73-644: Talbot Islands are a group of Torres Strait Islands in Queensland , Australia. They lie between the Australian mainland and the island of New Guinea and a few kilometres west of Saibai Island, Torres Strait , only 4 km from the Papua New Guinea mainland at the mouth of the Mai Kussa River . The Talbot Islands contain five named and about six smaller islands: Only Boigu Island
146-581: A land bridge known as the Arafura Plain which connected the present-day Australian continent with New Guinea (in a single landmass called Sahul , Meganesia , Australia-New Guinea ). This land bridge was most recently submerged by rising sea levels at the end of the last ice-age glaciation approximately 12,000 years ago, forming the Strait which now connects the Arafura and Coral seas. Many of
219-517: A British colony. There was an important pearling industry from the 1860s until about 1970 when it collapsed in the face of competition from the plastics industry. Pearl-shelling was responsible for the arrival of experienced divers from many countries, notably Japan . In 1978 an agreement between Australia and Papua New Guinea determined the maritime border in the Torres Strait. In the 1980s, Torres Strait Island people wanted to create
292-492: A habitat for numerous birds , including the Torresian imperial-pigeon , which is seen as the iconic national emblem to the islanders. These islands are also a distinct physiographic section of the larger Cape York Platform province , which in turn is part of the larger East Australian Cordillera physiographic division . The islands in this cluster lie very close to the southwestern coastline of New Guinea (the closest
365-406: A name for the islands which related to their culture. Initially the name "Magani Malu Kes" was suggested for the region, but later adopting the acronym "Zenadh Kes", to refer to the Torres Strait. The acronym "ZENADTH KES" was first derived from 'Zey' (south), 'Naygay' (north), 'Dagam' (place/side), 'Thawathaw' (coastline) and KES (passage/channel/waterway). However, this has become modified and it
438-631: A passage south of New Guinea now known as Torres Strait. This discovery led Dalrymple to publish the Historical Collection of the Several Voyages and Discoveries in the South Pacific Ocean in 1770–1771, which aroused widespread interest in his claim of the existence of an unknown continent. It was Dalrymple who named the strait after Torres. Dalrymple was bitterly disappointed that it was James Cook and not he who
511-589: A process of electing island councils, intended to loosen the power of missionaries in the islands. They had become powerful by default because the government did not have resources to administer the territory. In the Western islands, where the traditional lifestyle was semi- nomadic , the council system continued to thrive. During World War II , many Torres Strait Islanders served in the Torres Strait Light Infantry Battalion of
584-563: A ship to be navigated through the Torres Strait from west to east. According to the Sydney Gazette of April 1823: "This essay of nautical skill was accomplished after the loss of four anchors and the rudder". It was also the first occasion a ship was navigated through the Coral Sea from Torres Strait, south-eastward to the southward of New Caledonia . Lihou saw Sir James Saumarez' Shoal (now Saumarez Reefs ) on 27 February and named
657-590: A single body to form a Torres Strait Island Regional Council, or Torres Strait Island Region , created by the Queensland Government in the interest of financial viability, and accountability and transparency of local governments throughout the State. It is administered from Thursday Island , but Thursday, Horn Island , Prince of Wales Island and many others are under the Shire of Torres council. In
730-404: A unique indigenous culture which has drawn the interest of a range of anthropological, historical, archaeological and folklorist researchers. This includes an expedition from Cambridge University led by the early ethnographer Alfred Haddon in 1898, and the more contemporary regional work of Australian anthropologist Jeremy Beckett. Accounts of local Indigenous narrative traditions can be found in
803-419: A width of approximately 150 kilometres (93 mi) at its narrowest point; the islands lie scattered in between, extending some 200 to 300 kilometres (120 to 190 mi) from furthest east to furthest west. The total land area of the islands comprises 566 km (219 sq mi). 21,784 hectares (53,830 acres) of land are used for agricultural purposes. The Torres Strait itself was previously part of
