Murray Island, Torres Strait
Encyclopedia
Murray Island is a small island of volcanic
origin, populated by the Melanesian Meriam people
and situated in the eastern section of Torres Strait
, near the Great Barrier Reef
. The island has a population of around 450.
This island is one of the Torres Strait Islands
and supports a population of around 450 people. The Murray Group comprises three islands - Mer, Dauar and Waier. There are eight Meriam tribes - Komet
, Zagareb, Meuram, Magaram, Geuram, Peibre, Meriam-Samsep, Piadram and Dauer Meriam. The organization of the island is based on the traditional laws of boundary and ownership.
ic island formed from an extinct volcano, which was last active over a million years ago. It formed as a result when the Indo-Australian Plate
slid over the East Australia hotspot
. The island rises to a plateau 80 m above sea level. The highest point of the island is the 230 metre Gelam Paser, the western end of the volcano crater. The island has red fertile soil and is covered in dense vegetation. The island has a tropical climate with a wet and dry season.
The inhabitants of the Torres Strait, including the Meriam people, gained a reputation as fierce warriors and skilled mariners. Warfare (both inter-tribal and against European ships in transit through the Coral Sea) and head hunting were part of the culture of all Torres Strait islanders. The account of Jack Ireland, a surviving cabin boy from the barque Charles Eaton that was wrecked in 1834 at Detached Reef near the entrance to Torres Strait is of interest in this respect. He spent much of his time on Murray Island before being rescued. A large ceremonial mask was recovered in 1836 from a neighbouring island following his rescue and that of young William D’Oyley, the only other survivor of the Charles Eaton, and their return to Sydney. The mask was made of turtle shells surrounded by numerous skulls, seventeen of which were determined as having belonged to the crew and passengers of the Charles Eaton who were massacred when they came ashore following the shipwreck. The mask was entered into the collection of the Australian Museum after the skulls were buried on 12 November 1836 in a mass grave at Bunnerong Cemetery, Sydney.
Westerners began to settle on the island in 1872 when the London Missionary Society
founded a missionary school there. The Queensland Government annexed the islands in 1879. Tom Roberts, the well-known Australian painter, visited the island in 1892. He witnessed a night-time dance and depicted it in a painting.
In 1936, a maritime strike fueled by Islander dissatisfaction with the fact that their wages and boats were managed 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 established local governments on each island.
After the outbreak of the Pacific War
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 as jobs disappeared in the pearling
industry. A call for independence from Australia in the 1980s was due to the government failing 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 in order 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 to the High Court of Australia
, on appeal from the Supreme Court of the State of Queensland, issue the "Mabo decision" to finally recognise Mabo's rights on his land on 3 June 1992. This 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 Murray Island where the islanders performed a traditional ceremony for the burial of a king.
museum where they had been archived for more than 100 years.
The people of Murray Island speak Torres Strait Creole and Meriam
. English is a second language.
The artist Ricardo Idagi was born on Murray Island. Idagi won the main prize at the Western Australian Indigenous Art Awards
in 2009.
Volcano
2. Bedrock3. Conduit 4. Base5. Sill6. Dike7. Layers of ash emitted by the volcano8. Flank| 9. Layers of lava emitted by the volcano10. Throat11. Parasitic cone12. Lava flow13. Vent14. Crater15...
origin, populated by the Melanesian Meriam people
Meriam people
Mer , in the eastern group of Torres Strait Islands off the northern tip of Australia, is home to the Meriam people.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...
and situated in the eastern section of Torres Strait
Torres Strait
The Torres Strait is a body of water which lies between Australia and the Melanesian island of New Guinea. It is approximately wide at its narrowest extent. To the south is Cape York Peninsula, the northernmost continental extremity of the Australian state of Queensland...
, near the Great Barrier Reef
Great Barrier Reef
The Great Barrier Reef is the world'slargest reef system composed of over 2,900 individual reefs and 900 islands stretching for over 2,600 kilometres over an area of approximately...
