Feuding Aboriginal families have again torn apart a township in far north Queensland during a 15-hour riot, turning the remote community into a tropical war zone.

Hundreds of armed residents, some drunk on sly grog, rampaged through Aurukun on the Cape York Peninsula on New Year's Day seeking revenge over the fatal stabbing of clan member.

Rioters wielded spears, star pickets, axes and bows and arrows as they went house-to-house looking for relatives of two teens charged with killing the 37-year man.

The marauders sought vengeance as they tried to force their way into the local medical centre, stormed the airport and torched eight homes.

About 250 residents fearing further reprisals fled Aurukun, with 130 heading six hours' west to Coen, while others travelled south to Kowanyama and Pormpuraaw.

More than 100 other refugees have sought shelter in a bush camp being run by former soldiers 80km outside the township where they were still hiding out.

'These are innocent people frightened for their lives,' a support worker told AAP on the condition of anonymity.

'No one wants to speak out, otherwise they will be targeted.'

Scroll down for video

Feuding Aboriginal families have again torn apart a township in far north Queensland during a 15-hour riot, turning the remote community into a tropical war zone. Eight homes were set alight (picutured) at Aurukun on the Cape York Peninsula

Hundreds of armed residents, some drunk on sly grog, rampaged through Aurukun on New Year's Day seeking revenge over the fatal stabbing of a clan member. Pictured is one of the houses destroyed by arsonists

Footage of women brawling in front of police officers at Aurukun emerged in 2016. Videos showed young women in the township swinging punches at each other as onlookers filmed. There is no suggestion anyone pictured was involved in the New Year's Day riot

Aurukun (pronounced Arra-koon) is a former Presbyterian mission with a population of 1,269 at the last Census. It is on the eastern side of the Gulf of Carpentaria, 829km north-west of Cairns.

Most of its residents are members of the Wik and Wik Way peoples and come from five clans: the Chara, Winchanam, Apalech, Puutch and Wanam groups.

Fifty to 60 families are split into two factions known as 'top end' and 'bottom end' based on where they live in the township. Trouble occurs along those factional lines.

Inter-clan tensions which go back generations have contributed to previous riots in Aurukun in 2007, 2013 and 2015.

In previous riots the police station has been attacked and gunfire kept scared residents indoors. In 2016 the township became so violent the local school was temporarily closed down.

While it could be famed for its spectacular regional scenery Aurukun has become better known for YouTube videos of local women fighting in the street while police watch on.

In 2007 it gained international headlines when nine boys and men aged from 13 to 25 avoided jail after pleading guilty to the repeated rape of a 10-year-old girl.

Townspeople from Aurukun are pictured at a makeshift camp run by the Kapani Warriors group about 80km from their home. About 250 residents fled Aurukun after a New Year's Day riot

Several dozen indigenous families from five clans are split into two factions called the 'top end' and 'bottom end' at Aurukun (pictured). Inter-clan tensions which go back generations have contributed to previous riots in 2007, 2013 and 2015.

At that time about 10 per cent of the township's inhabitants were on parole or under court supervision orders, with just as many in juvenile detention centres and jails.

As part of the latest violent flare-up a 17-year-old youth and an 18-year-old man have been charged with murder and extra police have been deployed.

As it evolved there was up to 200 to 250 people wandering around the streets of Aurukun - all armed, all aggressive...

Investigators have charged 27 others with 118 offences since the riot. Twelve of those people have been charged with arson.

Police will allege the teens charged with murder were involved in a New Year's Day altercation with the 37-year-old man which led to him being stabbed in the abdomen.

Superintendent Geoff Sheldon, assistant district officer of Queensland's Far North District, said the wounded man was taken to Aurukun's medical clinic about 4pm on January 1.

He was already unconscious and resuscitation efforts were unsuccessful. About 60 people soon turned up at the clinic armed with makeshift weapons including bricks, lengths of timber and metal bars.

'Police attended and were able to repel a quite full-on entry attempt into the clinic and keep people safe there,' Superintendent Sheldon told reporters.

Aurukun, a former Presbyterian mission with a population of 1.269 at the last Census, is on the eastern side of the Gulf of Carpentaria, 829km north-west of Cairns

Police seized 65 bottles of Bundaberg rum which was being smuggled into Aurukun on New Year's Eve. The community has a total alcohol ban

'The group then moved away and regrouped and gathered more people and it was about then that it turned out that they were seeking vengeance for the stabbing that occurred.

