How were Torres Strait Islands settled?
The first inhabitants of the Torres Strait migrated from the Indonesian archipelago 70,000 years ago, when Papua New Guinea was still attached to the Australian continent. The first navigator credited with coming across the islands is the Spaniard, Luis Vaez de Torres, who sailed through the Strait in 1606.
How did Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples live before European settlement?
Lifestyle Before Colonisation They lived in small communities and survived by hunting and gathering. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Island communities only used the land for things that they needed – shelter, water, food, weapons.
How did the Torres Strait islanders survive?
Islander history survives through the continuous occupation and use of islands and reefs and the crisscrossing of home seas. Torres Strait occupies a strategic position in the annals of maritime history and exploration.
How long have Torres Strait Islanders lived on the islands?
How long have people been living in the Torres Strait? In the last 25 years, archaeologists working in the Torres Strait have found evidence of human settlement dating back 2,500 years.
Why did Torres Strait Islanders move to the mainland?
Torres Strait Islanders are from the Torres Strait Islands region. Some Torres Strait Islander peoples have moved to mainland Australia either through forced removal or for employment and education.
How are the Torres Strait Islanders different from Aboriginal peoples?
Aboriginal Australians are indigenous to mainland Australia and Tasmania who are nomadic. Torres Strait Islanders are minority groups indigenous to Torres Strait Islands who are traders, seafarers and agriculturists.
How did colonisation affect Australia?
Colonisation severely disrupted Aboriginal society and economy—epidemic disease caused an immediate loss of life, and the occupation of land by settlers and the restriction of Aboriginal people to ‘reserves’ disrupted their ability to support themselves.
Where do the Torres Strait Islanders live?
Torres Strait Islander peoples come from the islands of the Torres Strait, between the tip of Cape York in Queensland and Papua New Guinea. Torres Strait Islanders are of Melanesian origin with their own distinct identity, history and cultural traditions. Many Torres Strait Islanders live on mainland Australia.
How are the Torres Strait Islanders different from aboriginal peoples?
Why are Torres Strait Islanders not Aboriginal?
Torres Strait Islanders are First Nations Australians who come from the islands of the Torres Strait, between Cape York in Queensland and Papua New Guinea. They are of Melanesian origin and have differing identities, histories and cultural traditions to Aboriginal Australians.
Are Torres Strait Islanders considered Australian?
Who are the Torres Strait Islanders and what do they do?
Torres Strait Islanders (/ˈtɒrɪs-/ ) are the indigenous people of the Torres Strait Islands, part of Queensland, Australia. They are distinct from the Aboriginal people of the rest of Australia, and are generally referred to separately. There are also two Torres Strait Islander communities on the nearby coast of the mainland at Bamaga and Seisia.
Where was the first settlement in Torres Strait?
In 1863 the first European settlement was established on Albany Island, just off Cape York, and moved to Somerset on the opposite mainland the following year. Bêche-de-mer fishermen (trepangers) began to enter the strait in a westward expansion of the Pacific trade and set up shore stations on some of the islands.
When did the Torres Strait Islands become part of Australia?
In 1879 Queensland annexed the other Torres Strait Islands. They thus became part of the British colony of Queensland and (after 1901) of the Australian state of Queensland – although some of them lie just off the coast of New Guinea.
Where did ships stop in the Torres Strait?
In the first half of the 19th century, trader ships regularly sailed up Australia’s east coast and through the Torres Strait on their way to ports in India and Asia, but few stopped at the islands.