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#1732765556924876-565: Is 67 kilometres (42 mi) west of Boigu, the nearest of the Top Western islands. The islands in this cluster lie south of the Strait's midway point, and are also largely high granite hills with mounds of basaltic outcrops, formed from old peaks of the now submerged land bridge. Moa (Banks Island) is the second-largest in the Torres Strait, and Badu (Mulgrave Island) is slightly smaller and fringed with extensive mangrove swamps. Other smaller islands include Mabuiag , Pulu and further to
949-593: Is a strait between Australia and the Melanesian island of New Guinea . It is 150 km (93 mi) wide at its narrowest extent. To the south is Cape York Peninsula , the northernmost extremity of the Australian mainland. To the north is the Western Province of Papua New Guinea . It is named after the Spanish navigator Luís Vaz de Torres , who sailed through the strait in 1606. The islands of
1022-470: Is a smaller island with steep hills, composed largely of granite . This island actually represents the northernmost extent of the Great Dividing Range , the extensive series of mountain ranges which runs along almost the entire eastern coastline of Australia. This peak became an island as the ocean levels rose at the end of the last ice age. The isolated and uninhabited Deliverance Island
1095-640: Is an important international sea lane, it is very shallow (water depth of 7 to 15 m; 23 to 49 ft), and the maze of reefs and islands can make it hazardous to navigate. In the south the Endeavour Strait is located between Prince of Wales Island (Muralug) and the mainland. Shipping enters Torres Strait via the Adolphus Channel , which joins to the Great Barrier Reef lagoon to the southeast. Strong tidal currents occur in
1168-506: Is inhabited. The town of Boigu is the northernmost settlement of Australia. Moimi Island, the northernmost island, is only four kilometres away from Kussa Island , which has been recognised part of New Guinea in the 1978 Torres Strait Treaty, but delineated as part of Australia on older maps. Kussa Island and tiny nearby Athian Maza and Yaperi (Vapere) islands, also at the mouth of the Mai Kussa River, are geographically part of
1241-607: Is less than 4 kilometres (2.5 mi) offshore). Saibai (one of the largest of the Torres Strait Islands) and Boigu (one of the Talbot Islands ) are low-lying islands which were formed by deposition of sediments and mud from New Guinean rivers into the Strait accumulating on decayed coral platforms. Vegetation on these islands mainly consists of mangrove swamps, and they are prone to flooding. The other main island in this group, Dauan (Mt Cornwallis),
1314-613: Is not part of the Talbot or Torres Strait Islands. It is inhabited. The Talbot Islands, along with Saibai and Dauan , are known as the Top Western islands of the Torres Strait Islands This Queensland location article is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . Torres Strait Islands The Torres Strait Islands are an archipelago of at least 274 small islands in
1387-527: Is now spelt Zenadh Kes. Due to proximity to the Papua New Guinea mainland, the northern Torres Strait islands experience occasional asylum seeker arrivals from across the Strait. A total of ten asylum seekers from Papua New Guinea were detected in each of 2012 and 2013. The strait links the Coral Sea to the east with the Arafura Sea and Gulf of Carpentaria in the west. Although it
1460-700: Is spoken by most Torres Strait Islanders and is a mixture of Standard Australian English and traditional indigenous languages. It is an English-based creole; however, each island has its own version of creole. Torres Strait Creole is also spoken on the Australian mainland , including in the Northern Peninsula Area Region and coastal communities such as Cairns , Townsville , Mackay , Rockhampton and Brisbane . Torres Strait The Torres Strait ( / ˈ t ɒr ɪ s / ), also known as Zenadh Kes ( pronounced [ˈzen̪ad̪ kes] ),
1533-484: Is the traditional language owned by the Western and Central islands of the Torres Strait. The Kala Lagaw Ya language region includes the landscape within the local government boundaries of the Torres Shire Council . Mabuiag is considered a dialect of Kala Lagaw Ya, one of the languages of the Torres Strait. Mabuiag (also written as Mabuyag) is a traditional language of Mabuiag , a Central Western island of
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#17327655569241606-604: The 2016 census , the population of the Torres Strait Islands was 4,514, of whom 4,144 (91.8%) were Torres Strait Islanders . These inhabitants live on only 14 of the 274 islands. For comparison, people identifying themselves as of Torres Strait Islander descent living in the whole of Australia numbered 32,345, while those of both Torres Strait Islander and Aboriginal descent numbered a further 26,767. The islands span an area of some 48,000 km (19,000 sq mi). The strait from Cape York to New Guinea has