. The island has a population of around 450.
This island is one of the Torres Strait Islands
Torres Strait Islands
The Torres Strait Islands are a group of at least 274 small islands which lie in Torres Strait, the waterway separating far northern continental Australia's Cape York Peninsula and the island of New Guinea but Torres Strait Island known and Recognize as Nyumaria.The islands are mostly part of...
and supports a population of around 450 people. The Murray Group comprises three islands - Mer, Dauar and Waier. There are eight Meriam tribes - Komet
Komet
Komet is the word for comet in some languages and may refer to:In the military:* Messerschmitt Me 163 "Komet", the first rocket-powered manned aircraft* German auxiliary cruiser Komet, a ship in World War II...
, Zagareb, Meuram, Magaram, Geuram, Peibre, Meriam-Samsep, Piadram and Dauer Meriam. The organization of the island is based on the traditional laws of boundary and ownership.
Geography
Murray Island is a basaltBasalt
Basalt is a common extrusive volcanic rock. It is usually grey to black and fine-grained due to rapid cooling of lava at the surface of a planet. It may be porphyritic containing larger crystals in a fine matrix, or vesicular, or frothy scoria. Unweathered basalt is black or grey...
ic island formed from an extinct volcano, which was last active over a million years ago. It formed as a result when the Indo-Australian Plate
Indo-Australian Plate
The Indo-Australian Plate is a major tectonic plate that includes the continent of Australia and surrounding ocean, and extends northwest to include the Indian subcontinent and adjacent waters...
slid over the East Australia hotspot
East Australia hotspot
The East Australia hotspot is a volcanic hotspot that forces magma up at weak spots in the Indo-Australian Plate to form volcanoes in Eastern Australia. There have been no eruptions in Australia during historic times. It does not produce a single chain of volcanoes like the Hawaiian Islands...
. The island rises to a plateau 80 m above sea level. The highest point of the island is the 230 metre Gelam Paser, the western end of the volcano crater. The island has red fertile soil and is covered in dense vegetation. The island has a tropical climate with a wet and dry season.
History
Murray Island has been inhabited by the Meriam people for thousands of years prior to European exploration and settlement of Australia. Regular contact between the inhabitants of Torres Strait (including Murray Island, known by the Meriam people as Mer Island) and Europeans began once the Torres Strait became a means of passage between the Indian Ocean and the Pacific Ocean in the 19th Century.The inhabitants of the Torres Strait, including the Meriam people, gained a reputation as fierce warriors and skilled mariners. Warfare (both inter-tribal and against European ships in transit through the Coral Sea) and head hunting were part of the culture of all Torres Strait islanders. The account of Jack Ireland, a surviving cabin boy from the barque Charles Eaton that was wrecked in 1834 at Detached Reef near the entrance to Torres Strait is of interest in this respect. He spent much of his time on Murray Island before being rescued. A large ceremonial mask was recovered in 1836 from a neighbouring island following his rescue and that of young William D’Oyley, the only other survivor of the Charles Eaton, and their return to Sydney. The mask was made of turtle shells surrounded by numerous skulls, seventeen of which were determined as having belonged to the crew and passengers of the Charles Eaton who were massacred when they came ashore following the shipwreck. The mask was entered into the collection of the Australian Museum after the skulls were buried on 12 November 1836 in a mass grave at Bunnerong Cemetery, Sydney.
Westerners began to settle on the island in 1872 when the London Missionary Society
London Missionary Society
The London Missionary Society was a non-denominational missionary society formed in England in 1795 by evangelical Anglicans and Nonconformists, largely Congregationalist in outlook, with missions in the islands of the South Pacific and Africa...
founded a missionary school there. The Queensland Government annexed the islands in 1879. Tom Roberts, the well-known Australian painter, visited the island in 1892. He witnessed a night-time dance and depicted it in a painting.
