Stephens Island (Torres Strait)
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

Stephens Island, called ''Ugar'' in the local
Meriam language Meriam (; also ''Miriam, Meryam, Mer, Mir, Miriam-Mir'', etc. and ''Eastern, Isten, Esten'' and ''Able Able'') or the Eastern Torres Strait language is the language of the people of the small islands of ''Mer'' ( Murray Island), ''Waier'' and ...
, lies in the eastern group of the
Torres Strait Islands The Torres Strait Islands are an archipelago of at least 274 small islands in the Torres Strait, a waterway separating far northern continental Australia's Cape York Peninsula and the island of New Guinea. They span an area of , but their tot ...
archipelago of
Queensland Queensland ( , commonly abbreviated as Qld) is a States and territories of Australia, state in northeastern Australia, and is the second-largest and third-most populous state in Australia. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Austr ...
,
Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...
. The island is within the
locality Locality may refer to: * Locality, a historical named location or place in Canada * Locality (association), an association of community regeneration organizations in England * Locality (linguistics) * Locality (settlement) * Suburbs and localitie ...
of
Ugar Island Ugar Island is an island locality in the Torres Strait Island Region, Queensland, Australia. It consists of a single island, Stephens Island in the Torres Strait The Torres Strait (), also known as Zenadh Kes ( Kalaw Lagaw Ya#Phonology 2, ...
within the
local government area A local government area (LGA) is an administrative division of a country that a local government is responsible for. The size of an LGA varies by country but it is generally a subdivision of a federated state, state, province, division (politica ...
of the
Torres Strait Island Region 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 gove ...
.


Geography

The island is located near the
Great Barrier Reef The Great Barrier Reef is the world's largest coral reef system, composed of over 2,900 individual reefs and 900 islands stretching for over over an area of approximately . The reef is located in the Coral Sea, off the coast of Queensland, ...
and north of
Coconut Island Coconut Island may refer to: * Coconut Island (Florida) * Coconut Island (Hawaii Island), in Hilo Bay * Coconut Island (Oahu Island), in Kaneohe Bay * Coconut Island (Queensland) * another name for St. Martin's Island, Bangladesh See also ...
(also called ''Poruma'') and northwest of Murray Island and west of Darnley Island.


Islanders

The Torres Islander people of the island are of Melanesian origin and hold close kinship ties with the Islander people of Darnley Island (Erub) and Murray Island (Mer). The
traditional owners Native title is the set of rights, recognised by Australian law, held by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander groups or individuals to land that derive from their maintenance of their traditional laws and customs. These Aboriginal title rig ...
of Stephens Island call themselves the Ugarem-Le. The Ugarem-Le lived in village communities following traditional patterns of hunting, fishing, agriculture and trade for many thousands of years before contact was made with European visitors to the region. The people of Stephens Island call themselves Ugarem Le, and are the same people as the neighbouring Erubam Le of Erub (Darnley Island), the Meriam Le and Nog Le of Mer (Murray), the Dauarab Le of Dauar and the people of Waier. The traditional language of these islands is
Meriam Mìr Meriam (; also ''Miriam, Meryam, Mer, Mir, Miriam-Mir'', etc. and ''Eastern, Isten, Esten'' and ''Able Able'') or the Eastern Torres Strait language is the language of the people of the small islands of ''Mer'' (Murray Island, Queensland, Murr ...
, of which there were formerly two dialects, Erub-Ugar and Mer-Dauar-Waier.


Etymology

The island's European name was bestowed by Captain
William Bligh William Bligh (9 September 1754 – 7 December 1817) was a Vice-admiral (Royal Navy), Royal Navy vice-admiral and colonial administrator who served as the governor of New South Wales from 1806 to 1808. He is best known for his role in the Muti ...
in 1792 during his second breadfruit voyage to the Pacific, after Philip Stephens,
First Secretary to the Admiralty The Parliamentary and Financial Secretary to the Admiralty also known as the Parliamentary and Financial Secretary to the Board of Admiralty was a position on the Board of Admiralty and a civil officer of the British Royal Navy. It was usually ...
.


