 Flag of the South Sea Islanders | |
 South Sea Islander labourers on a Queenslandpineapple plantation, 1890s | |
| Total population | |
|---|---|
| 7,228 (by reported ancestry,2021 census)[1] c. 20,000 (2022 estimate)[2] | |
| Regions with significant populations | |
| Mackay,QLD | 846 (2021 census)[3] 5,000 (2021 estimate)[4] |
| Brisbane, QLD | 619 (2021)[3] |
| Rockhampton, QLD | 533 (2021)[3] |
| Townsville, QLD | 399 (2021)[3] |
| Cairns, QLD | 308 (2021)[3] |
| Moreton Bay, QLD | 283 (2021)[3] |
| Logan, QLD | 248 (2021)[3] |
| Tweed,NSW | 219 (2021)[3] |
| Whitsunday, QLD | 203 (2021)[3] |
| Livingstone, QLD | 177 (2021)[3] |
| Fraser Coast, QLD | 170 (2021)[3] |
| Gold Coast, QLD | 170 (2021)[3] |
| Bundaberg, QLD | 157 (2021)[3] |
| Sunshine Coast, QLD | 153 (2021)[3] |
| Gladstone, QLD | 143 (2021)[3] |
| Ipswich, QLD | 132 (2021)[3] |
| Burdekin, QLD | 114 (2021)[3] |
| Cassowary Coast, QLD | 112 (2021)[3] |
| Redland, QLD | 82 (2021)[3] |
| Yarrabah, QLD | 77 (2021)[3] |
| Languages | |
| Australian English • Bislama[5] • Pijin[6] | |
| Related ethnic groups | |
| Melanesians,Micronesians,Polynesians | |
South Sea Islanders, also known asAustralian South Sea Islanders (ASSI) and formerly referred to asKanakas, are the Australian descendants ofPacific Islanders from more than 80 islands – including theOceanian archipelagoes of theSolomon Islands,New Caledonia,Vanuatu,Fiji, theGilbert Islands, andNew Ireland – who were kidnapped or recruited between the mid to late 19th century as labourers in thesugarcane fields ofQueensland. Some were kidnapped or tricked (or "blackbirded") into long-termindentured servitude orslavery, despite theSlavery Abolition Act 1833 criminalising slavery in Australia and other parts of theBritish Empire. At its height, the recruiting accounted for over half the adult male population of some islands.
Today, the majority of South Sea Islanders are alsoAboriginal Australians orTorres Strait Islanders. As of the2021 census, there were 7,228 people who claimed South Sea Islander ancestry in Australia, 5,562 of whom lived in Queensland.[1] However, this is lower than the actual number of people with South Sea Islander heritage, with the true number estimated to be as high as 20,000 in Queensland alone as of 2022.[2] The largest South Sea Islanders community is in the city ofMackay, where approximately 5,000 South Sea Islanders reside (approximately 5.93% of Mackay's population).[4][7]
Under thePolynesian Labourers Act 1868 (Qld), recruited labour was indentured for three years in exchange for a small wage of £6 per year as well as rations, accommodation and clothing. Employers were required to deposit their employees’ wages into a Government Savings Bank account.[8]
The majority were repatriated by the Australian Government in the period between 1906 and 1908 under thePacific Island Labourers Act 1901,[9] a piece of legislation related to theWhite Australia policy.[10][11][12] There was resistance to repatriation,[13] and controversy regarding the manner in which it was done.[14]
Those exempted from repatriation, along with a number of others who escaped deportation, remained in Australia to form the basis of what is today Australia's largest non-indigenous black ethnic group. Today, the descendants of those who remained are officially referred to as South Sea Islanders. A 1992 census of South Sea Islanders reported around 10,000 descendants living in Queensland. Fewer than 3,500 were reported in the 2001 Australian census.[15]
The question of how many Islanders were "blackbirded" is unknown and remains controversial. The extent to which Islanders were recruited legally, persuaded, deceived, coerced or forced to leave their homes and travel to Queensland is difficult to evaluate and also controversial. Official documents and accounts from the period often conflict with the oral tradition passed down to the descendants of workers. Stories of blatantly violent kidnapping tend to relate to the first ten or so years of the trade.[citation needed]
With time, owing to intermarriage, many Australian South Sea Islanders also claim a mixed ancestry, includingAboriginal andTorres Strait Islander people, along with immigrants from the SouthPacific Islands andEuropean Australians.
