Mabuiag Island - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

Mabuiag is an island

Island

An island or isle is any piece of sub-continental land that is surrounded by water. Very small islands such as emergent land features on atolls can be called islets, cays or keys. An island in a river or lake may be called an eyot , or holm...

in the Bellevue Islands

Bellevue Islands

The Bellevue Islands are a group of islands that are included in the Torres Strait Islands, Queensland.They are*Mabuiag Island, the only inhabited island in the group*Passage Island*Subur Islet*Warakuikul Talab Island*Aipus Island*Widul Island...

, 100 km north of Thursday Island Queensland

Queensland

Queensland is a state of Australia, occupying the north-eastern section of the mainland continent. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Australia and New South Wales to the west, south-west and south respectively. To the east, Queensland is bordered by the Coral Sea and Pacific Ocean...

, Australia

Australia

Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...

in the Napoleon Passage and Arnolds Passage of Torres Strait

Torres Strait

The Torres Strait is a body of water which lies between Australia and the Melanesian island of New Guinea. It is approximately wide at its narrowest extent. To the south is Cape York Peninsula, the northernmost continental extremity of the Australian state of Queensland...

. It has other traditional names as well, such as Gumu (strictly speaking the name of the North-West part of Mabuiag).

This island is one of the Torres Strait Islands

Torres Strait Islands

The Torres Strait Islands are a group of at least 274 small islands which lie in Torres Strait, the waterway separating far northern continental Australia's Cape York Peninsula and the island of New Guinea but Torres Strait Island known and Recognize as Nyumaria.The islands are mostly part of...

, originally named by Captain William Bligh

William Bligh

Vice Admiral William Bligh FRS RN was an officer of the British Royal Navy and a colonial administrator. A notorious mutiny occurred during his command of HMAV Bounty in 1789; Bligh and his loyal men made a remarkable voyage to Timor, after being set adrift in the Bounty's launch by the mutineers...

, "Jervis Island", and so labelled on early English language maps. The language of the island is Kala Lagaw Ya

Kala Lagaw Ya

Kala Lagaw Ya is a language belonging to all the western and central Torres Strait Islands, Queensland, Australia. On some islands it has now largely been replaced by Brokan...

History

The "Footprints before me - Torres Strait Island Missions and Communities" webpage tells the following history of Mabuiag Island and the people living there

"The Mabuiag people had a reputation for hostility to outsiders until their acceptance of Christianity in the early 1870s. In 1877 the mission moved to Bau where the water supply was better. Later, the missionaries persuaded the people to join them at Bau, which became the main settlement. By 1898, Mabuiag people were labouring on pearling luggers for wages, while many followed work to Thursday Island and further to the mainland. An official presence on Mabuiag began during the mid-1920s when Queensland Government
Government of Queensland
The Government of Queensland is commonly known as the "Queensland Government".The form of the Government of Queensland is prescribed in its Constitution, which dates from 1859, although it has been amended many times since then...

posted teachers there. An Island Industries Board store opened in 1946"

Modern

In February 2008, a New South Wales

New South Wales

New South Wales is a state of :Australia, located in the east of the country. It is bordered by Queensland, Victoria and South Australia to the north, south and west respectively. To the east, the state is bordered by the Tasman Sea, which forms part of the Pacific Ocean. New South Wales...

nurse was raped by a resident of the island. The incident prompted a review of security on the island. The woman had been working on the island for a few months and had complained to her superiors about the lack of adequate security on the island.

In April 2010, a Magistrates' Court

Magistrates' Court

A magistrates' court or court of petty sessions, formerly known as a police court, is the lowest level of court in England and Wales and many other common law jurisdictions...

was opened on the island for the first time. The court is part of the Torres Strait Court Circuit which is conducted on various islands in the Torres Strait on a rotational basis.

External links

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.

History

Modern

See also

External links