'They were going house-to-house looking for what they believed were two offenders responsible for the death of the 37-year-old gentleman.

'This became quite a violent confrontation at each and every residence. People were assaulted, property was damaged.'

Superintendent Sheldon said property was removed from some houses, put on front lawns and set alight. Molotov cocktails were thrown.

'As it evolved there was up to 200 to 250 people wandering around the streets of Aurukun - all armed, all aggressive - and it became quite a dangerous situation for all present as well as our staff… '

'Our officers were very, very worried that at a flash-point things could turn against them and the station could be the target for the next Molotov cocktails.'

That did not happen, as the rioters concentrated on chasing down their factional foes rather than attacking police.

Four people have been charged with riot and arson offences. Pictured is a house burning at Aurukun on New Year's Day as a police truck drives by

Superintendent Sheldon said police tried to protect those threatened by rival family groups 'armed to the teeth', and to 'bring some calm to the situation.'

'That was basically unsuccessful from the get-go,' he said. 'There was quite a high level of violence.'

CHARGES LAID OVER THE AURUKUN RIOT A 17-year-old male youth and an 18-year-old man have been charged with murder. Twenty seven people have been charged with 118 other offences, mostly related to riot and arson. Among those to face court are: A 17-year-old male youth charged with one count of arson, one count of riot, three counts of enter dwelling and three counts of wilful damage. A 37-year-old man charged with one count each of arson and riot. A 40-year-old man charged with two counts of arson, one count of riot, three counts of enter with intent and three counts of wilful damage. They appeared in Aurukun Magistrates Court on January 7 and have been remanded in custody in Cairns. A 47-year-old man has been charged with one count each of riot and wilful damage and will appear in Aurukun Court on January 15. Nineteen others will appear at Aurukun and Cairns Magistrates Courts between January and April. The 18-year-old charged with murder appeared at the Cairns Magistrates Court on January 2 via phone link from Weipa. He was remanded in custody and will appear again in April. The 17-year-old charged with murder will be dealt with under the Youth Justice Act. Advertisement

Anyone associated with the alleged killers came under attack. Cars linked to the teens' clan were smashed and houses were firebombed.

'Throughout the night there was roving groups of different sizes, all armed - spears, spear guns, star pickets, lumps of wood - seeking vengeance,' Superintendent Sheldon said.

As in some other Cape York indigenous communities, a complete alcohol ban has been in place in Aurukun since 2009 but sly grog still gets into the township.

On the day before the riot police seized 65 bottles of Bundaberg rum - which sells for up to $250 per 700ml - before it could be brought into Aurukun.

'We thought, OK we've prevented some tremendous issues here - look at the seizure we've got, that'll stand us in good stead for New Year's Eve,' Superintendent Sheldon said.

However, alcohol successfully smuggled into the community helped fuel the New Year's Day violence.

'It was noticed that a number of people in the group were intoxicated and it became a vengeance-seeking exercise,' Superintendent Sheldon said.

The two alleged killers were identified early in the evening and whisked out of the township as quickly as possible.

'Because of the high level of violence they quite willingly came and surrendered to us and were immediately removed from the community for their own safety and the safety of the rest of the people in the community.'

'We hoped that this would put an end to the violence but it didn't.

'At one stage the group believed that we had taken the prisoners to the airport so approximately 100 people stormed the airport looking to try and get the prisoners back off us and do whatever it was that they were going to do to the both of them.'

The prisoners were not at the airport and Superintendent Sheldon was unwilling to say how they were spirited out of the town.

Superintendent Geoff Sheldon, assistant district officer of Queensland's Far North District, said police would not tolerate marauding bands of armed residents waging war at Aurukun

As the night wore on, and much of southern Australia was beset by bushfire, more houses in the already over-crowded community were set alight.

'By the time the sun came up… there was a total of six houses completely destroyed and two other houses vandalised so much so that they were completely uninhabitable,' Superintendent Sheldon said.

'So, in a community where housing is at its prime there's eight houses lost to nothing more than sheer vengeance and arson attacks.

We're up against 250 people and we don't really need them to know what the size of our forces are.

'Every morning... we get up and we see more and more houses are burnt to the ground across Australia through bushfires.

'People are trying to do every single thing they can do avoid that happening to their small community and here we are, we've burnt down eight houses ourselves.'