Blackbirded and recruited islanders were generally referred to asKanakas (from theHawaiian wordkānaka meaning "man"[16]). However many Islander descendants now regard the term aspejorative and an insulting reminder of their ancestors' exploitation at the hands of the British and the white Australians, and it is now regarded inAustralian English as an offensive term.[17][18]
In recent generations, facing many similar forms of discrimination in Australia as Aboriginal Australians and Torres Strait Islanders, Australian South Sea Islanders have been prominent figures in civil rights and politics.Faith Bandler,Evelyn Scott, andBonita Mabo (widow ofEddie Mabo) are prominent Indigenous activists who are also descendants of South Sea Island plantation workers.
Stephen Andrew, who representedPauline Hanson's One Nation (PHON) andKatter's Australian Party (KAP) in theQueensland Parliament, was the first South Sea Islander to be elected to parliament, having won the seat ofMirani for One Nation in2017 and2020 before being defeated as a KAP member in2024.[19]
FederalLiberal National MPTerry Young, who has represented the seat ofLongman since2019, was of South Sea Islander descent through his grandfather.[20]
Another area Australian South Sea Islanders have excelled in is sport, especially the game ofrugby league. Australian international representativesSam Backo,Mal Meninga,Gorden Tallis andWendell Sailor are all members of the Australian South Sea Islander community.
Gail Mabo, daughter of Bonita and Eddie Mabo, is a prominent visual artist.
For many years, Queensland's South Sea Islander communities sought acknowledgement for past treatment, and recognition as a distinct cultural group. After decades of community advocacy, the Commonwealth Government finally recognised that distinction on August 25, 1994.State Library of Queensland holds several collections pertaining to the history of Australian South Sea Islanders in Queensland, two significant collections pertain to their long fight for recognition.[21]
The Australian South Sea Islanders United Council Records 1975–2008, 2021 (Acc. 28617) includes documents, research papers, photographs, recorded interviews and other material relating to the work of the Australian South Sea Islanders United Council (ASSIUC) from the mid 1970s. Formed by a group of first descendants atTweed Heads in 1975, the ASSIUC was the first national body to represent Australian South Sea Islanders, advocating for national recognition and promoting cultural awareness. A second iteration of the ASSIUC was re-registered in Townsville in 1991 and grew to fourteen branches including two inNew South Wales. This body was instrumental in bringing communities together and advocating for change.[22]
The Australian South Sea Islanders 150 Commemoration and Festival 2013 Papers (Acc. 29744) also include documents such as meeting minutes and correspondence relating to the Australian South Sea Islanders Secretariat Inc., and photographs and interviews conducted by Nic Maclellan on 13 August 2013 at the Australian South Sea Islander 150th Anniversary event at Ormiston House, Brisbane.[23]
This Wikipedia article incorporatesCC BY 4.0licensed text from:"Sugar slaves".Blogs.State Library of Queensland. 15 April 2021. Retrieved19 May 2021. This Wikipedia article incorporates text fromAustralian South Sea Islander collections (12 May 2022) published by theState Library of Queensland underCC BYlicence, accessed on 27 May 2022.State Library of Queensland'sNasuven Enares Oral History and Digital Story. Nasuven Enares is a direct descendant of Australian South Sea Islanders (ASSI), people who were forcibly brought to Australia at the turn of the century as indentured labour
This Wikipedia article incorporates text fromSugar slaves (15 April 2021) published by theState Library of Queensland underCC BYlicence, accessed on 19 May 2021.
