The Sistagirls were featured in a 2011 documentary.

The Tiwi Islands Sistagirls — “queer” or transgender Aboriginal people traditionally known as yimpininni — might have a feeling they’re not in Kansas anymore.

It’s the first time the Sistagirls have made the trip to the nation’s gay capital to take part in the biggest and most extravagant celebration of the LGBTI community in the country.

And they’ll be making their debut in extraordinary style with a twist, on-board the Northern Territory’s float, at the mardi gras parade on Saturday.

The group of about 30 sistagirls has travelled more than 4000km from the Tiwi Islands, via Darwin, to Sydney overnight ahead of Mardi Gras.

They have brought dozens of suitcases packed with their mardi gras costumes including locally handmade silk screen traditional print dresses, glow-in-the-dark paint, makeup cases and rainbow-coloured wigs.

It’s all for a special occasion, but living as women is an everyday thing for the sistagirls, who fundraised more than $8000 to pay for airfares, accommodation and transfers for the trip.

Tiwi Islands sistagirl 'Ajay' featured in Bindi Cole's 'sistagirls' exhibition.Source:Supplied

The Tiwi Islands sistagirls are heading to the Sydney mardi gras. Picture: ABC NewsSource:ABC

Sistagirl Jason De Santis, also known as Foxxy Empire, told news.com.au the group’s Mardi Gras float will be made up of “NT stars”.

“We wanted to bring some authenticity to this year’s float and showcase the hidden gems of the NT — not only its strong drag queen culture but also its thriving traditional, transgender culture that exists in our remote community,” Mr De Santis said.

“We’ve got girls from the most remote parts of the NT joining forces with the girls from the main city of Darwin.

“The fact we’re all marching together in solidarity shows it’s a night of being able to be colour blind and to lay our spears down so everyone can let their hairs down and have a really great night together.”

Tiwi Island sistagirls Shaun Kerinaiua (left) and Anastaius Vigona (right) in Sydney today.Source:Supplied

The Tiwi Islands, about 80km north of Darwin, is home to Australia’s largest per capita transgender population, with locals claiming that up to five per cent of approximately 3000 residents identify as transgender, gay, lesbian or bisexual. Some sistagirls are reportedly as young as six.

“It’s trannyville,” Mr De Santis said.

“There could be something in the water.

“Where there’s an island there’s bound to be transgender.

“In all honesty men have run out of women and then have had to make do with what they’ve got.”

The Tiwi Islands in the Northern Territory is made up of two islands: Bathurst and Melville.Source:Supplied

Mr De Santis said the Tiwis — comprised of Bathurst and Melville Islands — has a “long sistagirl” culture with the first resident publicly identifying as transgender in the 1970s.

But according to Sisters and Brothers NT, there is a lot of evidence and oral history that proves sistagirls were a part of Aboriginal communities a long time before colonisation.

They have faced many struggles, particularly in recent years, with some sistagirls becoming victims of serious crimes including domestic violence and rape.

Others have often been targets of bullying, causing some to die by suicide.

Laura Orsto, now in her 30s, says she told her parents that she was a sistagirl in primary school. “Age 10 I knew I was a sistagirl. It was really, really, very hard for me to come out because my parents are really strict and didn’t want me to be out there as a sistagirl. They wanted me to be saved,” she told Buzzfeed.

“I told my parents, ‘For you to accept me I have to go away’, and I lived in Darwin with my aunty who accepted me. She told me, ‘Be safe here with me, I don’t want you to be out yet. I accept you to be who you are, but I don’t want people to hurt you.’ I said, ‘I understand, Aunty, but I want to be out there. I don’t want to be behind closed doors any more.”

A sistagirl on the Tiwi Islands in the Northern Territory.Source:Supplied

After a spate of sistagirl suicides more than 15 years ago, a large group of sistagirls attended a community meeting and demanded acceptance for transgender people, and public perception and treatment of the girls started to improve.

Crystal Love, a senior member of the Tiwi Islands community and a Sistagirl said: “I had a hard life growing up as a Sistagirl but that was a journey that I had to take to be who I am now.”

A documentary about the Sistagirls released in 2011 also helped to shed light on issues within the community, according to Mr De Santis.

“It was a bit of a mission for acceptance at first,” he told news.com.au.

“It caused a lot of problems at the beginning because it was so controversial but now (the documentary) has turned into a really beautiful healing tool.

“Catholicism is very strong in our community but the Tiwi people have made the Catholic religion work hand-in-hand in trying to break down that barrier because religion dictates that sort of stuff, what is accepted and what’s not, especially in the 70s on the island.

“Now its much better with sistagirls working in great positions around the community and taking up strong leadership roles that have nothing to do with just being sistagirls.

“They’re looked up to and most are accepted by their families these days.”

An Aboriginal transgender person, known as a Sistagirl, in a documentary of the same name.Source:Supplied

While attitudes towards sistagirls have changed over the years, so too has the meaning of the term, which once was a reference solely for transgender Aboriginal people but is now more widely used to also describe “those who are queer”.

“It recognises a decolonised view of sexuality and gender diversity that includes people of culture who have a language and the female spirit of it all,” Mr De Santis said.

“Being gender diverse or identifying as queer, like I do, it’s important to hold on strong to your culture, family ties, language, hunting, our food.

“Sistagirls embody the strong women of their own families and community.

“Mothers make the world go round and sistagirls stick together.

“That’s what we’re coming to Sydney to show the world.”

If you or anyone you know needs help, call: Lifeline on 13 11 14, Suicide Call Back Service on 1300 659 467, Beyond Blue on 1300 22 46 36.

megan.palin@news.com.au