1679-700: The Australian Army . It is the only Australian Army unit to have been formed out of indigenous Australians. From 1960 to 1973, Margaret Lawrie captured some of the Torres Strait Islander people's culture by recording their recounting of local myths and legends. Her anthropological work, stored at the State Library of Queensland , has recently been recognised and registered with the Australian UNESCO Memory of
1752-623: The Australian Government Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet (previously under the Department of Families, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs ). Thursday Island functions as the administrative centre of the islands. The TSRA now represents the local communities at both Commonwealth and State levels; previously, State representation operated via a Queensland statutory authority called
1825-892: The Government of Queensland to specific Islander and Aboriginal Councils under the provisions of the Community Services (Torres Strait) Act 1984 and the Community Services (Aboriginal) Act 1984 ), consisting of: This shows the localities of the Torres Strait Islands in alphabetical order. (2016 Census) km Politicians who have declared support for independence, include Bob Katter and former Queensland Premier Anna Bligh , who in August 2011 wrote to Prime Minister Julia Gillard in support of Torres Strait Islands independence from Australia ; Prime Minister Gillard said in October 2011 "her government will respectfully consider
1898-549: The Maluku Islands . He sailed along the south coast of New Guinea and discovered the strait that still bears his name. This discovery recorded in Spanish maps of the Pacific would later make possible James Cook 's expedition to Australia . Torres and his crew are not known to have sighted the Australian mainland visited just four months earlier by Willem Janszoon sailing Duyfken without conversely becoming aware of
1971-669: The Queensland Supreme Court and the High Court of Australia , the latter court found that the Mer people had owned their land prior to annexation by Queensland. This ruling overturned the long-established legal doctrine of terra nullius ("no-one's land"), which held that native title over Crown land in Australia had been extinguished at the time of annexation. The ruling thus has had far-reaching significance for
2044-678: The Torres Strait in 1606. Torres had joined the expedition of Pedro Fernandes de Queirós , which sailed west from Peru across the Pacific Ocean, in search of Terra Australis . Lieutenant James Cook first claimed British sovereignty in 1770 over the eastern part of Australia at Possession Island , calling it New South Wales in the Name of His Majesty King George the Third. British administrative control did not begin until 1862 in
2117-508: 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 km (19,000 sq mi), but their total land area is 566 km (219 sq mi). The Islands are inhabited by the indigenous Torres Strait Islanders . Lieutenant James Cook first claimed British sovereignty over the eastern part of Australia at Possession Island in 1770, but British administrative control only began in
2190-596: The Torres Strait Islands . There are at least 274 of these islands, of which 17 have present-day permanent settlements. These islands have a variety of topographies , ecosystems and formation history. Several of those closest to the New Guinea coastline are low-lying, formed by alluvial sedimentary deposits borne by the outflow of the local rivers into the sea. Many of the western islands are hilly and steep, formed mainly of granite , and are peaks of
2263-478: The mother of pearl as decoration, started in earnest in the 1860s. By the 1890s, the islands were supplying more than 50 per cent of the world's pearl shells. The London Missionary Society (LMS) mission, led by Rev. Samuel Macfarlane, arrived on Erub (Darnley Island) on 1 July 1871. After the Anglican Church took over their mission in the 20th century, they referred to the events as " The Coming of
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2336-560: The Eastern Torres Language Meriam Mir . Yumplatok (also known as Torres Strait Creole and Broken) is a contemporary Torres Strait Island language spoken in the Torres Strait . The contact with missionaries, traders and other English speakers since the 19th century led to the development of a pidgin language . It developed more fully as a creole language , with its own distinctive sound system, grammar, vocabulary, usage and meaning. Torres Strait Creole
