Badu or Badu Island (; mwp, Badhu, ; also Mulgrave Island), is an

island An island (or isle) is an isolated piece of habitat that is surrounded by a dramatically different habitat, such as water. Very small islands such as emergent land features on atolls can be called islets, skerries, cays or keys. An isla ...

in the

Torres Strait The Torres Strait (), also known as Zenadh Kes, is a strait between Australia and the Melanesian island of New Guinea. It is wide at its narrowest extent. To the south is Cape York Peninsula, the northernmost extremity of the Australian mai ...

north of

Thursday Island Thursday Island, colloquially known as TI, or in the 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 north of Cape ...

Queensland ) , nickname = Sunshine State , image_map = Queensland in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Queensland in Australia , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , establishe ...

, Australia. Badu Island is also a

locality Locality may refer to: * Locality (association), an association of community regeneration organizations in England * Locality (linguistics) * Locality (settlement) * Suburbs and localities (Australia), in which a locality is a geographic subdivis ...

in the Torres Strait Island Region, and Wakaid is the only town, located on the south-east coast. This island is one of the

Torres Strait Islands The Torres Strait Islands are a group 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 total la ...

. The language of Badu is Kala Lagaw Ya. The Mura Badulgal (Torres Strait Islanders) Corporation administers land on behalf of the Badulgal people. The Badulgal people's ownership of Badu and surrounding islands in the Torres Strait was recognised in a

native title Aboriginal title is a common law doctrine that the land rights of indigenous peoples to customary tenure persist after the assumption of sovereignty under settler colonialism. The requirements of proof for the recognition of aboriginal title, ...

determination on 1 February 2014, when the

Queensland Government The Queensland Government is the democratic administrative authority of the Australian state of Queensland. The Government of Queensland, a parliamentary constitutional monarchy was formed in 1859 as prescribed in its Constitution, as amended f ...

handed over to the Badhulgal traditional owners freehold title to of land. The Mura Badulgal (Torres Strait Islanders) Corporation (an

RNTBC A Registered Native Title Body Corporate (RNTBC) is a corporation nominated by a group of Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander people for the purposes of native title in Australia, to represent their native title rights and interests, once that ...

) administers land on behalf of the Badulgal people. In the , Badu Island had a population of 813 people.

History

Kala Lagaw Ya is one of the languages of the

. Kalaw Lagaw Ya is the traditional language used on the Western and Central islands of the Torres Strait. The Kalaw Lagaw Ya language region includes the territory within the local government boundaries of the Torres Shire Council. In 1606,

Luís Vaz de Torres Luís Vaz de Torres ( Galician and Portuguese), or Luis Váez de Torres in the Spanish spelling (born c. 1565; fl. 1607), was a 16th- and 17th-century maritime explorer of a Spanish expedition noted for the first recorded European navigation of ...

sailed to the north of Australia through

, navigating it, along New Guinea's southern coast. Warfare (feuding, headhunting), farming, fishing, canoe building, house building, turtle and

dugong The dugong (; ''Dugong dugon'') is a marine mammal. It is one of four living species of the order Sirenia, which also includes three species of manatees. It is the only living representative of the once-diverse family Dugongidae; its closest m ...

hunting and a host of other activities were the main occupations of Badu men until the 1870s. However, headhunting and warfare along some pagan customs ceased with the adoption of Christianity. Pearlers established bases on the island during the 1870s and by the early 1880s the islanders were becoming dependent on wages earned as lugger crews. At the same time, the first missionaries arrived. At the peak of the shell industry in the late 1950s, the Badu fleet of 13 boats employed a workforce of 200 providing work for many men, even from other islands as well. Once the shell trade declined, many people moved to the mainland for work. Badu Island State School opened on 29 January 1905. On 1 February 2014, the Queensland Government handed over to the Badhulgal traditional owners freehold title to of land on Badu Island, ending a struggle for recognition dating back to 1939. The title deed was handed over by David Kempton, Assistant Minister for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Affairs, to Badu Elder Lily Ahmat at a ceremony on the island. An

Indigenous land use agreement Native title is the designation given to the common law doctrine of Aboriginal title in Australia, which is the recognition by Australian law that Indigenous Australians (both Aboriginal Australian and Torres Strait Islander people) have rights ...

was signed on 7 July 2014. In the , Badu Island had a population of 813 people.

Economy

Infrastructure on Badu Island consists of: *Badhulgaw Kuthinaw Mudh Art Centre *Airport *Regional Council Office *State School (Years 1 to 7) *Health Centre with permanent doctor *Two grocery stores *Indigenous Knowledge Centre in Nona Street, operated by the Torres Strait Island Regional Council *Post Office *Centrelink Agency *Football Field *Motel *J&J Supermarket Locally Owned A number of other locally owned run businesses are in operation at Badu including live seafood exports.

Notable people

Notable people who are from or who have lived on Badu Island include: * Ethel May Eliza Zahel (1877–1951), teacher and public servant. * Tanu Nona (1902-1980), pearler and politician

References

Bibliography

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External links