Murray Island, Queensland

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Murray Island
Native name:
Mer
Murray Islands (Landsat).png
A satellite image of Murray Island
TorresStraitIslandsMap.png
A map of the Torres Strait Islands showing Mer in the northeastern waters of Torres Strait
Murray Island, Queensland
Geography
Location Northern Australia
Coordinates 9°55′S144°3′E / 9.917°S 144.050°E / -9.917; 144.050
Archipelago Torres Strait Islands
Adjacent to Torres Strait
Total islands3
Major islands1
Area4.29 km2 (1.66 sq mi)
Highest elevation234 m (768 ft)
Highest pointGelam Paser
Administration
Australia
State Queensland
Regional Authority Torres Strait Regional Authority
Local Government Area Torres Strait Island Region
Demographics
Population485 (2006 census)
Murray Island
Queensland
Australia Queensland location map.svg
Red pog.svg
Murray Island
Coordinates 9°54′50″S144°02′31″E / 9.914°S 144.042°E / -9.914; 144.042
Population453 (2016 census) [1]
Postcode(s) 4875
Time zone AEST (UTC+10:00)
LGA(s) Torres Strait Island Region

Murray Island (also known as Mer Island or Maer Island) in the Torres Strait Island Region, Queensland, Australia. [2] [3] The island is part of the Murray Island Group in the Torres Strait. [4] The town is on the island's northwest coast and within the locality of Mer Island (the locality boundaries are the island's coastline). [5] The island is of volcanic origin, the most easterly inhabited island of the Torres Strait Islands archipelago, just north of the Great Barrier Reef. The name Meer/Mer/Maer comes from the native Meriam language. In the 2016 census, Murray Island had a population of 453. [1]

Contents

The island is populated by the Melanesian Meriam people. There are eight tribes on Mer: Komet, Zagareb, Meuram, Magaram, Geuram, Peibri, Meriam-Samsep, Piadram/Dauer. The island's organisation is based on traditional laws of boundary and ownership.

Geography

Murray Island, in the eastern section of Torres Strait, is a basaltic island formed from an extinct volcano, last active over a million years ago. [6] It formed when the Indo-Australian Plate slid over the East Australia hotspot. The island rises to a plateau 80 metres (260 ft) above mean sea level.

The island's highest point is the 230-metre (750 ft) Gelam Paser, the western end of the volcano crater. The island has red fertile soil and is covered in dense vegetation. It has a tropical climate with a wet and dry season.

Murray Island is one of the three islands in the Murray Islands, the others being Daua Island (Dowar) and Waier Island (Waier). [7]

History

Pre-European settlement

Map of Mer with traditional districts and villages. Murray Island Haddon 1908.png
Map of Mer with traditional districts and villages.

Murray Island has been inhabited for around 2,800 years, the first settlers being Papuo-Austronesians who brought agriculture and pot-making with them. Regular contact between the inhabitants of Torres Strait, Europeans, Asians and other outsiders began once the Torres Strait became a means of passage between the Indian Ocean and the Pacific Ocean in the 19th century.[ citation needed ]

The inhabitants of the Torres Strait, including the Meriam people, gained a reputation as fierce warriors and skilled mariners. Warfare (both intertribal and against European ships in transit through the Coral Sea) and head hunting were part of Torres Strait Islanders' culture. The account of Jack Ireland, a surviving cabin boy from the Charles Eaton, a barque that was wrecked in 1834 at Detached Reef, near the entrance to Torres Strait, is of interest in this respect. Ireland and another young survivor, William D'Oyley, spent much of their time on Mer before being rescued. [8] [9]

In 1836 a large ceremonial mask was recovered from neighbouring Aureed (Skull) Island after Ireland and D'Oyley were rescued returned to Sydney. The mask was made of turtle shells surrounded by numerous skulls, 17 of which were determined to have belonged to the crew and passengers of the Charles Eaton, who were massacred when they came ashore after the shipwreck. [8] The mask was entered into the collection of the Australian Museum [10] after the skulls were buried on 17 November 1836 in a mass grave in the Devonshire Street Cemetery in Sydney. A monument was erected in the form of a huge altar stone to record the manner in which they died. When the Devonshire Street Cemetery was resumed for the site of the Central Railway Station in 1904 the skulls and the monument were removed to Bunnerong Cemetery at Botany Bay in Sydney. [8]

Post-European settlement (1872)

School children on Mer Island, 1898 School children on Mer Island, 1898.jpg
School children on Mer Island, 1898

Missionaries (mainly Polynesian) and some other Polynesians began to settle the island in 1872 when the London Missionary Society founded a missionary school there. [11] The Queensland Government annexed the islands in 1879. The Australian painter Tom Roberts visited the island in 1892. [12] He witnessed a nighttime dance and depicted it in a painting.