2409-589: The French had preceded him across the Pacific , Cook re-wrote this signalling drill as a possession ceremony, saying he had claimed Australia's east coast for the British Crown. In 1823 Captain John Lihou, Master of the 550-ton merchant ship Zenobia of Calcutta , was on passage from Manila to South America and chose a route through Torres Strait. Remarkably, this would become the first time for
2482-633: The Island Coordinating Council (ICC). The Torres Strait Island Region local government area superseded the ICC in March 2008. In March 2008, fifteen Torres Strait Islander Councils were amalgamated into a single body to form a Torres Strait Island Regional Council, or Torres Strait Island Region , created by the Queensland Government in the interest of financial viability, and accountability and transparency of local Governments throughout
2555-653: The Italaig of the south, and the Muwalaig of the north. Many Kauraraig also live there, having been forcibly moved there in 1922–1923. Badu and Mabuiag are the Maluigal Deep Sea People . These islands, also known as the Thursday Island group, lie closest to Cape York Peninsula, and their topography and geological history is very similar. Muralag (Prince of Wales Island) is the largest of
2628-547: The Light ", and established an annual celebration on 1 July. In 1872, the boundary of Queensland was extended to include Thursday Island and other islands in Torres Strait within 60 miles of the Queensland coast. In June 1875, a measles epidemic killed about 25% of the population, with some islands suffering losses of up to 80%, as the islanders had no natural immunity to European diseases. In 1879, Queensland annexed
2701-553: The New Guinea coast. In 1898–1899, the Cambridge Anthropological Expedition led by Alfred Cort Haddon visited the Torres Strait Islands. Among its members was W. H. R. Rivers , who later gained notability for his work in psychology and treating officers in the Great War. They collected and took about 2000 cultural artefacts, ostensibly to save them from destruction by missionaries. But all of
2774-612: The State. It is administered from Thursday Island , but Thursday, Horn Island , Prince of Wales Island and many others are under the Shire of Torres council. At the local level, there are two authorities. One is the Shire of Torres , which governs several islands and portions of Cape York Peninsula and operates as a Queensland local government area . The other is the Torres Strait Island Region , created in 2008, which embodies 15 former island councils. These former councils had been previously relinquished by
2847-473: The Strait's islands, and forms the centre of this closely grouped cluster. The much smaller Waiben Thursday Island is the region's administrative centre and most heavily populated. Several of these islands have permanent freshwater springs, and some were also mined for gold in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Because of their proximity to the Australian mainland, they have also been centres of pearling and fishing industries. Nurupai Horn Island holds
2920-567: The Torres Strait Islands in 1862. The islands are now mostly part of Queensland , a constituent State of the Commonwealth of Australia , but are administered by the Torres Strait Regional Authority , a statutory authority of the Australian federal government . A few islands very close to the coast of mainland New Guinea belong to the Western Province of Papua New Guinea , most importantly Daru Island with
2993-560: The Torres Strait Islands, marked by the appointment of John Jardine, police magistrate at Rockhampton , as Government Resident in the Torres Straits. He originally established a small settlement on Albany Island , but on 1 August 1864 he settled at Somerset Island. Although the Torres Strait Islanders had long dived for pearl shells themselves, the international industry of pearl and trochus shells, for using
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3066-533: The Torres Strait have been inhabited by humans for at least 2,500 years and possibly much longer. The various Torres Strait Islander communities have a unique culture and long-standing history with the islands and nearby coastlines. Their maritime-based trade and interactions with the Papuans to the north and the Australian Aboriginal communities have maintained a steady cultural diffusion among
