Torres Strait Islander peoples are the first people to live in the Torres Strait archipelago (group of islands) and their descendants. The Torres Strait Islands are a part of the Australian state of Queensland. The islands lie in the Torres Strait, which separates the northern tip of Australia and the island of New Guinea. The Torres Strait Islander peoples belong to a number of groups, or peoples, with distinct cultures and languages. Today, people live on only 18 of the more than 100 islands in the archipelago. 
The original inhabitants of mainland Australia, Tasmania, and some other nearby islands and their descendants make up a separate collection of cultural groups known as the Aboriginal peoples of Australia. To refer to both Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, Australians often use the terms Indigenous peoples of Australia, First Australians, or First Nations peoples. The word indigenous means native. See Aboriginal peoples of Australia and Indigenous peoples of Australia.
Archaeologists (scientists who study the cultural remains left behind by past civilizations) have found evidence that the ancestors of the Torres Strait Islander peoples came to the islands from New Guinea thousands of years ago. The British began to colonize the islands in the 1800’s, bringing rapid changes to the area’s cultures. The British colonists began to operate many fishing boats in the strait during the mid-1800’s. Missionaries soon spread Christianity through the islands and outlawed many traditional practices. The British employed workers from the South Sea Islands, who brought additional foreign influences to the Torres Strait Islands.
The Europeans who colonized Australia generally regarded Torres Strait Islander peoples and Aboriginal peoples as the same cultural group. The Torres Strait Islander peoples have fought for years for recognition of their unique cultural characteristics.
Today, Torres Strait Islander peoples speak two main traditional languages. Kala Lagaw Ya is derived from Aboriginal Australian languages. Many dialects (language variations) of Kala Lagaw Ya are spoken in the western and central islands of the archipelago. The other major Torres Strait Islander language is Miriam (or Miriam Mir). This language, which originated in New Guinea, is mostly spoken on Mer Island (also known as Murray Island) in the eastern Torres Strait. In addition to these languages, the lingua franca (common language) of the Torres Strait is Torres Strait Creole. This language, also called Yumpla Tok, combines elements of English and South Sea Islands languages. English is also spoken in the region. 
Early history
Some evidence indicates that people may have lived in areas of the Torres Strait as many as 9,000 years ago. Archaeologists have discovered evidence that permanent settlements existed on some islands in the western Torres Strait at least 4,000 years ago. Later, other groups of people from New Guinea settled the eastern and central islands in the strait. The inhabitants of each of the various islands developed different cultural and linguistic characteristics.
The Torres Strait Islander peoples were hunter-gatherers and farmers. They fished and hunted such sea animals as turtles and large sea mammals called dugongs. They also hunted land animals and birds, farmed, and gathered wild plants. Farming was particularly important on the strait’s eastern islands, because of their fertile volcanic soil. Some of the rocky western islands had mudflats with abundant wildlife, so hunting became important there. Several northwestern islands near the coast of New Guinea had significant hunting and farming resources. The central islands are atolls (ring-shaped coral reefs) and are largely unsuitable for farming. The people on those islands relied primarily on the sea, as well as on wild fruits and vegetables, for their food.
The Torres Strait Islander peoples, like the other Indigenous peoples of Australia, organized themselves into clans. Men typically hunted, fished, and headed the households and clans. Women were primarily responsible for taking care of children and the home. Women fished and collected shellfish along the beaches. They also gathered wild food plants.
The Torres Strait Islander peoples used songs and stories to convey their histories and beliefs. They performed with drums and other percussion instruments, as well as horns made from shells. Storytelling carried family histories, cultural practices, and other customs from one generation to the next. Religious ceremonies on the islands featured music, dance, and elaborate masks. Some masks were made of turtle shell and adorned with feathers, shells, and other materials. 
The people of the islands became known for their large seagoing canoes. They used the canoes for fishing as well as for visiting, raiding, and trading with communities on the other islands. The inhabitants of the Torres Strait Islands also had contact with some people in New Guinea as well as with Aboriginal peoples on Australia’s Cape York Peninsula.
The arrival of Europeans
The Torres Strait is named after the Spanish navigator Luis Vaez de Torres, who first sailed the waters in 1606. However, Europeans did not come into prolonged contact with the Torres Strait Islander peoples until the mid-1800’s.
British colonizers first arrived in Australia in 1788 and established the colony of New South Wales on the eastern part of the continent. The Torres Strait soon became an important waterway along the transportation route between New South Wales and Great Britain. A small number of ships stopped to trade with the islands. Europeans brought iron tools and other materials that the Torres Strait Islander communities incorporated into their daily lives and their crafts.
In the 1840’s, European colonists began fishing the Torres Strait. They fished for animals called sea cucumbers, which are known as trepang << trih PANG >> or bêche-de-mer << `BEHSH` duh MAIR >> when dried for food. China eventually became the main market for bêche-de-mer. The colonists soon began to establish fishing stations on the islands.
In the late 1860’s, colonists learned of the abundant presence of pearl shell in the waters of the Torres Strait. Pearl shell, also called mother-of-pearl or nacre, is a colorful material found inside certain shellfish.The colonists soon sent fishing boats to the Torres Strait to collect the shells for export to Europe and the United States.
Fishing groups employed local pearl divers from the Torres Strait, as well as people from Asia and the Pacific Islands. As a result, the rapid development of the fishing and pearling industries brought the people of the Torres Strait Islands into contact with a variety of foreign cultures. The languages of the Torres Strait Islander peoples began to change as people incorporated words and phrases from the languages of their fishing companions.
Along with foreign cultural influences came diseases that Torres Strait Islander peoples had not previously encountered. Many Indigenous people of the islands died as a result.
“The Coming of the Light.”
