Yorke island, Torres Strait
Encyclopedia
Yorke Island is a coral cay situated in the Eastern area of the central island group in the Torres Strait
, at the top end of the Great Barrier Reef
and Northwest of the tip of Cape York Peninsula in Queensland, Australia. It lies Northwest of Coconut/Poruma Island
in the central island group and Southwest of Stephens Island/Ugar Island
, West of Darnley Island/Erub Island, and Northwest of Murray/Mer Island
in the eastern island group.
This island is one of the Torres Strait Islands
that are part of the state of Queensland, Australia.
Yorke Island, traditionally known as Masig, is about 2.7 km long and 800 m at its widest point. The inhabitants, skilled navigators with a detailed knowledge of the reefs, have always occupied a central position in the Straits trading networks.
In 1845, Masig people could be found trading from the west of the Straits to the east. Before the arrival of teachers from the London Missionary Society
in the 1870s, Masig was attracting a diverse community of immigrants, some brought by the pearl and trochus shell
industry.
The Queensland Government moved the people of Aureed to Masig after it was declared a government reserve. Luggers owned by Masig families continued to operate until the shell industry collapsed in the 1960s. The people then shifted successfully into commercial mackerel fishing, prawning and crayfishing. A highly profitable fish factory has operated on the island since the late 1970s, freezing the catch and airfreighting it to southern marketshttp://www.ozoutback.com.au/postcards/postcards_forms/tsi_masig/index.htm.
Since the grounding of the local commercial air service by CASA in 2007, access to Masig (2008) is by charter plane only. All goods and mail are delivered by a weekly barge service. Masig has a medical centre, staffed by a qualified nurse and there is also a doctor based there, who provides medical services to three other islands in the central island cluster (Coconut, Yam and Warraber). The island has a school, which is a campus of Tagai State College (based on Thursday Island). There is an IBIS store on the island and also a Mini-Mart.
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...
, at the top end of the Great Barrier Reef
Great Barrier Reef
The Great Barrier Reef is the world'slargest reef system composed of over 2,900 individual reefs and 900 islands stretching for over 2,600 kilometres over an area of approximately...
and Northwest of the tip of Cape York Peninsula in Queensland, Australia. It lies Northwest of Coconut/Poruma Island
Coconut Island, Torres Strait
Coconut Island is an island 130km northeast of Thursday Island, Queensland, Australia in the Great North East Channel near Cumberland Passage, Torres Strait. This island is one of the Torres Strait Islands...
in the central island group and Southwest of Stephens Island/Ugar Island
Stephens Island (Torres Strait)
Stephens Island is an Australian island situated in the eastern section of Torres Strait, near the Great Barrier Reef and North of Coconut/Poruma Island and North West of Murray Island, Torres Strait and West of Darnley Island....
, West of Darnley Island/Erub Island, and Northwest of Murray/Mer Island
Murray Island, Torres Strait
Murray Island is a small island of volcanic origin, populated by the Melanesian Meriam people and situated in the eastern section of Torres Strait, near the Great Barrier Reef. The island has a population of around 450.This island is one of the Torres Strait Islands and supports a population of...
in the eastern island group.
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...
that are part of the state of Queensland, Australia.
Yorke Island, traditionally known as Masig, is about 2.7 km long and 800 m at its widest point. The inhabitants, skilled navigators with a detailed knowledge of the reefs, have always occupied a central position in the Straits trading networks.
In 1845, Masig people could be found trading from the west of the Straits to the east. Before the arrival of teachers from the London Missionary Society
London Missionary Society
The London Missionary Society was a non-denominational missionary society formed in England in 1795 by evangelical Anglicans and Nonconformists, largely Congregationalist in outlook, with missions in the islands of the South Pacific and Africa...
in the 1870s, Masig was attracting a diverse community of immigrants, some brought by the pearl and trochus shell
Trochus
Trochus is a genus of medium-sized to very large sea snails. They are marine gastropod molluscs in the family Trochidae, the top snails....
industry.
The Queensland Government moved the people of Aureed to Masig after it was declared a government reserve. Luggers owned by Masig families continued to operate until the shell industry collapsed in the 1960s. The people then shifted successfully into commercial mackerel fishing, prawning and crayfishing. A highly profitable fish factory has operated on the island since the late 1970s, freezing the catch and airfreighting it to southern marketshttp://www.ozoutback.com.au/postcards/postcards_forms/tsi_masig/index.htm.
Since the grounding of the local commercial air service by CASA in 2007, access to Masig (2008) is by charter plane only. All goods and mail are delivered by a weekly barge service. Masig has a medical centre, staffed by a qualified nurse and there is also a doctor based there, who provides medical services to three other islands in the central island cluster (Coconut, Yam and Warraber). The island has a school, which is a campus of Tagai State College (based on Thursday Island). There is an IBIS store on the island and also a Mini-Mart.
Popular culture
- Yorke Island was the film location for RAN Remote Area NurseRAN Remote Area Nurse (TV series)RAN is an Australian television program , filmed entirely on Masig Island in the tropical Torres Strait north of the Cape York Peninsula, the northern-most part of Australia , and the border with Papua New Guinea.This is an important series to Torres Strait Islanders, but also to the...
.