3139-594: The Torres Strait's request for self-government". Other figures who have supported independence include Australian Indigenous rights campaigner Eddie Mabo . Torres Strait Islander peoples, the indigenous peoples of the islands, are predominantly Melanesians, culturally most akin to the coastal peoples of Papua New Guinea . Thus, they are regarded as being distinct from Aboriginal peoples of Australia and are generally referred to separately, despite ongoing historical trade and inter-marriage with mainland Aboriginal people. There are also two Torres Strait Islander communities on
3212-457: The Torres Strait. The Mabuiag language region includes the island landscape of Mabuiag within the local government boundaries of the Torres Shire Council and Mabuiag Island Council. In the 2016 Australian census , the population of the islands was recorded as 4,514 on the Islands, but many more Torres Strait Islander people live outside of Torres Strait in Australia. The two routes through
3285-608: The World Programme . The proximity of the islands to Papua New Guinea became an issue when the territory started moving to gain independence from Australia, which it gained in 1975. The Papua New Guinea government objected to the position of the border close to the New Guinean mainland, and the subsequent complete control that Australia exercised over the waters of the strait. The Torres Strait Islanders opposed being separated from Australia and insisted on no change to
3358-585: The artefacts collected by Samuel Macfarlane were sold in London, mostly to European museums. In 1904, the peoples of the Torres Strait Islands were made subject to the Aboriginals Protection and Restriction of the Sale of Opium Act 1897 , which gave draconian powers to the Queensland government in placing legal restrictions on natives and on their land use. In 1899, John Douglas had initiated
3431-654: The basis of the publication Myths and Legends of Torres Strait (1970) and Tales from Torres Strait (1972). Her collection is now held by the State Library of Queensland and in 2008 it was added to UNESCO 's Australian Memory of the World Register . Two indigenous languages are spoken on the Torres Strait Islands: Kala Lagaw Ya (also known by variant names and spellings), and Meriam Mir (Meriam), as well as Brokan [Broken], otherwise called Torres Strait Creole . Kala Lagaw Ya
3504-405: The border. The Australian Federal government wished to cede the northern islands to appease Papua New Guinea, but were opposed by the Queensland government and Queensland Premier Sir Joh Bjelke-Petersen . An agreement was struck in 1978 whereby the islands and their inhabitants remained Australian, but the maritime boundary between Australia and Papua New Guinea was defined as running through
3577-467: The centre of the strait. In practice the two countries co-operate closely in the management of the strait's resources. In 1982, Eddie Mabo and four other Torres Strait Islander people from Mer (Murray Island) started legal proceedings to establish their traditional land ownership. Because Mabo was the first-named plaintiff, it became known as the Mabo Case . In 1992, after ten years of hearings before
3650-462: The commercial and traditional fisheries resources. The Treaty established a Torres Strait Protected Zone within which both nations manage access to fisheries resources. Each country exercises sovereign jurisdiction for resources on either side of the agreed jurisdiction lines. Environmental issues facing the region include the risk of mining waste from the Fly River in southern Papua New Guinea and
3723-583: The east Naghir (correct form Nagi , aka Mount Ernest Island). Culturally this was the most complex part of Torres Strait, containing three of the four groupings/dialects of the Western-central Islanders, Nagi being culturally/linguistically a Central Island (Kulkalaig territory, specifically part of Waraber tribal waters), Moa is part of the Muwalaig-Italaig-Kaiwalaig [Kauraraig/Kaurareg] tribal areas, with two groups,
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#17327655569243796-538: The five major island groups and the navigational importance of stars to the seafaring people of the Torres Strait". The five points of the star on the flag represent the following regions (which do not match administrative regions): A celebration known as Flag Day takes place on 29 May each year, the anniversary of the day the flag was officially presented to the people of the Torres Strait. The Torres Strait Regional Authority (TSRA), an Australian Commonwealth statutory authority created in 1994, exercises governance over
