 | |
| Total population | |
|---|---|
| 82,054 (2021)[1] | |
| Regions with significant populations | |
| Torres Strait Islands 3,577[2] | |
| Languages | |
| Torresian languages,Torresian Creole,Torresian English,Australian English | |
| Religion | |
| Christianity,Islam[3] | |
| Related ethnic groups | |
| Melanesians |
Torresians (/ˈtɒrɪs/TORR-iss)[4] are the IndigenousMelanesian people of theTorres Strait Islands, which are part of the state ofQueensland, Australia. Ethnically distinct from theAboriginal peoples of the rest of Australia, they are often grouped with them asIndigenous Australians. Today, many more Torresian people live in mainland Australia than on the Islands.
Five distinct peoples exist within the broader designation of Torresian people, based partly on geographical and cultural divisions.Kalaw Lagaw Ya andMeriam Mir comprise the two main Indigenous language groups;Torresian Creole is also widely spoken as a language of trade and commerce. The core of Island culture isPapuan, and the people are traditionally a seafaring nation. The Torres Islanders exhibit a strong artistic culture, particularly in sculpture, printmaking, and mask-making.
Of the 133 islands, only 38 are inhabited. The islands are culturally unique, with much to distinguish them from neighbouringPapua New Guinea,Indonesia and thePacific Islands. Today the islands are multicultural, having attracted Asian and Pacific Island traders to thebeche-de-mer,mother-of-pearl andtrochus-shell industries over the years.[6]
The2021 Australian census counted 4,124 people living on the islands, of whom 86.7% were Torres Strait Islander or Aboriginal Australian people. (86.7% of the population identified as Torres Strait Islander; 16.9% as Aboriginal Australian; 2.3% as Australian; 1.8% as English, etc.).[2] In 2006, the AustralianDepartment of Foreign Affairs and Trade had reported 6,800 Torres Strait Islanders living in theTorres Strait area.[7]
People who identified themselves as being of Torres Strait Islander descent in Australia as a whole in the 2021 census accounted for 4.2% of those who identified themselves as being of Indigenous origin (39,538), while those with both Torres Strait Islander and Aboriginal ancestry made up a further 4.4% (42,516).[1]
Five communities of Torres Strait Islanders and Aboriginal Australians live on the coast of mainland Queensland, mainly atBamaga,Seisia,Injinoo,Umagico andNew Mapoon in the Northern Peninsula area of Cape York.[8]
In June 1875, ameasles epidemic killed about 25% of the population, with some islands suffering losses of up to 80% of their people, as the islanders had no natural immunity to European diseases.[9]
Until the late 20th century, Torres Strait Islanders had been administered by a system of elected councils, a system based partly on traditional pre-Christian local government and partly on the introduced mission management system.[10]
Today, theTorres Strait Regional Authority, anAustralian government body established in 1994 and consisting of 20 elected representatives, oversees the islands, with its primary function being to strengthen the economic, social and cultural development of the peoples of the Torres Strait area.[11]
Further to the TSRA, there are severalQueensland LGAs which administer areas occupied by Torres Strait Islander communities:
Torres Strait Islander people are of predominantlyMelanesian descent, distinct fromAboriginal Australians on the mainland and some other Australian islands,[13][14] and share some genetic and cultural traits with the people ofNew Guinea.[15]
The five-pointed star on thenational flag represents the five cultural groups.[15] Another source says that it originally represented the five groups of islands, but today (as of 2001) it represents the five major political divisions.[16]
Pre-colonial Island people were not a homogeneous group and until then did not regard themselves as a single people. They have links with the people ofPapua New Guinea, several islands being much closer to PNG than Australia, as well as the northern tip ofCape York on the Australian continent.[16]
Sources are generally agreed that there are five distinct geographical and/or cultural divisions, but descriptions and naming of the groups differ widely.
