama Bulldogs, who hail from Bathurst Island, and the Melville Island-based Imalu Tigers.

A composite image of an Walama Bulldogs fan wearing a cap and a woman with a Imalu Tigers banner
Both teams attracted a concentrated chorus of fans.(

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A Bulldogs player kicks the ball at the Tiwi oval.
Thousands line the fence at Wurrumiyanga Oval for the game.(

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Connell must have been, if unintentionally, talking about the crowd, too.

At particularly acute moments of ecstasy or exasperation from spectators, the noise is ear-splitting.

Fans wearing blue Bulldogs jerseys call out to players of the field.
Barracking is something Tiwi Islanders do like no-one else.(

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One thousand fans sounds like 10,000.

Tiwi Islanders have flocked to see their sons and brothers and cousins play in the big game — and they’re doing every they can to will them over the line.

An Imalu fan shouts.
The Tiwi game demands fans’ undivided attention.(

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Sparked by goals from a Tipiloura and a Tipungwuti, the Bulldogs kick off to a flying start.

A Bulldogs player celebrates in front of Imalu's fans.
There’s plenty of interplay between players and the crowd.(

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The Tiwi grand final, as it is every year, is full of bloodlines of astonishingly talented footballers.

Famous Tiwi names like the Riolis and the Longs are ingrained in Australian cultural and sporting life.

Two players go up for a ruck contest.
The aerial ability of Tiwi players is a feature of local matches.(

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There is a Rioli playing, and also many other famous local footy names on the island like the Kantillas and the Puruntatameris.

While several Tiwi Islanders have gone on to achieve outrageous successes playing in the AFL,  there are many that could also reach that level who stay on Tiwi and play in the local league.

Imalu players sit in a team huddle
The Tiwi Islands have produced AFL premiership winners and Norm Smith medallists.(

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Elaborating on the widely-circulated ‘something in the water’ theory, Marius Puruntatameri has views of his own regarding the origins of Tiwi exceptionalism.

“[Football] been brought in by the priests that introduced the sport here and saw the enormous talent and ability that the Tiwi had, and the agility of the Tiwi,” he says.

Marius Puruntatameri stands in front of Wurrumiyanga Oval.
Marius Puruntatameri has stood at the Wurrumiyanga Oval fence for many a Tiwi grand final.(

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“The kids when they’re young, they just kick around a bit of plastic. As soon as they grow up they pick up something to kick around.

A young Walama Bulldogs fan is being help up on the shoulder of an adult at the Tiwi Islands football grand final.
“Born with a footy in their hands,” is a refrain you hear about Tiwi Islanders.(

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“It’s natural talent, because some of the skills that we have in our culture, like spear-throwing and the hand-eye coordination, [it’s] like picking up skills from the back of your head — they can see.”

These abilities come in handy with a wet ball.

An Imalu player kicks a drop punt
The tide turned for Imalu in the second half.(

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And when the skies opened, the Imalu Tigers got rolling.

Imalu Tigers supporters stand in the rain beside the football field.
Torrential downpours are all part of wet season footy on the Tiwis.(

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Snatching the lead for the first time all game, the Tigers were ahead half way through the last quarter.

The travelling crowd, minutes from victory, hit fever pitch.

Imalu fans cheer in the rain.
As the rain lifted, so too did the Tigers’ chances.(

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But it was the Bulldogs and their home crowd that would not be denied, prevailing in a thriller by 11 points.

A number of female footy fans watch the grand final intently, with most wearing blue Bulldogs jerseys.
As the sun broke out, Bulldogs fans broke onto the field.(

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The emotion that gets poured into this game does feel a bit like life-and-death, and the crowd reaction — the frantic rush of the field — squares with Jedda’s summation.

Scores of fans storm across the field at Tiwi Islands football grand final.
The field rush is a customary traditions at Tiwi grand finals.(

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Tiwi Islanders might paint on canvas, paper and bark, and sculpt with ironwood — but this is their live performance art.

This game of footy, as Jedda says, is life.

Three football fans on the Tiwi Islands hug each after the 2021 grand final.
Family, friends and players are all seen embracing at the end of Tiwi grand finals.(

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An exhausted and jubilant Bulldogs player.
An exhausted and jubilant Bulldogs player.(

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A woman at the Tiwi Islands football grand final, wearing blue with her face painted, gives a peace sign.
The fanfare is involved and elaborate at Tiwi grand finals.(

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An Imalu Tigers fan waves a team flag.
The Tigers’ narrow defeat came through no lack of support from their cheer squad.(

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A Bulldogs player celebrates a goal.
The Walama Bulldogs’ premiership win was their fourth in club history.(

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