In 1936, a maritime strike fuelled by Islander dissatisfaction with the management of their wages and boats by the Protector of Aborigines allowed Islanders to assert control and reject government controls. In 1937, the inaugural meeting of Island Councillors on Yorke Island resulted in the Torres Strait Islander Act 1939 , giving Islanders more authority in their own affairs and establishing local governments on each island.

After the Pacific War broke out in 1941, over 700 Islanders volunteered to defend the Torres Strait. This group was organised into the Torres Strait Light Infantry Battalion. The migration of Islanders to mainland Australia increased as jobs disappeared in the pearling industry. A call for independence from Australia in the 1980s arose as the government failed to provide basic infrastructure on the island.

Murray Island's most famous resident was trade unionist Eddie Mabo, whose decision to sue the Queensland Government to secure ownership of his land, which had been removed from his ancestors by the British colonial powers using the terra nullius legal concept, ultimately led the High Court of Australia, on appeal from the Supreme Court of the State of Queensland, to issue the "Mabo decision" on 3 June 1992, finally recognising Mabo's native title rights on his land. The decision continues to have ramifications for Australia. Mabo himself died a few months before the decision. After vandalism to his grave site, he was reburied on Murray Island, where Islanders performed a traditional ceremony for the burial of a king. [13]

In the 2006 census, Murray Island had a population of around 485.[ citation needed ]

In the 2016 census, Murray Island had a population of 453. [1]

Culture

Flag of Murray Island Flag of Murray Island (Mer).svg
Flag of Murray Island

The people of Mer maintain their traditional culture. Modern influences such as consumer goods, television, travel and radio are having an impact on traditional practices and culture. Despite this, song and dance remains an integral part of island life and is demonstrated through celebrations such as Mabo Day, Coming of the Light, Tombstone openings and other cultural events. In 2007, after two years of negotiations, the skulls of five Islander tribesmen were returned to Australia from a Glasgow museum where they had been archived for more than 100 years. [14]

The artist Ricardo Idagi was born on Murray Island. [15] Idagi won the main prize at the Western Australian Indigenous Art Awards in 2009.

Language

The people of Murray Island speak Torres Strait Creole and Meriam, a member of the Eastern Trans-Fly languages of Trans–New Guinea; its sister languages being Bini, Wipi and Gizrra. Though it is unrelated to Kalaw Lagaw Ya of the Central and Western Islands of Torres Strait, the two languages share around 40% of their vocabulary. Torres Strait English is a second language.

Governance

A 1914 photograph of native inhabitants of Murray Island. PSM V85 D230 Natives of the murray islands torres straits.png
A 1914 photograph of native inhabitants of Murray Island.

Murray Island is governed by the Community Council, which is responsible for roads, water, housing and community events. The Community Council is an integral part of community life. The elders of the community hold a position of respect and also have a major influence on island life. Queensland's control was moved from just 3 miles, to a large 60 miles offshore. This brought all of Torres Strait that were within a couple hundred metres of New guineas coast, into Queensland. The laws rose from requests from the public, who were asking for the lease of islands Queensland's coast. As before this, all islands that were within three miles of the coast, were under Queensland's control. Murray island waited unclaimed until 1879. In 1879, Britain annexed the island to Queensland. The reason for annexation was to protect the British and their property, control the Torres Strait and sea lane to India, dominate fishing and pearling industries and to extend authority to some non-British areas. Britain also gave all control of Torres Strait islands to Queensland, with no negotiating treaties, in order to avert enemy colonial powers claiming the region.

Murray Island court house and people, 1898. Queensland State Archives 2531 Murray Island court house and people 1898.png
Murray Island court house and people, 1898.

Notable people

See also

Related Research Articles

<i>Mabo v Queensland (No 2)</i> 1992 High Court of Australia decision which recognised native title

Mabo v Queensland is a landmark decision of the High Court of Australia that recognised the existence of Native Title in Australia. It was brought by Eddie Mabo against the State of Queensland and decided on 3 June 1992. The case is notable for being the first in Australia to recognise pre-colonial land interests of Indigenous Australians within the common law of Australia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Eddie Mabo</span> Land rights activist for Indigenous Australians (1936–1992)

Edward Koiki Mabo was an Indigenous Australian man from the Torres Strait Islands known for his role in campaigning for Indigenous land rights in Australia, in particular the landmark decision of the High Court of Australia that recognised that indigenous rights to land had continued after the British Crown acquired sovereignty and that the international law doctrine of terra nullius was not applicable to Australian domestic law. High court judges considering the case Mabo v Queensland found in favour of Mabo, which led to the Native Title Act 1993 and established native title in Australia, officially recognising the rights of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in Australia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Torres Strait Islands</span> Group of islands in the Torres Strait between Australia and New Guinea