During the night tactical officers were flown and driven into the township to reinforce the dozen or so police already on the ground.

Superintendent Sheldon would not say how many reinforcements had been brought in but officers had arrived from Weipa, Coen, Brisbane and Cairns.

'I won’t be releasing the details of the exact logistics because again we're up against 250 people and we don't really need them to know what the size of our forces are.'

Armed residents were still wandering the streets at 7.30am and hundreds of men, women and children were cowering inside their homes.

During previous riots at Aurukon the local police station has been attacked. In November 2015 rioters shot at a police car

Superintendent Sheldon described the rioters as having 'struck at the heart of the community by damaging the fabric of it.'

'You can't have 250 people wandering around town all armed with spear guns and spears and things like that.'

No police were seriously injured in the riot. Elders had assured authorities 'the angst and the community tensions relate to along family lines'.

It was an inter-clan retribution for what they saw as the murder of one member of a family by others.

'They weren't angry with us, there was historic long-standing issues that again bubbled to the surface,' Superintendent Sheldon said.

'It was an inter-clan retribution for what they saw as the murder of one member of a family by others.'

Superintendent Sheldon did not want to discuss the backgrounds of the dead man or the teens accused of killing him.

'They're a strong community and... there's a rich, deep history of culture in the community.

'And whilst there's combative lines and not necessarily all the five clans always get along together they value each and every member of their community.'

Tactical officers were flown into the township to reinforce the dozen or so police already on the ground. CCTV cameras captured fires burning on New Year's Day

Aurukun has a long history of violence and other social problems. Residents including these women have previously been filmed fist-fighting in the street. There is no suggestion anyone pictured was involved in the New Year's Day riot

Superintendent Sheldon acknowledged police would need to protect the charged teens' families and their homes.

'We'd be naive to think it's ended there,' he said. 'The cultural lines that do exist in that community run deep and long and [the New Year's Day riot] could result from something two years ago, five years ago or even further.'

I don't think we've ever seen the likes of eight houses burnt to the ground before.

Superintendent Sheldon said the riot was the worst flare-up since 2016.

'Personally it's the worst I've seen but I believe it also rates right up there with the history of the township. I don't think we've ever seen the likes of eight houses burnt to the ground before.

'I think we'll go forward ten steps, we might come back a couple more. But the important thing is to keep walking forward, keep moving and try to bring the community back together in a peaceful harmony.'

Displaced residents who feared further reprisals were camped out in the bush with members of the Kapani Warrior group which is made up of former servicemen.

Kapani Warrior runs personal development programs for young indigenous people in remote communities and is not set up for such large-scale humanitarian projects.

Program director Tim White told the ABC his team had provided food, water, shelter and medical support for people who had lost homes or did not feel safe staying in Aurukun.

Dr White said while Aurukun had faced violent unrest in the past the current circumstances were unprecedented and the community had now entered 'uncharted waters'.

Members of the Kapani Warrior program stand arm-in-arm near Aurukun. Kapani Warrior runs personal development programs for young indigenous people in remote communities. Left to right are Dusty Miller, Dave Harrison, Tim White, Scott Perry and Max Bryant

'Is it a humanitarian crisis? If you were to have a similar occurrence in other places around the globe, you would describe it as that.'

Aurukun Mayor Dereck Walpo said: 'I thank the police for their work in our community over the past few days and urge residents to co-operate with them.'

'I ask all members of our community to keep calm so we can move forward and begin the healing process.'

Police intercepted this shipment of rum into Aurukun on New Year's Eve

Superintendent Sheldon said the mood in Aurukun would remain volatile for some time.

'During the whole of this we've been trying to garner the support of community leaders and members of the community that can assist us to talk some sense between warring parties,' he said.

'The situation in Aurukun is long-standing. There are clans there that simply do not get on and the history of disagreements between them has been long-standing. And this is actually a further continuance of that.'

'At this stage it's a long road ahead. We've seen this behaviour before and we've progressed to where we are now.

'This is a couple of steps back but I've got every confidence that in collaboration with other government agencies and entities as well as the community we'll move forward to bring peace and harmony back to Aurukun.'

Superintendent Sheldon said while Aurukun had a long history of rioting and other violence, progress had been made in recent years.

He was confident of bringing the community back together, 'to once again be the proud Wik people of Aurukun and the art and history and culture that they bring to the world.'