3869-572: The island group, as are the Kawai Islands (Kawa Island, Karobailo Kawa Island, Adabadana Kawa Island and Mata Kawa Island) nine kilometres further west/west-northwest close to the mouth of Wassi Kussa River , which have also been part of Papua New Guinea since the treaty of 1978. Strachan Island is a large river island between the Wassi Kussa River and Mai Kussa River and borders the Torres Strait with its southern shore, but
3942-498: The islands include dugongs (an endangered species of sea mammal widely found throughout the Indian Ocean and tropical Western Pacific, including Papua-New Guinean and Australian waters), as well as green , ridley , hawksbill and flatback sea turtles. The Torres Strait Islands may be grouped into five distinct clusters, which exhibit differences of geology and formation as well as location. The Torres Strait provides
4015-422: The islands. The TSRA has an elected board comprising 20 representatives from the Torres Strait Islander and Aboriginal communities resident in the Torres Strait region. One representative per established local community wins election to the board under the Queensland Community Services (Torres Strait) Act 1984 and Division 5 of the ATSIC Act 1989 . The TSRA itself falls under the portfolio responsibilities of
4088-399: The land claims of both Torres Strait Islanders and Australian Aboriginal people. Its effects are still being felt in the 21st century, as indigenous communities establish claims to their traditional lands under the Native Title Act of 1993 . On 1 July 1994, the Torres Strait Regional Authority (TSRA) was created. In March 2008, fifteen Torres Strait Islander Councils were amalgamated into
4161-838: The middle of Torres Strait, consisting of many small sandy cays surrounded by coral reefs , similar to those found in the nearby Great Barrier Reef . The more northerly islands in this group however, such as Gerbar (Two Brothers) and Iama (Yam Island) , are high basaltic outcrops, not cays. Nagi is a culturo-linguistic part of this group, and also has high basaltic outcropping. The low-lying inhabited coral cays, such as Poruma (Coconut Island) , Warraber Island and Masig (Yorke Island) are mostly less than 2 to 3 kilometres (1.2–1.9 miles) long, and no wider than 800 metres (2,600 feet). Several have had problems with saltwater intrusion . The islands of this group (principally Mer (Murray Island) , Dauar and Waier, with Erub Island and Stephen Island (Ugar) further north) are formed differently from
4234-403: The narrow channels between islands and reefs, and large submarine sand dunes migrate across the seafloor. Some 580 coral reefs, including the Warrior Reefs and Eastern Patch Reefs, cover a total area of 2,400 km (930 sq mi) in the region, and the area also has some of the most extensive seagrass beds in the world. Several clusters of islands lie in the Strait, collectively called
4307-438: The nearby coast of the mainland, Bamaga and Seisia . According to the Torres Strait Treaty, residents of Papua New Guinea are permitted to visit the Torres Strait Islands for traditional purposes. There are three languages spoken on the islands. The two indigenous languages are the Western-Central Torres Strait Language (called by various names, including Kalaw Lagaw Ya, Kalaw Kawaw Ya, Kulkalgau Ya and Kaiwaligau Ya), and
4380-440: The northernmost extension of the Great Dividing Range . They became islands as sea levels rose at the end of the last ice age . The central islands are predominantly coral cays , and those of the east are of volcanic origins. There are several major policy and institutional frameworks in the Torres Strait region that support the sustainable use and management of marine resources while also protecting habitats, biodiversity and
4453-402: The other Torres Strait Islands. They were classified as part of the British colony of Queensland and, after 1901, of the Australian state of Queensland. But some of them lie just off the coast of New Guinea. In 1885, John Douglas was appointed as Government Resident Magistrate residing on Thursday Island. He made periodic tours of all the islands and was known to all the natives. He established
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#17327655569244526-480: The provincial capital, Daru . Only 17 of the islands are inhabited. The Torres Strait Islands' population was recorded at 4,514 in the 2016 Australian census , with 91.8% of these identifying as Indigenous Torres Strait Island peoples . Although counted as Indigenous Australians , Torres Strait Islander peoples, being predominantly Melanesian , are ethnically and culturally different from Aboriginal Australians . The Spanish Explorer Luís Vaez de Torres sailed