In 1936, a maritime strike fueled by Islander dissatisfaction with the fact that their wages and boats were managed by the Protector of Aborigines
Protector of Aborigines
The role of Protectors of Aborigines resulted from a recommendation of the report of the Select Committee of the House of Commons on Aborigines . On 31 January 1838, Lord Glenelg, Secretary of State for War and the Colonies sent Governor Gipps the report.The report recommended that Protectors of...
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 established local governments on each island.
After the outbreak of the Pacific War
Pacific War
The Pacific War, also sometimes called the Asia-Pacific War refers broadly to the parts of World War II that took place in the Pacific Ocean, its islands, and in East Asia, then called the Far East...
in 1941, over 700 Islanders volunteered to defend the Torres Strait. This group was organised into the Torres Strait Light Infantry Battalion
Torres Strait Light Infantry Battalion
The Torres Strait Light Infantry Battalion was an infantry battalion of the Australian Army during the Second World War. Initially raised as a company-sized unit in 1941, it was expanded to a full battalion in 1942 and was unique in that almost all of its enlisted men were Torres Strait Islanders,...
. The migration of Islanders to mainland Australia as jobs disappeared in the pearling
Pearl hunting
Pearl hunting or pearl diving refers to a largely obsolete method of retrieving pearls from pearl oysters, freshwater pearl mussels and, on rare occasions, other nacre-producing molluscs, such as abalone.-History:...
industry. A call for independence from Australia in the 1980s was due to the government failing to provide basic infrastructure on the island.
Murray Island's most famous resident was trade unionist Eddie Mabo
Eddie Mabo
Eddie Koiki Mabo was a Torres Strait Islander who is known for his role in campaigning for Indigenous land rights and for his role in a landmark decision of the High Court of Australia that overturned the legal fiction of terra nullius which characterised Australian law with regards to land and...
, whose decision to sue the Queensland Government in order to secure ownership of his land, which had been removed from his ancestors by the British colonial powers using the terra nullius
Terra nullius
Terra nullius is a Latin expression deriving from Roman law meaning "land belonging to no one" , which is used in international law to describe territory which has never been subject to the sovereignty of any state, or over which any prior sovereign has expressly or implicitly relinquished...
legal concept, ultimately led to the High Court of Australia
High Court of Australia
The High Court of Australia is the supreme court in the Australian court hierarchy and the final court of appeal in Australia. It has both original and appellate jurisdiction, has the power of judicial review over laws passed by the Parliament of Australia and the parliaments of the States, and...
, on appeal from the Supreme Court of the State of Queensland, issue the "Mabo decision" to finally recognise Mabo's rights on his land on 3 June 1992. This 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 Murray Island where the islanders performed a traditional ceremony for the burial of a king.
Culture
The people of Mer (Meriam) 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 GlasgowGlasgow
Glasgow is the largest city in Scotland and third most populous in the United Kingdom. The city is situated on the River Clyde in the country's west central lowlands...
museum where they had been archived for more than 100 years.
The people of Murray Island speak Torres Strait Creole and Meriam
Meriam language
Meriam is the language of the people of Mer , Waier and Dauar, Erub and Ugar in the...
. English is a second language.
The artist Ricardo Idagi was born on Murray Island. Idagi won the main prize at the Western Australian Indigenous Art Awards
Western Australian Indigenous Art Awards
The Western Australian Indigenous Art Awards is a non-acquisitive art award established by the Art Gallery of Western Australia in 2008. It includes three prizes: an overall prize of A$50 000, as well as a A$10 000 prize for the top Western Australian artist, and a A$5 000 People's...
in 2009.
Governance
Murray Island is governed by the Community Council, which is responsible for roads, water, housing and community events. The Community Council has a major influence on community life. The elders of the community hold a position of respect and also have a major influence on island life.External links
- Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Justice Commissioner, Social Justice Reports 1994-2009 and Native Title Reports 1994-2009 for more information about Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander affairs