The Torres Strait Islands are an archipelago of at least 274 small islands in the Torres Strait, a waterway separating far northern continental Australia's Cape York Peninsula and the island of New Guinea. They span an area of 48,000 km2 (19,000 sq mi), but their total land area is 566 km2 (219 sq mi).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Torres Strait Islanders</span> Ethnic group of Australia

Torres Strait Islanders are the Indigenous Melanesian people of the Torres Strait Islands, which are part of the state of Queensland, Australia. Ethnically distinct from the Aboriginal peoples of the rest of Australia, they are often grouped with them as Indigenous Australians. Today there are many more Torres Strait Islander people living in mainland Australia than on the Islands.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Meriam people</span>

Melanesian Meriam people are an Indigenous Australian group of Torres Strait Islander people who are united by a common language, strong ties of kinship and live as skilled hunter–fisher–gatherers in family groups or clans on a number of inner eastern Torres Strait Islands including Mer or Murray Island, Ugar or Stephen Island and Erub or Darnley Island. The Meriam people are perhaps best known for their involvement in the High Court of Australia's Mabo decision which fundamentally changed land law in Australia - recognising native title.

<i>Mabo v Queensland (No 1)</i> Judgement of the High Court of Australia

Mabo v Queensland , was a significant court case decided in the High Court of Australia on 8 December 1988. It found that the Queensland Coast Islands Declaratory Act 1985, which attempted to retrospectively abolish native title rights, was not valid according to the Racial Discrimination Act 1975.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Saibai Island</span> Suburb of Torres Strait Island Region, Queensland, Australia

Saibai Island, commonly called Saibai, is an island of the Torres Strait Islands archipelago, located in the Torres Strait of Queensland, Australia. The island is situated north of the Australian mainland and south of the island of New Guinea. The island is a locality within the Torres Strait Island Region local government area. The town of Saibai is located on the north-west coast of the island. According to the 2016 census, Saibai Island had a population of 465 people.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Meriam language</span> Trans-Fly language of the Australian Torres Strait Islands

Meriam or the Eastern Torres Strait language is the language of the people of the small islands of Mer, Waier and Dauar, Erub, and Ugar in the eastern Torres Strait, Queensland, Australia. In the Western Torres Strait language, Kalaw Lagaw Ya, it is called Mœyam or Mœyamau Ya. It is the only Papuan language in Australian territory.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Moa Island (Queensland)</span> Suburb of Torres Strait Island Region, Queensland, Australia

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Coconut Island (Queensland)</span> Town in Queensland, Australia

Coconut Island, Poruma Island, or Puruma in the local language, is an island in the Great North East Channel near Cumberland Passage, Torres Strait, Queensland, Australia. One of the Torres Strait Islands, Coconut Island is 130 kilometres (81 mi) northeast of Thursday Island. Administratively, Coconut Island is a town and Poruma Island is the locality within the Shire of Torres.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Yam Island</span> Suburb of Torres Strait Island Region, Queensland, Australia

Yam Island, called Yama or Iama in the Kulkalgau Ya language or Turtle-backed Island in English, is an island of the Bourke Isles group of the Torres Strait Islands, located in the Tancred Passage of the Torres Strait in Queensland, Australia. The island is situated approximately 100 kilometres (62 mi) northeast of Thursday Island and measures about 2 square kilometres (0.77 sq mi). The island is an official locality known as Iama Island within the local government area of Torres Strait Island Region. The town, also called Yam Island, is located on the north-west coast of the island. In the 2021 census, Iama Island had a population of 275 people.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Darnley Island (Queensland)</span> Island in Queensland, Australia

Darnley Island or Erub in the native Papuan language, Meriam Mir, is an island formed by volcanic action and situated in the eastern section of the Torres Strait, Queensland, Australia. It is one of the Torres Strait Islands and is located near the Great Barrier Reef and just south of the Bligh entrance. The town on the island is also called Darnley, but the locality is called Erub Island, both being within the local government area of Torres Strait Island Region. In the 2016 census, Erub Island had a population of 328 people.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Stephen Island (Torres Strait)</span> Island in the Torres Strait, Queensland, Australia

Stephens Island, called Ugar in the local Meriam language, lies in the eastern group of the Torres Strait Islands archipelago of Queensland, Australia. The island is within the locality of Ugar Island within the local government area of the Torres Strait Island Region.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bourke Isles</span>

The Bourke Isles are a group of islands and islets in the archipelago known as the Torres Strait Islands, located west of the Cumberland Passage in the Torres Strait, and are part of the state of Queensland, Australia. The isles are situated approximately 130 kilometres (81 mi) northeast of Thursday Island and 54 kilometres (34 mi) southwest of Darnley Island.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Queensland Coast Islands Declaratory Act 1985</span>

