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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).
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.
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 is the traditional language owned by the Western and Central islands of the Torres Strait.
In 1983 the High Court of Australia (in the Commonwealth v Tasmania or "Tasmanian dam(s) case") [226] defined an Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander as "a person of Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander descent who identifies as an Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander and is accepted as such by the community in which he or she lives". The ...
When the Community Services (Torres Strait) Act 1984 was enacted, 15 island councils were created. Each was responsible for local basic utilities and services, and worked with the Queensland Police to provide for community police officers—hence extending well beyond the normal functions of local government. [10]
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. [1]
The Torres Strait Island Region is a local government area in Far North Queensland, Australia, covering part of the Torres Strait Islands.It was created in March 2008 out of 15 autonomous Island Councils during a period of statewide local government reform.
Mua people (Mualgal) alternatively the Moa, are an Indigenous Australian Torres Strait Island people based on Moa (Banks Island).According to Alfred Cort Haddon their lifestyle, culture, myths and kinship networks overlapped closely with those of the Kaurareg on neighbouring Muralag, while also forming an integral part, linguistically and culturally, with all Western and Central Island peoples ...