Tiwi islanders are believed to have had contact with Macassan traders, and the first historical record of contact between indigenous islanders and western explorers was with the Dutch "under the command of Commander Maarten van Delft who took three ships, the Nieuw Holland, the Waijer, and the Vosschenbosch, into Shark Bay on Melville Island and landed on 30 April 1705".
Os isleños de Tiwi tiñan contacto con comerciantes de Macasar, E o primeiro rexistro histórico de contacto entre os isleños indíxenas e os exploradores occidentais foi cos holandeses "baixo o mando do Comandante Maarten Van Delft que mandaba tres naves, o Nieuw Holland, o Waijer, e o Vosschenbosch, en Shark Bay na illa de Melville na que desembarcou o 30 de abril de 1705".