torres

The traditional people of Torres Strait are of Melanesian origin and speak two distinct languages. They are distinct from Aboriginal Australians living on the mainland. Over the past 25 years, archaeologists working in the Torres Strait have found evidence of human settlement dating back 2,500 years. Torres Strait is named after a Spanish captain, Torres, who sailed through the strait in 1606 on his way to the Philippines. For many Australians, the Torres Strait Islands are best known as the birth place of Eddie Koiki Mabo. Born on the island of Mer, Mabo became famous for his work campaigning for Indigenous land rights and for his role in a landmark decision of the High Court of Australia that overturned the legal doctrine of terra nullius ("land belonging to nobody"), which had characterised Australian law with regard to land and title. As a result of that case, the islands were the first place in Australia where Native Title was recognised under Australian law. Mabo died of cancer in 1992, at the age of 55, five months before the High Court overturned "terra nullius", which eventually led to the creation of various forms of land rights laws for Indigenous Australians. Source: The people and history of the Torres Strait Islands Published24 August 2015 www.bbc.com/news/world-australia-34037235

Stealing a generation of Aboriginal children from their families might have been legal but it was also immoral. Some of the white Australians involved in the theft might have believed that they were acting in the best interests of the children — the “good intentions” defense — but the policy itself was not concerned with the interests of the children. It was concerned with “breeding out” a race, that is, eliminating it. Source: publicintegrity.org/accountability/longtime-australian-po...

Some Aboriginal people work for the settlers. They are dressed in European clothes, fed European food, and live in camps near the homestead. They play a vital role in the development of the Queensland pastoral industry. The owners of Booubyjan had a good relationship with the Aboriginal people who lived and worked on the station. They commissioned FW Whitehouse to paint the portrait of Cobbo, which was hung on the homestead. Source: cherbourgmemory.org/booubyja-cobbo-at-booubyjan-station-1...