Torres Strait Islanders

The Torres Strait Islanders are the Indigenous people of the Torres Strait Islands, located in Queensland, Australia. The Torres Strait region is an archipelago of eighteen islands and two peninsular regions that extend over 48,000 square kilometers (18,530 square miles). Torres Strait Islanders are ethnically and culturally distinct from Australian Aboriginal peoples. As the Torres Strait Islands lie between the Cape of York in northeastern Australia and Papua New Guinea, the Torres Strait Islanders share a culture and ethnic identity with Papuans and Austronesians. In the 2020s, around 983,700 Torres Strait Islanders lived in Australia, with most residing in cities in New South Wales, Queensland, and Western Australia.

Historically, the Torres Strait Islanders have had to fight for the recognition of their ethnic and cultural heritage by the Australian government. Beginning in 1971, the distinct category of "Torres Strait Islander" was included on the Australian census. In 2010, the Federal Court of Australia officially recognized the rights of the Torres Strait Islanders over the entire Torres Strait region.

Brief History

The Torres Strait People have inhabited the Torres Strait Islands for many years, although they did not always consider themselves a homogenous people. Before European contact, these seafaring people were linked through trade, occasional warfare, and a broad culture. The Islanders traditionally belonged to five distinct nations: Saibailgal (Top Western Islanders), Maluilgal (Mid-Western Islanders), Kaureg (Lower Western Islanders), Kulkalgal (Central Islanders) and Meriam Le (Eastern Islanders). On the more fertile "gardening islands" of the Torres Strait, Islanders mainly survived through agriculture. However, they also hunted fish and shellfish, and gathered fruits and vegetables.

The first European settlement was established in the region in 1863. Many European sailors and explorers arrived during the so-called "pearl rush," after large quantities of pearls were discovered in 1870. By 1871, Christian missionaries began to settle in the Torres Straits. Eight years later, the colony of Queensland legally annexed the Torres Strait Islands, mostly for the abundant natural resources. Thursday Island, known as Weiban in the indigenous language, became the administrative center of the Torres Straits in 1877.

By the early twentieth century, the demographic of the Torres Strait Islands were changing. Islanders who had spent their lives living on smaller islands resettled to larger communities such as Thursday Island. The Australian government encouraged the Islanders to resettle in areas with modern infrastructure and greater access to services.

The Aboriginals Protection and Restriction of the Sale of Opium Act, passed in 1897, further brought the Torres Strait Islands under the control of Queensland authorities. In 1904, the Office of the Chief Protector of Aboriginals was created. Government workers were appointed to oversee Islanders’ daily activities and a pass and curfew system was developed which required Islanders to obtain permission to travel.

Frustrated and angry, the Islanders created local councils. They petitioned the Queensland Government in 1937 for improved services, the curtailment of regulations over Islanders’ lives, and greater regional autonomy. Most of these demands were met in 1939, when the Queensland Government repealed the Aboriginals Protection Act of 1897 and passed the Torres Strait Islanders Act in its place. This act formally recognized the separate status of the Torres Strait Islanders.

Overview

As part of a complex culture of the Australian Aboriginal people, the Torres Strait Islanders have fought for political and cultural recognition since their islands were incorporated into the larger Queensland and Australian governments. Following World War II, the Indigenous peoples of Australia began to gain more rights as various Protection Acts were gradually repealed. Although many Torres Strait Islanders became actively involved in Indigenous rights groups, such as the National Aboriginal Consultative Committee (NACC; dissolved 1985) and the Federal Council for the Advancement of Aborigines and Torres Strait Islanders (FCAATSI; dissolved 1978), they were not permitted to vote in federal elections until 1962.

The Torres Strait Islanders continue to fight for their unique needs, especially regarding the preservation of their cultural identity and autonomy and resource management. A major victory for the Torres Strait community occurred in 2010, when the Australian Federal Court recognized Indigenous title rights over the Torres Strait region. This followed a long legal battle in which the Torres Strait Islanders requested that they be consulted regarding business conducted in the waters of the Torres Strait. In 2020, the Torres Strait Islanders' culture and heritage received further recognition with the passing of the Meriba Omasker Kaziw Kazipa Act, meaning "Torres Strait Islander Traditional Child Rearing Practice Act." This act aims to protect the traditional child-rearing practices of the Torres Strait Islanders.

There have been other victories for Torres Strait Islanders in their fight for cultural and political recognition. Although English was long the instructional language in Torres Strait schools, regional Indigenous languages were incorporated as part of the Australian curriculum in the early twenty-first century. However, English remained the primary language spoken for lessons and assessments. There are two Indigenous languages for Torres Strait Islanders: the Western-Central Torres Strait Island language, Kalaw Lagaw Ya, and the Eastern Torres Strait Island language, Meriam Mìr. Many Torres Strait Islanders also speak English and the English-based Torres Strait Creole, sometimes called Yumplatok, which dates to the time of the original European settlements in the region. Incorporating Indigenous Torres Strait languages into the national curriculum is important for cultural and linguistic preservation.

Most Torres Strait Islanders continue to follow cultural and religious traditions from their unique past while incorporating European influences. For example, many Islanders are practicing Christians who attend the various churches on the islands and sing traditional or island hymns in the region's distinctive part-singing. Around 50 percent of the Indigenous population claims an affiliation with a Christian denomination, which is about equal to the non-Indigenous population. While major occasions follow the Christian calendar, the Islanders also incorporate traditional ceremonies, such as the tombstone opening ceremony, in which the gravestone is revealed to family members years after a loved one’s death. Cultural adaptation has been an important part of life in the Torres Straits, although Islanders also preserve their unique heritage.

A symbol of the unique culture of the Islanders is the official Torres Strait flag. Adopted in 1992, this flag shows the traditional headdress of the Torres Strait Islanders over a five-pointed star representing the islands’ five political entities. The flag is composed of a mixture of colors: blue to represent the importance of the sea, black to represent the Torres Strait people, white to represent Christianity, and green to represent the northern and southern mainlands.

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