Ethno-linguistic groups include:
There are two distinct Indigenous languages spoken on the Islands, as well as acreole language.[13]
TheWestern-central Torres Strait Language, orKalaw Lagaw Ya, is spoken on the southwestern, western, northern and central islands;[17] a further dialect, Kala Kawa Ya (Top Western and Western) may be distinguished.[6] It is a member of thePama-Nyungan family of languages of Australia.
Meriam Mir is spoken on the eastern islands. It is one of the fourEastern Trans-Fly languages, the other three being spoken in Papua New Guinea.[17]
Torres Strait Creole, an English-basedcreole language, is also spoken.[6]
Archaeological, linguistic andfolk history evidence suggests that the core of Island culture isPapuo-Austronesian. The people have long been agriculturalists (evidenced, for example, bytobacco plantations onAureed Island[18]) as well as engaging inhunting and gathering.Dugong,turtles,crayfish, crabs, shellfish, reef fish and wild fruits and vegetables were traditionally hunted and collected and remain an important part of theirsubsistence lifestyle. Traditional foods play an important role in ceremonies and celebrations even when they do not live on the islands.Dugong andturtle hunting as well as fishing are seen as a way of continuing the Islander tradition of being closely associated with the sea.[19] The islands have long history of trade and interactions with explorers from other parts of the globe, both east and west, which has influenced their lifestyle and culture.[20]
The Indigenous people of the Torres Strait have a distinct culture which has slight variants on the different islands where they live. Cultural practices share similarities withAustralian Aboriginal andPapuan culture. Historically, they have anoral tradition, with stories handed down and communicated through song, dance and ceremonial performance. As a seafaring people, sea, sky and land feature strongly in their stories and art.[21]
Post-colonisation history has seen new cultural influences on the people, most notably the place ofChristianity. After the "Coming of Light" (see below),artefacts previously important to their ceremonies lost their relevance, instead replaced bycrucifixes and other symbols of Christianity. In some cases the missionaries prohibited the use of traditional sacred objects, and eventually production ceased.Missionaries,anthropologists and museums "collected" a huge amount of material: all of the pieces collected by missionary Samuel McFarlane, were inLondon and then split between three European museums and a number of mainland Australian museums.[22]
In 1898–1899, British anthropologistAlfred Cort Haddon collected about 2,000 objects, convinced that hundreds of art objects collected had to be saved from destruction by the zealous Christianmissionaries intent on obliterating the religious traditions and ceremonies of the native islanders. Film footage ofceremonial dances was also collected.[23] The collection atCambridge University is known as the Haddon Collection and is the most comprehensive collection of Torres Strait Islander artefacts in the world.[21]
During the first half of the 20th century, Torres Strait Islander culture was largely restricted to dance and song,weaving and producing a few items for particular festive occasions.[22] In the 1960s and 1970s, researchers trying to salvage what was left of traditional knowledge from surviving elders influenced the revival of interest in the old ways of life. An Australian historian,Margaret Lawrie, employed by theQueensland State Library, spent much time travelling the Islands, speaking to local people and recording their stories, which have since influencedvisual art on the Islands.[24]
Mythology and culture, deeply influenced by the ocean and the natural life around the islands, have always informed traditional artforms. Featured strongly areturtles, fish,dugongs, sharks, seabirds andsaltwater crocodiles, which are consideredtotemic beings.[20]
Torres Strait Islander people are the only culture in the world to maketurtleshell masks, known askrar (turtleshell) in the Western Islands andle-op (human face) in the Eastern Islands.[21]
Prominent among the artforms iswame (alt.wameya), many differentstring figures.[25][26][27]
Elaborateheaddresses ordhari (also speltdari[28]), as featured on theTorres Strait Islander flag, are created for the purposes of ceremonial dances.[29]
The Islands have a long tradition of woodcarving, creating masks and drums, and carving decorative features on these and other items for ceremonial use. From the 1970s, young artists were beginning their studies at around the same time that a significant re-connection to traditional myths and legends was happening. Margaret Lawrie's publications,Myths and Legends of the Torres Strait (1970) andTales from the Torres Strait (1972), reviving stories which had all but been forgotten, influenced the artists greatly.[30][31] While some of these stories had been written down by Haddon after his 1898 expedition to the Torres Strait,[32] many had subsequently fallen out of use or been forgotten.
