Doini Island

Doini Island, also called Blanchard Island, lies on the southern side of East Channel in Milne Bay Province, Papua New Guinea. It belongs to the Samarai Islands within the Louisiade Archipelago. Long before European arrival, this position in the island country supported a maritime community whose boats, village houses and cultivated ground were closely tied to the surrounding sea.

The Spanish expedition of Luís Vaez de Torres first sighted the island on 30 July 1606. Fires had appeared there each night, but when the landing crew approached, inhabitants withdrew by canoe to another island. Their thatched houses had interior walls and contained fishing nets, stone axes and large pearl shells. The visitors also described fruitful cultivation and a large, well-made cistern used because the islanders did not sink wells. Small dogs that neither barked nor howled were noted as well.

The Spanish called the place San Facundo. Some islanders arriving by canoe were captured, questioned for the names of neighbouring peoples, and then released. On 31 July, the expedition assembled in arms and held a formal act of possession for King Philip III. The account records a prosperous island settlement at the moment it was drawn into European claims.