The Early History of Dunk
Aborigines once lived on Dunk Island. The tribe was known as the Dijuru and their name for the island was Coonanglebah. The island received it's present name from Captain James Cook in 1770. The next noted visit to Dunk Island by the English was in 1848 by the warship, "Rattlesnake". It spent 10 days on Dunk Island and trouble erupted. Two "gentlemen" on the ship went on a hunting trip and approached a native camp. When the aboriginals tried to resist their advance, the two whitemen fired rifle shots at them. The aborigines fled, but did not forget the incident. From that point onwards, there were murders on both sides documented.

Life on Dunk Island Today
Most of Dunk Island has been classified as national park. It is maintained excellently by the Department of Parks and Wildlife. There is only a small number of residents who live on Dunk Island (and this includes a colony of artists).A large part of the island is covered in densejungle, but there are also eucalypt forests, grassy areas and mangrove flats. Over 90 species of birds have been recorded on the island. Another winged resident is the magnificent Papilio Ulysses butterfly (large bright blue with black in coloring). This has been adopted as the island's emblem.

There is a resort on Dunk Island which caters for around 400 guests and although there are varying tarrifs, in recent years, it has become a more expensive island to stay on. This can be disappointing for average Australian families, and this is true of many of the islands off the Queensland coast.

Tourism does however generate a lot of employment and revenue in the region, and the resort on Dunk employs a horticulturalist and 8 gardeners (at the last count) to maintain the beautiful tropical gardens.