History of Stephens Island


European contact

In September 1792, Captain William Bligh, in charge of the British Navy ships ''Providence'' and ''Assistant'', visited Torres Strait and mapped the main reefs and channels. Bligh gave Stephens Island its name. In 1793, the merchant vessel ''Shah Hormuzear'' and the whaler anchored off Darnley Island. A party of 6 sailors were killed by the Islanders when they were discovered polluting Darnley Island’s only supply of fresh water. In retaliation the Captains Alt and Bampton ordered the destruction of huts, canoes and gardens on Darnley Island and several Islanders were killed. Captains Alt and Bampton next travelled to Stephens Island in search of a boat which went missing during the attack. The Ugarem-Le shot arrows at the sailors when they landed on the Island. The crew returned with gunfire and set fire to a village on Stephens Island. In the early 1860s,
beche-de-mer Sea cucumbers are marine animals of the class Holothuroidea. They can be used as food, in fresh or dried form, in various cuisines. In some cultural contexts the sea cucumber is thought to have medicinal value. The creature and the food product ...
(sea cucumber) and pearling boats began working the reefs of Torres Strait. In June 1879, the ''Queensland Coast Islands Act 1879'' was passed by the
Queensland Government The Queensland Government is the state government of Queensland, Australia, a Parliament, parliamentary constitutional monarchy. Government is formed by the party or coalition that has gained a majority in the Queensland Legislative Assembly, ...
, allowing it to claim all Torres Strait islands including Stephens Island, beyond the previous 60 mile limit. This Act enabled the Queensland Government to control and regulate the beche-de-mer and pearling industries, which previously had operated outside its jurisdiction. A beche-de-mer station was established on Stephens Island in the 1880s by a man named Wilson. Torres Strait Islanders refer to the arrival of
London Missionary Society The London Missionary Society was an interdenominational evangelical missionary society formed in England in 1795 at the instigation of Welsh Congregationalist minister Edward Williams. It was largely Reformed tradition, Reformed in outlook, with ...
(LMS) missionaries at
Erub Darnley Island, or ''Erub'' in the First language, native Papuan language of Meriam Mir, is an island formed by volcanic action and situated in the eastern section of the Torres Strait, Queensland, Australia. It is one of the Torres Strait Isl ...
in July 1871 as "the Coming of the Light". Around 1900, the LMS missionary Rev. Walker established a philanthropic business scheme named Papuan Industries Limited (PIL). PIL encouraged Islander communities to co-operatively rent or purchase their own pearl luggers or "company boats". The "company boats" were used to harvest pearl shells and beche-de-mer, which was sold and distributed by PIL. The people of Stephens Island made arrangements to purchase their first company boat in 1905. Company boats provided Islanders with income and a sense of community pride and also improved transport and communication between the islands. In November 1912, 800 acres of land on Stephens Island were officially gazetted as an
Aboriginal reserve An Aboriginal reserve, also called simply reserve, was a government-sanctioned settlement for Aboriginal Australians, created under various state and federal legislation. Along with missions and other institutions, they were used from the 19th ...
by the Queensland Government. Many other Torres Strait Islands were gazetted as Aboriginal reserves at the same time. By 1918, a Protector of Aboriginals had been appointed to
Thursday Island Thursday Island, colloquially known as TI, or in the Kalaw Lagaw Ya, Kawrareg dialect, Waiben or Waibene, is an island of the Torres Strait Islands, an archipelago of at least 274 small islands in the Torres Strait. TI is located approximately ...
and during the 1920s and 1930s racial legislation was strictly applied to Torres Strait Islanders, enabling the government to remove Islanders to reserves and missions across Queensland. A government school was built on Stephens Island in 1925. In 1936, around 70% of the Torres Strait Islander workforce went on strike, in the first organised challenge against government authority made by Torres Strait Islanders. The 9-month strike was an expression of Islanders’ anger and resentment at increasing government control of their livelihoods. The strike protested against government interference in wages, trade and commerce and also called for the lifting of evening curfews, the removal of the permit system for inter-island travel, and the recognition of the Islanders’ right to recruit their own boat crews. The strike produced a number of significant reforms and innovations. Unpopular local Protector J.D. McLean was removed and replaced by Cornelius O’Leary. O’Leary established a system of regular consultations with elected Islander council representatives. The new councils were given a degree of autonomy including control over local island police and courts. On 23 August 1937 O’Leary convened the first Inter Islander Councillors Conference at Yorke Island. Representatives from 14 Torres Strait communities attended. Ned Oroki represented Stephens Island at the conference. After lengthy discussions, unpopular bylaws (including the evening curfews) were cancelled, and a new code of local representation was agreed upon. In 1939, the Queensland Government passed the '' Torres Strait Islander Act 1939'', which incorporated many of the recommendations discussed at the conference. A key section of the new act officially recognised
Torres Strait Islanders Torres Strait Islanders ( ) are the Indigenous Melanesians, Melanesian people of the Torres Strait Islands, which are part of the state of Queensland, Australia. Ethnically distinct from the Aboriginal Australians, Aboriginal peoples of the res ...
as a separate people from
Aboriginal Australians Aboriginal Australians are the various indigenous peoples of the Mainland Australia, Australian mainland and many of its islands, excluding the ethnically distinct people of the Torres Strait Islands. Humans first migrated to Australia (co ...
. During
World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
in 1941, the
Australian Government The Australian Government, also known as the Commonwealth Government or simply as the federal government, is the national executive government of Australia, a federal parliamentary constitutional monarchy. The executive consists of the pr ...
began recruiting Torres Strait Islander men to serve in the armed forces. Recruited men from Stephens Island and other island communities formed the Torres Strait Light Infantry. While the Torres Strait Islander recruits were respected as soldiers, they only received one third of the pay given to white Australian servicemen. On 31 December 1943, a number of companies of the Torres Strait Light Infantry went on strike calling for equal pay and equal rights for all soldiers. The Australian military hierarchy agreed to increase their pay to two thirds the level received by white servicemen. Full back pay was offered in compensation to the Torres Strait servicemen by the Australian Government in the 1980s. After gaining its independence from Australia in 1975,
Papua New Guinea Papua New Guinea, officially the Independent State of Papua New Guinea, is an island country in Oceania that comprises the eastern half of the island of New Guinea and offshore islands in Melanesia, a region of the southwestern Pacific Ocean n ...
asserted its right to the islands and waters of the Torres Straits. In December 1978, a treaty was signed by the Australian and Papua New Guinea governments that described the boundaries between the 2 countries and the use of the sea area by both parties. The Torres Strait Treaty, which has operated since February 1985, contains special provision for free movement (without passports or visas) between both countries. Free movement between communities applies to traditional activities such as fishing, trading and family gatherings, which occur in a specifically created Protected Zone and nearby areas. The Protected Zone also assists in the preservation and protection of the land, sea, air and native plant and animal life of the Torres Strait.


