If you’re Australian, you probably have heard the phrase ‘Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people’. We have spent history classes learning about Aboriginal people and their history in Australia, but how much do we know about Torres Strait Islanders?
In this article, I’m going to discuss who the Torres Strait Islander People are, and share what I’ve learnt about their culture, and history.
Torres Strait Islander flag adopted in 1992. Green panels represent the land, blue symbolises the waters of the Torres Strait, white object in the middle is a dancer’s headdress (called a dhari), symbolises the Torres Strait Islander peoples. The star is a symbol for navigation and represents the five cultural groups found.
Background:
Torres Strait Islanders are one of two distinct indigenous groups found in Australia (the other being Aboriginal people) who are of Melanesian descent. Along with Aboriginal people, Torres Strait Islanders were the first human inhabitants of Australia. Evidence of their settlements in the Torres Strait dates back at least 2,500 years ago (archaeologists believe in the future they are likely to find evidence dating back 4,000 years). Unlike Aboriginal people who inhabited mainland Australia, the Torres Strait Islander peoples are from the islands found in the Torres Strait, located between the tip of Queensland, Australia, and Papua New Guinea. The name Torres Strait comes from a Spanish captain Luís Vaz de Torres, who sailed through Torres Strait in 1606 on his way to Manila in the Philippines. The waterway is made up of 274 islands, 17 of which, are occupied by a total of 18 communities.
History:
Torres Strait Islanders are traditionally sea-farers and
agriculturalists who have a long history of trade and interactions with explorers from across the globe. However, contact with Europeans at Cape York in 1863 had a significant impact on Torres Strait Islander culture. In 1870 the pearling industry was formed, bringing a large rush of foreigners, exhausting the previously abundant natural marine resources found in the Torres Strait. After recognising the value of the pearling industry in 1872, Queensland annexed all islands within a 110km radius of Cape York, and then the rest in 1879. With the increased activity, Torres Strait Islanders were subject to abuse from pearlers and trepangers (sea cucumber harvesters). Along with this, competition for resources with commercial industries and the government, Torres Strait Islanders were placed under highly restrictive laws that took away their civil rights and freedom from 1939 up until the 1960’s when the ‘Aborigines and Torres Strait Islander Affairs Act’ essentially replaced all the earlier restrictions. Despite this, there were continuing efforts to keep both Torres Strait Islanders and Aboriginal people separate from the rest of the population, not including them in the Australian census until 1967.
In the 1990’s and early 21st century, movements advocating for greater Indigenous freedoms and self-determination emerged, and so began the start of improved recognition of Indigenous people. Groups such as the Torres Strait Regional Authority (TSRA), the Torres Strait Island Regional Council (TSIRC), Northern Peninsula Area Regional Council (NPARC), and Torres Shire Council (TSC) were established in response to an increased push for local autonomy.
Most Australians have also heard at least something of Mabo v Queensland (no. 2), 1992 - informally, ‘the Mabo Case’ - which recognised the concept of Native Title for the first time and overturned the previous idea of Terra nullius (latin for ‘the land of no one’). Like mainland aboriginal people, Torres Strait Islanders have claimed native title for their country but have been more successful as they suffered less dislocation in the years following European settlement. The ‘Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples Recognition Act’ of 2013, now recognises Indigenous people as the first inhabitants of Australia, and Torres Strait Islanders now have native title over the majority of the land and sea in the Torres Strait.
Beliefs/customs/culture:
The islands can be divided into five cultural groups which are represented in the white five-pointed star on the Torres Strait Islander flag. They include the Northern Islands (the hunting islands), the Western Islands (also known as the Rocky Islands), the Southern Islands (which host most of the population), the Central Islands (the fishing islands), and the Eastern Islands (the gardening islands). There are two distinct languages spoken by the Torres Strait Islanders. The traditional language spoken in the Eastern Islands is Meriam Mir, and in the Western, Central, and Inner Islands, Kala Lagaw Ya or Kala Kawa Ya, which are dialects of the same language. Because of European settlement in Australia, a mix of standard English and the traditional language developed, known as Creole, which is also commonly spoken.
The Torres Strait Islanders are traditionally a warrior people with customs including headhunting. More recently and lesser known, Torres Strait Islanders have a history with the Australian Army. During WW2, the Torres Strait Light Infantry Battalion formed on Horn island after it became Australia’s second most attacked territory. 880 Islander men, out of a population of 3,000, enlisted, “not only to protect the base, but also their country” (Torres Strait 99)
Like Aboriginal people, Torres Strait islanders have a close connection with their traditional lands and nature. However, both have their own stories and customs (called alai custom) that give them the beliefs that form their identity. Often these stories are expressed through song and dance. The Torres Strait Islanders use these as a way to preserve and pass on their history and culture, and are of great significance to the Torres Strait Islander peoples, being referred to as “Torres Strait literature material” (Bani 0:51). Totems and clans also play an important role in Torres Strait Islander culture, symbolising kinship relationships and providing responsibilities for clan members.
The Aboriginal concept of ‘the dreaming’ is well-known in Australia but little is taught about the Torres Strait Islanders equivalent. Torres Strait Islanders distinguish between four main time periods: ‘Before Before Time’, the creation period; ‘Before Time’, the time after creation period but before European contact; ‘Athe Time’, representing the known and recorded history of the Torres Strait Islander culture; and ‘Our Time’, the living history of the Torres Strait Islander Peoples. With these four there are also aspects of ‘Augadth/Zogo Time’ “which are secret/sacred and should not be mentioned.” (Torres Strait 85).
Torres Strait Islander spirituality “is closely linked to the stars and the stories of Tagai” (Torres 8), a great fisherman and ‘hero of the sea’. He is a key creator deity in Torres Strait Islander spirituality and the stories of the Tagai make up their spiritual belief system. The story represents Torres Strait Islanders as sea people, with a connection to the stars, and an orderly system in which everything has its place. As well as the stories of Tagai there are many other stories of other heroic beings that originate from different islands in the Torres Strait.
Alongside traditional customs and spirituality, the Torres Strait Islands have a large Christian population. In 1871, the first Christian Missionaries, known as the London Missionary society, arrived on one of the islands (Erub). This had a significant impact on the Torres Strait Islander peoples’ way of life. Many people of the Torres Strait Islands adopted the Christian rituals and ceremonies, ultimately bringing customs like witchcraft and headhunting to an end, while continuing to uphold their connection to the land, sea and sky, and practising many of their other traditional customs. The arrival of the missionaries is remembered every year with the ‘coming of light’ festival on July 1, often involving a reenactment of the story and a large feast in the evening. This adoption of Christianity into the Torres Strait Islands is often considered the reason for the end of inter-island conflict and is thought to have “provided protection against exploitation by foreign interests in pearling and Trepanging” (Torres 10). While Christianity remains the dominant religion in the region, not all celebrate on this day, instead, “mourning the division and breakup of families it brought” (Torres Strait 86), claiming that Christianity was brought to ‘civilize’ the Torres Strait Islanders.
Why remember?
Since the arrival of European settlers in Australia, Aboriginal people and Torres Strait Islanders have been subject to many hardships, “ranging from the loss of traditional culture and homelands to the forced removal of children and the denial of citizenship rights” (Aboriginal and Torres 2). At the time of colonization, there were over 250 different languages spoken among the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities. Today, of the 120 languages still spoken today, “only 60 languages are considered alive and healthy as a first tongue today” (Korff 12).
It is important that as a nation, Australia remembers our very real history, acknowledging the actions of European settlers and other Australians, and recognising the Indigenous people of Australia as the first inhabitants of the country.
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