Mabuiag people

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The people of "Mabuiag Island" (in the Torres Strait) are one of the Melanesian Torres Strait Islander populations who once had a reputation for hostility to outsiders before they accepted Christians and Christianity, in the early 1870s^[1].

1 A Continous Population
2 Local Lore
3 Notable Persons
4 See also
5 External links
6 References

[edit] A Continous Population

Mabuaig island and it's people were annexed by the State of Queensland in 1879, giving the Queensland Government control over the east-west shipping passage through the Torres Strait, plus some control over migration into Queensland from the north^[2].

When the Acting Government Resident, Hugh Milman, (based at Thursday Island) visited Mabuiag Island in 1886 he reported of the island and it's people:

"..there is no doubt that every acre has a reputed owner, that every grove or single tree of any value has its proper and legitimate hereditary owner"(Page 9)^[3]

After the federation of Australia in 1901, Torres Strait Islanders including the people of Mabuaig island became subject to "protection," and it wasn't until after World War Two that they could marry or travel to mainland Australia without Queensland Department of Aboriginal and Islander Affairs (DAIA) approval^[2].

Since that time, while many have been taken away by Torres Strait Islander fisheries (particularly the pearling industry) or since moved to Bau Island, Thursday Island, or mainland Australia, some (now estimated at approximately 250) have continued and continously held on to their traditional tenure ("native title") occupying, using, and enjoying the island and it's surrounds in a manner prescribed by traditional law and custom^[3].

"People gathered .. on this island, like their ancestors before them, have occupied it and maintained the connection with it for hundreds of years. Today they continue to speak their traditional language, they practise historic fishing, hunting and collecting and in doing that, they make use of the specialised knowledge accumulated over centuries. They perform customary dances and songs, they manage sacred sites. They utilise their traditional kinship system to organise social and economic life. They are in all respects the owners of this land." (Page 9))^[3]

[edit] Local Lore

The home seas, islands, and reefs occupied, used, and criss-crossed by the people of Mabuiag Island for many generations, have been described as follows:

"What first appear to be undifferentiated patches of coral and salt water are Islanders' exclusive marine domains - a vast, intricate water library where history dwells in places, not in time, and all the sea is named. Islands, reefs, channels and the resources they contain belong to .. Mabuiag people because mythical ancestors like Sesere, Zigin, and Wad caught turtles, dugong, or fish there"^[2]

The people of Mabuiag Island, for instance, believe their afterworld lies on Kibu Island to their northwest. It is believed that when an Islander dies, their spirit sails to Kibu at sundown with the prevailing winds^[2]

If the spirit of the deceased cannot join other ancestors on the island of Kibu, they may return and cause problems among the living. Prior to the arrival of missionaries the people of Mabuiag would annually assist the deceased into Kibu by performing sacred dances. Subsequent to the arrival of missionaries, this orginal commemoration has transformed into a mortuary ritual uniquely shared with other islands in the Torres Strait ie the tombstone opening:

"..in-laws dig deep into their pockets to present the deceased's family with an engraved headstone, brought all the way from Brisbane, shrouded in hundreds of yards of colorful cloth and money envelopes .. "^[2]

Within Mabuaig Island local lore, families may only exercise control over land and sea rights around Mabuaig Island if children have island residences and if relatives can be guaranteed a proper tombstone opening. Migration away from the island complicates people's ability to carry out these burial practices (above), and makes it difficult for the descendants of people living away from Mabuaig Island to establish legal title to family estates^[2].