In the 1870’s, members of the London Missionary Society (LMS) began arriving in the Torres Strait Islands. This Christian evangelical society planned to use the islands as a “stepping stone” toward converting the people of New Guinea. The first LMS missionaries arrived at Erub (also known as Darnley) Island, in the eastern Torres Strait, on July 1, 1871. Since then, Torres Strait Islander people have celebrated July 1 as “The Coming of the Light,” marking the arrival of Christianity in the islands. The event signaled the end of inter-island warfare, and the establishment of peace and unity throughout the archipelago.
During the 1870’s, the colony of Queensland annexed (claimed) the Torres Strait Islands. However, the colonial government largely left the London Missionary Society to run the daily affairs of the islands.
European missionaries oversaw the activities of the LMS in the Torres Strait Islands. Some of the missionaries were Pacific Islanders who had converted to Christianity as a result of the society’s work in the South Pacific Islands. These missionaries, known as teachers, lived in the Torres Strait Island communities and carried out most of the day-to-day mission work.
Christianity spread quickly among the Torres Strait Islander communities. It brought great changes to island life. The missionaries and teachers outlawed many Torres Strait Islander dances, songs, and religious practices. The teachers introduced elements of Pacific Island cultures and languages together with their own understanding of Christianity. Torres Strait Islander people also combined their own traditional rituals and beliefs with Christian practices and ideas.
In 1873, the London Missionary Society opened a school on Erub Island. Missionaries opened schools on other islands as well.
Treatment by European and Australian authorities.
British colonial governments, and later Australian governments, came to treat the Torres Strait Islander peoples and the Aboriginal peoples of Australia as members of the same cultural group. The governments generally believed that Indigenous peoples should learn to live more like Europeans.
From the time of colonization through the mid-1900’s, British and Australian governments controlled various aspects of Indigenous life. The law said that at the time of colonization, Australia was terra nullius, a Latin legal term meaning that it belonged to no one. Government policies denied Indigenous peoples many basic rights. For example, Indigenous Australians were paid less than Australians of European descent. Mounting restrictions in the early 1900’s required Torres Strait Islander people to get official approval to use their wages for some purchases. The government regulated travel to the mainland and even, for a time, between islands.
From the 1870’s to the 1970’s, governments in Australia took thousands of Indigenous children, including some from the Torres Strait Islands, away from their families. Authorities placed the children in institutions, missions, and foster homes in an effort to force the children to adopt Western culture. The children became collectively known as the Stolen Generations.
Struggle for rights and recognition
Throughout the 1900’s, Torres Strait Islander peoples worked to achieve more self-rule and greater acceptance of their cultures.
In 1899, John Douglas, the main representative of the Queensland government in the islands, established local councils on the Torres Strait Islands. The inhabitants of each island elected members to a council to deal with local affairs. The creation of the councils was the first step toward self-governance of the islands. After Douglas died in 1904, however, Queensland increased its restrictions. Soon, the Europeans who assisted the councils held a majority of the power in the islands.
Over the years, Torres Strait Islander peoples continued to demand greater rights and recognition. In 1936, fishing crews from many of the Torres Strait Islands joined in a strike to protest government control over their wages as well as other restrictions. As a result, on Oct. 12, 1939, the Queensland government passed the Torres Strait Islanders Act 1939. The act gave more power to the island councils and for the first time legally recognized the Torres Strait Islander peoples as a distinct people.
Torres Strait Islander people played an active role in the region’s defense during World War II (1939-1945). However, they were paid much less than white Australians and were limited in how far they could advance in the military. Torres Strait Islander people staged demonstrations calling for greater equality. In 1944, the Army granted them some additional wages, but it reduced certain other benefits. After the war, many more people became active in organizations calling for greater self-determination and Indigenous rights.
After the war, a few Torres Strait Islander people began to move to the mainland to work. In the 1960’s, the islands’ pearling industry collapsed, as clothing manufacturers switched to buttons made of plastic instead of mother-of-pearl. The government finally lifted its restrictions on Torres Strait Islander people’s moving off the islands. Many families sought jobs and greater educational opportunities on the mainland. Today, the large majority of people of Torres Strait Islander descent live in mainland Australia. Many seek to balance ailan kastom (island customs and traditions) with life away from the islands. 
Over the second half of the 1900’s, Australia’s Indigenous peoples gained additional rights and recognition. In 1975, for example, the Commonwealth Racial Discrimination Act made it illegal for employers to pay workers less than established minimum wages based on their race.
A significant victory in the struggle for Indigenous rights occurred in 1992. Koiki (or Eddie) Mabo and four other people of Mer Island had challenged the principle of terra nullius in the courts. In what is known as the Mabo decision, Australia’s High Court recognized that native title had existed at the time of colonization and still existed where the Meriam people had maintained a continuous association with their lands. Native title refers to the land rights of Indigenous peoples based on their traditional laws and customs. The Mabo decision set a precedent for numerous other land rights cases in the Torres Strait and in mainland Australia. 
In 1997, the Human Rights and Equal Opportunities Commission, an independent agency established by the Australian government, released a report about the Stolen Generations. The report was highly critical of the child removal policies of past governments. In 2008, Prime Minister Kevin Rudd made a formal apology for the wrongs Australia’s governments had inflicted on the nation’s Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.
Torres Strait Islander people continue to face economic, social, and political disadvantages. Like many island communities around the world, those of the Torres Strait Islands are under threat of rising sea levels due to climate change and global warming.
Despite facing many disadvantages, Torres Strait Islander people have made great gains in the areas of civil and land and sea rights and in overcoming discrimination. Their cultures have gained greater acceptance and understanding throughout Australia. Australia’s government, community groups, and international organizations are working to improve the health, welfare, and opportunities of all Australia’s Indigenous people.