In the 1990s a group of younger artists, including the award-winningDennis Nona (b.1973), started translating these skills into the more portable forms ofprintmaking,linocut andetching, as well as larger scalebronze sculptures. Other outstanding artists includeBilly Missi (1970–2012), known for his decorated black and white linocuts of the local vegetation and eco-systems, andAlick Tipoti (b.1975). These and other Torres Strait artists have greatly expanded the forms of Indigenous art within Australia, bringing Melanesian carving skills as well as new stories and subject matter.[21] The College of Technical and Further Education onThursday Island was a starting point for young Islanders to pursue studies in art. Many went on to further art studies, especially in printmaking, initially inCairns, Queensland and later at theAustralian National University in what is now the School of Art and Design. Other artists such as Laurie Nona, Brian Robinson, David Bosun, Glen Mackie, Joemen Nona, Daniel O'Shane and Tommy Pau are known for their printmaking work.[24]
An exhibition of Alick Tipoti's work, titledZugubal, was mounted at theCairns Regional Gallery in July 2015.[33][34]
For Torres Strait Islander people, singing and dancing is their "literature" – "the most important aspect of Torres Strait lifestyle. The Torres Strait Islanders preserve and present their oral history through songs and dances;...the dances act as illustrative material and, of course, the dancer himself is the storyteller" (Ephraim Bani, 1979). There are many songs about the weather; others about the myths and legends; life in the sea andtotemic gods; and about important events. "The dancing and its movements express the songs and acts as the illustrative material".[35]
Dance is also major form of creative and competitive expression. "Dance machines" (hand held mechanical moving objects),clappers and headdresses (dhari/dari) enhance the dance performances.[29] Dance artefacts used in the ceremonial performances relate to Islander traditions and clan identity, and each island group has its own performances.[36]
ArtistKen Thaiday Snr is renowned for his elaborately sculptured dari, often with moving parts and incorporating thehammerhead shark, a powerful totem.[36][37]
Christine Anu is anARIA Award-winning singer-songwriter of Torres Strait Islander heritage, who first became popular with hercover version of the song "My Island Home" (first performed by theWarumpi Band).[38]
Sports are popular among Torres Strait Islanders and the community has many sporting stars in Australian and international sports. Sporting events bring together people from across the different islands and help to connect the Torres Strait with mainland Australia and Papua New Guinea. Rugby league is especially popular, including the annual 'Island of Origin' tournament between teams from different islands. Basketball is also extremely popular.[39]
The people still have their own traditional belief systems. Stories of the Tagai, their spiritual belief system, represent Torres Strait Islanders as sea people, with a connection to the stars, as well as a system of order in which everything has its place in the world.[40] They follow the instructions of the Tagai.