Local government and Deed of Grant communities

On 30 March 1985, the Stephens Island community elected 3 councillors to constitute an autonomous Stephens Island Council established under the ''Community Services (Torres Strait) Act 1984''. This Act conferred local government type powers and responsibilities upon Torres Strait Islander councils for the first time. The Aboriginal reserve on the island, held by the Queensland Government, was transferred on 21 October 1985 to the trusteeship of the council under a
Deed of Grant in Trust A Deed of Grant in Trust (DOGIT) is the name for a system of community-level land trust established in Queensland to administer former Aboriginal reserves and missions. They came about through the enactment by the Queensland Government of the '' ...
.Queensland, ''Annual Report of the Department of Community Services for 1986''(1987) 3; Queensland, ''Annual Report of the Department of Community Services for 1987'' (1988) 29. On 24 April 2002 the council’s name was changed from Stephens Island Council to Ugar Island Council. In 2007, the Local Government Reform Commission recommended that the 15 Torres Strait Island councils be abolished and the
Torres Strait Island Regional Council 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 gove ...
(TSIRC) be established in their place. In elections conducted under the ''Local Government Act 1993'' on 15 March 2008, members of the 15 communities comprising the TSIRC local government area each voted for a local councillor and a mayor to constitute a council consisting of 15 councillors plus a mayor.


See also

*
List of Torres Strait Islands The Torres Strait Islands are a group of at least 274 small islands in the Torres Strait between Queensland, Australia and Papua New Guinea. This is a list of the named islands and island groups in the Torres Strait. In addition there are u ...


References


Attribution

This Wikipedia article contains material fro
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander community histories: Stephens Island
Published by
The State of Queensland The Queensland Government is the state government of Queensland, Australia, a parliamentary constitutional monarchy. Government is formed by the party or coalition that has gained a majority in the state Legislative Assembly, with the governo ...
under CC-BY-4.0, accessed on 2 July 2017.


Further reading

* — full text online


External links


Stephen on behalf of the Ugar People v State of Queensland (2004) FCA 157 (9 December 2004)
{{Torres Strait Torres Strait Islands Torres Strait Island Region Torres Strait Islands communities Towns in Queensland Localities in Queensland Articles incorporating text from the Queensland Government