The isolated Tiwi believed that they were the only people in the world, with the mainland the home for the departed Tiwi spirits. The word 'Tiwi' in their language is translated as: "We, the only people".

Tiwi Legend
The Tiwi people, whose word for Blue Cypress is Karntirrikani, recount this legend describing its origin:
"And then Mudangkala, the old blind woman, arose from the ground carrying three babies in her arms. As she crawled in darkness across the featureless landscape, sea water followed and filled the imprints left by her body. Eventually pools became one, and formed a channel. The old woman continued her journey overland, and again the moulded earth filled with the flow of water. Before she left, Mudangkala covered the islands she had created with plants - Karntirrikani - and filled the land and sea with living creatures. Finally the land was prepared for her three babies, and for the generations of Tiwi who followed."

Early European explorers find the Tiwi
The first European to record sighting of the islands was Dutch navigator Pieter Pieterzoon. On June 13, 1636, he sailed along the north coast of Melville and Bathurst islands, saw smoke, but no further signs of habitation. He named the islands Van Diemensland. In 1644, Abel Tasman investigated further, but again there is no record of contact with the Tiwis.

This changed in 1705, when a three-ship expedition, again commanded by a Dutchman, Maarten van Delft, landed at Shark Bay on the north-east corner of Melville. He found the Tiwis to be exceptionally unfriendly and unwelcoming. After several of his sailors were speared, the ships left. The conclusions of van Delft were that there were no trading opportunities for the Dutch; the land was unfit for agriculture, and the people were very aggressive in the defence of their country. This led to the decision of the Dutch that there was nothing for them in the "Great South Land", leaving the way open for Captain Cook and the British later in the eighteenth century.

Development of modern oil production
One of the resources of the Tiwi Islands that was not observed by the Dutch, was Callitris intratropica, the Northern Cypress Pine. Its first recorded use by European people was in 1905 by Joe Cooper, who milled the timber for building purposes. About this time, R.T. Baker and H.G.Smith were preparing their book, 'A Research on the Pines of Australia'. In it, the characteristics and properties of Callitris intratropica were investigated and extensively defined. Its detail inspired Bill McGilvray, of the Australian Cypress Oil company, to examine many of the Callitris species.

Since the 1980s, McGilvray had been searching for a viable and sustainable source for the production of Australian essential oils. After examining each of the southern varieties of Cypress Pine, McGilvray rejected each in turn. Why? No plantations were in existence, or planned, despite an extensive saw milling industry based on natural stands.

Although there is a ready availability of sawdust and mill waste for the distillation process, McGilvray could not see a future for an essential oil with poor environmental credentials, particularly in eco-conscious Europe. Since much of his company's business was conducted in Northern Europe, and since he had taken a firm environmental stand in relation to Tea Tree Oil in particular, the oils from these naturally-growing Callitris trees did not meet his criteria for development.

Eventually, he learned of the existence of plantations of Callitris intratropica in the 'Top End' of the Northern Territory, and was pleased to discover that there were established trial plantations on Melville, and the seed sources for the trials and subsequent plantations were trees on Melville Island.

1960 - 2000
The first plantings of Callitris intratropica were made in the early 1960s. Soon after, they expanded into large-scale plantations, the intention being to provide the Tiwi people with employment and revenue. Further plantations were established on the Australian mainland in the mid-to-late 1960s and early 70s. Poor growth rates caused the cessation of Callitris intratropica plantings, and Pinus caribæa and other species were used in later plantations on both Melville and the mainland. By the late 70s, rising alarm in Federal Government at the runaway expenditure on Northern Territory timber plantations ended their forestry activities, and led to the eventual demise of the forestry division of the Northern Territory Lands Department.

In December 1974, the devastation caused by Cyclone Tracey resulted in a rapid loss of interest in timber-framed houses, and building codes were drastically upgraded to prevent such damage from occurring again. Since then the plantations had been entirely neglected - in some cases burnt or bulldozed out.

Into this environment, the dedicated and enthusiastic Bill McGilvray decided to spearhead the development of a new essential oil industry, based on a plantation resource of a unique Australian species. The next step meant analysing the challenging technical problems associated with distillation of an essential oil contained in the wood rather than the leaves of the plant, with specific difficulties in regard to the nature of its chemical constituents.

Having dealt with those problems, McGilvray introduced the resulting essential oil to clients in Europe. Their responses gave his team the courage to invest in a test program to enable registration of the oil, and to trial international marketing. The results of these programs was the unique Australian essential oil, an essence more ancient than those of Eucalypts or Melaleucas. Distilled from the wood of Callitris intratropica, McGilvray named it 'Australian Blue Cypress Oil,' to reflect the cobalt blue colour obtained during distillation.

Traditional Uses of Callitris intratropica
For thousands of years, Australia's Aboriginal people have used the vast country's natural resources as foods and medicines. In areas where social pressures and the attractions of the white man's ways of living have distanced people from the hunter-gatherer lifestyle, traditional uses have diminished.

Traditional ways are still very much in evidence in the centre, north and western areas of Australia, There, methods of preparation and patterns of usage of natural plant medicines are being thoroughly documented. This will augment the oral tradition used by the aboriginal people for countless generations to hand down their skills.

A major part of the aboriginal pharmacopæia is the preparation and use of essential oil-bearing plants. Various communities often use the plants within their area in different ways to the preparations of other communities. In part, this is because of the variation in chemical constituents of the oils from area to area, and in part, because the patterns of use in one community have led to particular qualities being ascribed to the plant. Traditional methods of using essential oil-bearing plants include:

• Crushing the leaves or plant parts either in by hand or in a container, and inhaling the oil vapours.
• Crushing the leaves or plant parts and applying the paste as a poultice, covered with clay or bound with bark.
• Cutting pieces of bark from the tree and wrapping the part of the body being treated, tying on the bark with vines.
• Throwing the bark or leaves onto heated stones or into warm ashes, and inhaling the vapours.
• The bark is pounded, placed in water, and heated. The liquid is then spread over the body part being treated.

The Tiwis and some mainland aboriginal groups use Callitris intratropica in very specific ways:
As a wash: To relieve abdominal cramps. Also applied to sores and cuts. Occasionally used internally to treat abdominal pain and discomfort. About a handful of freshly gathered inner bark is pounded and heated in about 500mls of water. The cooled liquid is spread over the body, and a long strand of inner bark is wrapped around the abdomen (to relieve abdominal cramps).
As an insect repellent: The bark is thrown into the camp fire to drive off mosquitoes and midges.
As an analgesic: To relieve minor aches and pains. The wood ashes are mixed with water and smeared over the affected part of the body.