One Tagai story depicts the Tagai as a man standing in a canoe. In his left hand, he holds a fishing spear, representing theSouthern Cross. In his right hand, he holds a sorbi (a red fruit). In this story, the Tagai and his crew of 12 were preparing for a journey, but before the journey began, the crew consumed all the food and drink they planned to take. So the Tagai strung the crew together in two groups of six and cast them into the sea, where their images became star patterns in the sky. These patterns can be seen in the star constellations of Pleiades and Orion.[41]
Some Torres Strait Islander people share beliefs similar to the Aboriginal peoples'Dreaming and "Everywhen" concepts, passed down inoral history.[42]
One of the stories passed down inoral history tells of four brothers (bala) named Malo, Sagai, Kulka and Siu, who paddled their way up to the central and eastern islands fromCape York (Kay Daol Dai, meaning "big land"), and each established his own tribal following. Sagai landed atIama Island (known as Yam), and after a time assumed a god-like status. Thecrocodile was histotem. Kulka settled onAureed Island, and attained a similar status, as god of hunting. His totem was the fish known asgai gai (Trevally). Siu settled onMasig, becoming god of dancing, with thetiger shark (baidam) as his totem. The eldest brother, Malo, went on to Mer and became responsible for setting out a set of rules for living, a combination of religion and law, which were presented byEddie Mabo in the famousMabo native title case in 1992.[43]
The cult of Kulka was in evidence on Aureed Island with the finding of a "skull house" by the rescuers of survivors two years after the wreck ofCharles Eaton, in 1836.[18]
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From the 1870s,Christianity spread throughout the islands, and it remains strong today among Torres Strait Islander people everywhere. Christianity was first brought to the islands by theLondon Missionary Society (LMS) mission led by Rev. Samuel Macfarlane[44] and Rev. Archibald Wright Murray,[45][46] who arrived onErub (Darnley Island) on 1 July 1871 on the schoonerSurprise,[47][48][49][50] aschooner[a] chartered by the LMS.[55][56] They sailed to the Torres Strait after theFrench Government had demanded the removal of the missionaries from theLoyalty Islands andNew Caledonia in 1869.[46] Eight teachers and their wives from Loyalty Islands arrived with the missionaries on the boat fromLifu.[45]
Clan elder and warrior Dabad greeted them on their arrival. Ready to defend his land and people, Dabad walked to the water's edge when McFarlane dropped to his knees and presented theBible to Dabad. Dabad accepted the gift, interpreted as the "Light", introducing Christianity to the Torres Strait Islands. The people of the Torres Strait Islands adopted the Christian rituals and ceremonies and continued to uphold their connection to the land, sea and sky, practising their traditional customs, and cultural identity referred to asAilan Kastom.[44]
The Islanders refer to this event as "The Coming of the Light", also known as Zulai Wan,[47][57] or Bi Akarida,[48] and all Island communities celebrate the occasion annually on 1 July.[58][47]Coming of the Light, an episode in the 2013 documentary television seriesDesperate Measures, features the annual event.[59]
However the coming of Christianity did not spell the end of the people's traditional beliefs; their culture informed their understanding of the new religion, as theChristian God was welcomed and the new religion was integrated into every aspect of their everyday lives.[57]
In the 2016 Census,[needs update] a total of 20,658 Torres Strait Islander people (out of a total of 32,345) and 15,586 of both Torres Strait Islander and Aboriginal identity (out of 26,767) reported adherence to some form of Christianity. (Across the whole of Australia, the Indigenous and non-Indigenous population were broadly similar with 54% (vs 55%) reporting a Christian affiliation, while less than 2% reported traditional beliefs as their religion, and 36% reported no religion.)[60]
A traditional cultural practice, known askupai omasker, allows adoption of a child by a relative or community member for a range of reasons. The reasons differ depending on which of the many Torres Islander cultures the person belongs to, with one example being "where a family requires anheir to carry on the important role of looking after land or being the caretaker of land". Other reasons might relate to "the care and responsibility of relationships between generations".[61]
There had been a problem in Queensland law, where such adoptions are not legally recognised by the state'sSuccession Act 1981,[62] with one issue being that adopted children are not able to take on the surname of their adoptive parents.[61] On 17 July 2020, theQueensland Government introduced a bill in parliament to legally recognise the practice.[63] The bill was passed as theMeriba Omasker Kaziw Kazipa Act 2020 ("For Our Children's Children") on 8 September 2020.[64]
Conference paper, [from] Australian Print Symposium. Canberra: National Gallery of Australia, 1987 – ongoing
This Wikipedia article incorporates text from'The Coming of the Light' Celebrating 150 years of Christianity in the Torres Strait 1 July 2021 (28 June 2021) published by theState Library of Queensland underCC BYlicence, accessed on 29 June 2021.
Text may have been copied from this source, which is available under aAttribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) licence.[Include "Religion" table download from this page, "Table 8 Religious Affiliation by Indigenous Status, Count of persons(a)"]
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