The natives of the Torres Strait Islands are the indigenous people of the Torres Strait Islands . Although the islands are administratively assigned to the Australian state of Queensland , their aborigines are culturally and genetically linked not primarily with the Australian aborigines , but with the Melanesians from Papua New Guinea . There are also two Torres Strait Islander communities on the nearby coast of the Australian continent in the cities of Bamaga and Seisha (both in Queensland ). The number of islanders is 6 thousand people, and on the mainland - about 42 thousand people [1] .
| Torres Strait Islanders | |
|---|---|
| Abundance and area | |
| Total: 48 thousand | |
| Australia | |
| Language | kala-lagav-i , Creole of the Torres Strait , Meriam-world |
| Religion | Christianity |
| Related peoples | Aborigines of Australia , Papuans , Melanesians |
Content
- 1 Culture
- 1.1 Art, traditional crafts, games
- 2 languages
- 3 notes
- 4 References
Culture
The culture of the Torres Strait islanders has its own distinctive features with small variations on different islands of the strait. It is a culture of seafarers who supported trade with the population of Papua New Guinea . The composition of the culture is complex, includes Australian, Papuan and Austronesian elements. The languages of the islanders are also heterogeneous in origin. The influence of the culture of the Torres Strait Islanders, in particular in religious ceremonies, can be traced to the coastal Papuans and Australian Aborigines.
In contrast to the continental Australian aborigines, the islanders were traditionally farmers, although they supplemented their diet with hunting and gathering products. In the recent postcolonial history of the islanders, new trends have emerged related to the spread of Christianity (Baptism, the Church of England), as well as less visible traces of the influence of the Polynesians (in particular, pearl hunters from the island of Rotuma ) brought to work on sugar plantations in the 19th century.
Art, Traditional Crafts, Games
One of the characteristic features of the art of the islanders is the weaving of figures on their fingers (known in British culture as the “cat cradle”) [2] [3] [4] . The ethnographer Alfred Cort Haddon , whose research was continued by one of his daughters, was a pioneer in the study of islanders' art on fingers.
Languages
The language of kala-lagav-I consists of several dialects. It is common on most of the islands of the strait and the western and central islands and belongs to the Pam-Nyung languages , distributed throughout most of the Australian continent. The language Meriam-world belongs to the Papuan languages , it is spoken on the eastern islands [5] .
Notes
- ↑ Australia's Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples (link unavailable) . Australia Now . Australian Government Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade . Date of treatment December 10, 2006. Archived November 15, 2001.
- ↑ Torres Strait string figure example.
- ↑ A string figure bibliography including examples from Torres Strait.
- ↑ A popular and comprehensive book on string figures.
- ↑ Torres Strait Islanders (unavailable link) . Fact Sheets . Australian Government Department of Families, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs . Date of treatment December 10, 2006. Archived May 18, 2006.
Links
- Torres Strait Regional Authority
- Church of torres strait
- Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders' virtual books - held by the State Library of Queensland
- 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