The Queensland Coast Islands Declaratory Act 1985 was an Act of the Parliament of Queensland, the intent of which was to retroactively abolish native title claims by Torres Strait Islanders to islands off the coast of Queensland, specifically Murray Island. It was passed in response to court proceedings started by the Torres Strait Meriam people led by Eddie Koiki Mabo, who were attempting to have their land claims recognised by the common law. The Act was condemned by supporters of the Indigenous Australian civil rights movement. The act was overturned in the 1988 Mabo v Queensland High Court case, which found it inconsistent with the Racial Discrimination Act 1975.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dauan Island</span> Town in Queensland, Australia

Dauan Island is an island in the Torres Strait, Queensland, Australia; it is also known as Cornwallis Island. Dauan Island is also a town and locality in the Torres Strait Island Region, Queensland, Australia.

<i>Charles Eaton</i> (1833 ship)

Charles Eaton was a barque, launched in 1833 for use as a merchant ship. Whilst under the command of Captain Fowle, she was wrecked in 1834 among the Torres Strait Islands, off the northern coast of Queensland, Australia, and her passengers and crew attacked and nearly all killed by Torres Strait Islanders on Mer Island. A cabin boy and small child survived and lived with the islanders until being rescued by Captain Lewis and crew on Isabella in June 1836, who also found skulls of some of the murdered people on a nearby island and took them back to Sydney for burial.

Murray Islands are an island group in the Torres Strait, Queensland, Australia. The group consists of Murray Island, Daua Island and Waua Islet. The islands are within the Torres Strait Island Region local government area.

Mer Island is an island locality in the Torres Strait Island Region, Queensland, Australia. The locality consists of a single island, Murray Island. In the 2016 census, Mer Island had a population of 450. The town of Murray Island is on the island's northwest coast.

Saibo Mabo was an Australian bishop in the Anglican Church of Australia. He served as an assistant bishop in the Anglican Diocese of North Queensland from 2002 to 2015, and as National Bishop to the Torres Strait Islander people during that time.

References

  1. 1 2 3 Australian Bureau of Statistics (27 June 2017). "Murray Island (UCL)accessdate=20 October 2018". 2016 Census QuickStats. OOjs UI icon edit-ltr-progressive.svg
  2. ↑ "Murray Island – population centre in the Torres Strait Island Region (entry 23612)". Queensland Place Names. Queensland Government . Retrieved 17 January 2020.
  3. ↑ "Meer Island – island in the Torres Strait Island Region (entry 20523)". Queensland Place Names. Queensland Government . Retrieved 3 November 2019.
  4. ↑ "Murray Island – island group in the Torres Strait Island Region (entry 23613)". Queensland Place Names. Queensland Government . Retrieved 17 January 2020.
  5. ↑ "Mer Island – locality in the Torres Strait Island Region (entry 46717)". Queensland Place Names. Queensland Government . Retrieved 17 January 2020.
  6. ↑ Seach, John. "Murray Island Volcano". Volcano Live. Archived from the original on 1 November 2017. Retrieved 15 May 2018.
  7. ↑ "Murray Islands – island group in the Torres Strait Island Region (entry 23613)". Queensland Place Names. Queensland Government . Retrieved 30 January 2022.
  8. 1 2 3 McInnes, Allan (1983). The Wreck Of The Charles Eaton. Windsor: Diamond Press. p. 45.
  9. ↑ McInnes, Allan, 1927- (1981). "The wreck of the "Charles Eaton"". Journal of the Royal Historical Society of Queensland. Royal Historical Society of Queensland. 11 (4): 21–50. Archived from the original on 4 August 2021. Retrieved 4 August 2021. Read to a Meeting of the Royal Historical Society of Queensland on 24 February 1983.{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link) (Also here Archived 12 March 2021 at the Wayback Machine .)
  10. ↑ "Our Global Neighbours: Mask with Human Skulls". The Australian Museum . Archived from the original on 4 August 2021. Retrieved 4 August 2021.
  11. ↑ "Torres Strait Island communities I-M". State Library of Queensland. 11 May 2011. Archived from the original on 24 September 2015. Retrieved 4 July 2011.
  12. ↑ Bousen, Mark (6 March 2010). "118-year-old Murray Island art discovered". Torres News. Retrieved 4 July 2011.
  13. ↑ "Queenslander". News Limited. 13 June 2009. Archived from the original on 4 October 2012. Retrieved 4 July 2011.
  14. ↑ "Mer Islanders reclaim sacred skulls". Torres News. 3 July 2007. Archived from the original on 4 July 2007. Retrieved 4 July 2011.
  15. ↑ Rothwell, Nicolas (1 October 2009). "Carved out of ancestral whispers". The Australian . News Limited. Retrieved 4 July 2011.

Further reading

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