4599-432: The reef system after Vice-Admiral James Saumarez . On this same trip, Lihou discovered the Lihou Reef and Cays and Port Lihou (originally named Port Yarborough, on the southern shore of Prince of Wales Island ). The London Missionary Society arrived on Erub (Darnley Island) in 1871. Although some of the Torres Strait islands lie just off the coast of New Guinea, they were annexed in 1879 by colony of Queensland , then
4672-419: The region's airport, and as a result is something of an entrepôt with inhabitants drawn from many other communities. Kiriri (Hammond Island) is the other permanently settled island of this group; Tuined (Possession Island) is noted for Lt. James Cook's landing there in 1770. Moa in the Near Western group is culturally and linguistically speaking part of this group. This cluster is more widely distributed in
4745-444: The rest. They are volcanic in origin, the peaks of volcanoes which were active in Pleistocene times. Consequently, their hillsides have rich and fertile red volcanic soils, and are thickly vegetated. The easternmost of these are less than 20 kilometres (12 mi) from the northern extension of the Great Barrier Reef. The national flag features a white Dhari (headdress) and, underneath, a white five-pointed star, symbolising "peace,
4818-400: The strait now known as Torres Strait. No specific records exists of Torres sighting the coast of a major land mass to his south, and early Spanish maps show the coast of New Guinea correctly but omit Australia. In 1769 the Scottish geographer Alexander Dalrymple , whilst translating some Spanish documents captured in the Philippines in 1762, had found Luís Vaz de Torres's testimony proving
4891-418: The sustainable management of natural resources. The islands' indigenous inhabitants are the Torres Strait Islanders , one of two ethnically distinct groups of Indigenous Australian peoples. Torres Strait Islanders are distinct from both the Papuans of adjoining New Guinea and from Aboriginal Australian peoples of the nearby Australian mainland, but related to both. The people of the Torres Strait have
4964-429: The system under which the hereditary native chief of each island was installed as chief magistrate, supporting the local traditional system. He also established Native Police, but the only island on which the Native Police were armed was Saibai . There they were provided with Snider carbines to repel the attacks of the Marind-anim (formerly known as Tugeri), the headhunters who raided the islands from their territory on
5037-399: The three societal groups, dating back thousands of years. The first recorded European navigation of the strait was by Luís Vaz de Torres , a pilot who was second-in-command on the Spanish expedition led by navigator Pedro Fernandes de Queirós who sailed from Peru to the South Pacific in 1605. After Queirós's ship returned to Mexico , Torres resumed the intended voyage to Manila via
5110-403: The traditional islander way of life. Most important of these is the Torres Strait Treaty, entered into by Australia and Papua New Guinea in February 1985. The Treaty defines sovereignty and maritime boundaries in the area between the two countries. It guides decision makers on protecting the way of life and livelihood of traditional inhabitants, on managing the protection of habitats, and on sharing
5183-432: The western Torres Strait Islands are the remaining peaks of this land bridge which were not completely submerged when the ocean levels rose. The islands and their surrounding waters and reefs provide a highly diverse set of land and marine ecosystems , with niches for many rare or unique species. Saltwater crocodiles inhabit the islands along with neighbouring areas of Queensland and Papua New Guinea . Marine animals of
5256-453: The work of Nonie Sharp and Margaret Lawrie . Lawrie developed strong relationships with the people of the Torres Strait from the 1950s to 1970s, and many approached her to record and write down their personal stories and family histories. This resulted in her conducting research into the cultural history of the Torres Strait and collecting transcripts, audio recordings, photographs, slides, works of art and oral stories . Collectively they formed
5329-524: Was appointed commander of the expedition that eventually led in 1770 to the British encounter and charting of the eastern coastline of Australia. In 1770 Lieutenant James Cook rounded Cape York, turned south-west and landed on Possession Island . From the top of a hill, he signalled down to the ship that he could see a navigable passage through the dangerous Strait. Later in Batavia , where he learnt that
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